Lenten Meditations – Sunday 18th March
| Sun Mar 18 |
am: 66, 67 pm: 19, 46 |
Jere 14:1-9, 17-22 | Gal 4:21-5:1 | Mark 8:11-21 |
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: On this Sunday in the GREAT LENT of the Eastern Church they commemorate St. Mary of Egypt. Who lived in the middle of the fifth century and at the beginning of the sixth century. Being free of parental oversight, young and inexperienced, Mary was allured by a life of depravity and for seventeen years Mary lived in sin. Mary joined a group of pilgrims bound for the Holy Land. While sailing with the pilgrims on the ship, Mary did not cease from seducing men and sinning. On getting to Jerusalem, she joined the pilgrims who were heading for the Church of Christ’s Resurrection.
People were entering the church in a large throng, but Mary was stopped at the entrance by an invisible hand and could not by any efforts enter it. Here she understood that the Lord was not permitting her to enter into the holy place because of her impurity. Seized by horror and a feeling of profound repentance, she began to entreat God to forgive her sins, promising to radically correct her life. Seeing an icon of the Mother of God at the entrance of the church, Mary began to plead before God. After this, she immediately felt a clearing up in her soul and entered the church unhindered. Having poured out abundant tears at the Lord’s Tomb, she went out of the church a completely different person. The Father of the East uphold this day so that it would give hope and the will to take courage to begin our repentance. On this Sunday let is travel the path of repentance, seeking God’s will give us the strength to go deeper and deeper into our souls, opening our whole life to Him so that He can heal, restore, and glorify it by uniting it to Himself.
MEDITATION OF THE DAY The Daily Office Lessons for Lent 5 are worthy of our thought and may help us in the final surge towards Holy Week. Paul reminds us that our response in serving the Body of Christ is a pretty good indicator of our spiritual barometer. In verse 2 he makes a statement that is difficult for us at times: “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” We are reminded again that God doesn’t wish to have a portion of our being. Rather, He wants our whole being dedicated to him, to be “living sacrifices”. That is quite a transformation for us who if we live in this culture are asked to sacrifice little of ourselves. The great spiritual tradition of the church through the church fathers and the contemplatives remind us that transformation is a lifelong process through which God calls us to conform more and more to the image of His own Son.
PRAYER OF THE DAY: Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down to show us the way of true freedom, peace and joy, we ask this week of Lent to be the exemplar of grace and humility so that your Son may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “Intimacy with the Lord is not a matter of physical kinship; rather, it is achieved by cheerful readiness to do the will of God. — St. Basil the Great
Lenten Discipline – Our society constantly tempts us to be wasteful. Practice creative frugality. List ten ways in your own life to substitute helpful, conserving habits instead of wasting such resources as food or water. Give $1 to Sudan Relief for each example. Give $5 to Sudan Relief for each one shy of ten you can’t think of! This is a way to multiply the loaves for another based on your own sense of need.
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