Homily for Today

My brothers and sisters, welcome to today's celebration of the Holy Mass on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. During the past month, our spiritual journey has been one of repentance so we may all, by the grace of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, experience a transformation to become in the likeness of Christ. Today's spiritual message from Our Lord Jesus for the last Sunday of Lent is, "From now on, do not sin again." [Jn. 8:11]

During today's First Reading, we heard the prophetic Words of the Lord God speaking to the prophet Isaiah. Yahweh began by identifying Himself. He said that it was He who created Israel. It was He who led the Exodus of His people under the leadership of Moses. It was He who divided the Red Sea and who destroyed the great army of the Pharaoh of Egypt. It was He who quenched the life out of the enemies of His people.

In view of all these remarkable deeds, the Lord God said, "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old." [Is. 43:18] Why does God say not to remember the former things? It is because He was warning His people against glorifying the past. The Exodus of the Old Testament was but a reflection of what was to come. The greatest Exodus of all is the new Exodus of Redemption through the Blood of Christ. What should be remembered is the ongoing redemptive plan of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

God said, "I am about to do a new thing." [Is. 43:19] What was this new thing that God was about to do? Further in the Book of Isaiah, the Lord God said, "For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; and former things shall not be remembered or come to mind." [Is. 65:17]

Indeed, God was about to create new heavens and a new earth. [Mt. 24:35; Rev. 21:1-2] He was about to create the Mystical Body of Christ, the arrival of the invisible Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. Through the Mystical Body of Christ, God was about to join the saints in Heaven to the baptized members of the Church. This promise was fulfilled when through the Sacred Blood of Jesus on the Holy Cross, Christ took possession of the Heavenly Kingdom as the rightful King of kings. When the fullness of time had arrived, through the redemptive plan of Christ, the great red dragon was thrown out of Heaven. [Mt. 24:29; Lk. 10:18; Rev. 12:3-4, 10-2]

The revelation that was given to Isaiah around 750 B.C. was the beginning of many promises that God the Father would make, all of these being fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Around 626 B.C., in the days of the prophet Jeremiah and around 592 B.C., in the day of the prophet Ezekiel, God made more promises that served to clarify the meaning of His previous promises.

God the Father promised to make a new and everlasting Covenant. [Jer. 31:31] He promised to live with His people. [Jer. 31:33] He promised to give His children a new heart and a new spirit. [Ezek. 11:19-20; 18:31] He promised the indwelling of His Spirit within His children so that they would remain good and obey His Holy ways. [Ezek. 36:26-7]

All these things have been fulfilled. During the last Supper, Jesus instituted the New and everlasting Covenant. [Lk. 22:20] Through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, God physically dwells with His people. During the Sacrament of Baptism, the believers are given a new heart and a new spirit. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, "What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit." [Jn. 3:6] "No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water (baptism) and Spirit." [Jn. 3:5]

Through the gift of a new creation, the newly created human spirit that we received during the Sacrament of Baptism, we are called to take part in the building up of the Mystical Body and Kingdom of God on earth. Through the same Sacrament of Baptism, we have received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit as our assurance of knowing what is right from what is wrong. As such, if we choose to sin, we are without excuse.

During the First Reading, we also heard God promising to make a way in the wilderness, to put rivers in the desert and that the wild animals would honour Him. Here, God was speaking symbolically. Allow me to explain. When God was speaking of making a way in the wilderness for the wild animals to honour Him, this was a symbolic prophecy of the Light of Christ coming to the Gentiles who were lost in their ways. These lost souls lived as wild animals. The worldly pleasures of the flesh guided their ways of life. To save these souls that lacked a spiritual mind, God promised to make rivers in the desert. In other words, He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit (rivers) to those who were spiritual dry (desert).

To summarize what has already been said in context with the entire Holy Bible, prior to the coming of Jesus Christ on earth, the Kingdom of God was non-existent. Through the Blood of Christ, the eternal Kingdom was established in Heaven and on earth. That is why Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is! or 'There it is!' For, in fact, the Kingdom of God is within you." [Lk. 17:20- 1] The Kingdom of God in invisible, being spiritual in nature.

To populate His invisible Kingdom on earth, the Lord God instituted the Sacrament of Baptism. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we experienced the first death and resurrection that was spiritual in nature. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we received our new creation, our new spiritual mind, our new human spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Through the free gift of the newly created human spirit, when we receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist during the celebration of the Holy Mass, we are now partaking in a great spiritual Feast with the Lord Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the saints and angels of Heaven. In fulfilment of the promise of Jesus, finally, we as children of God, have become true worshippers who worship the Father in (human) spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in (human) spirit and truth. [Jn. 4:23-4] The new creation is everything! [Gal. 6:15]

This is the same message that St. Paul gave us today during the Second Reading from the Letter to the Philippians. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that we may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light." [1 Pet. 2:9] Once we were not a people, but now we are God's people; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy." [1 Pet. 2:10] Because of these marvellous blessings that we have received from God, St. Paul urges us to act as aliens and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. We should conduct ourselves honourably among the non-believers, so that, though they malign us as evildoers, they may see our honourable deeds and glorify God when He comes to judge. [1 Pet. 2:11-2]

In view of all the spiritual gifts that we have freely received from the Lord God, everything else of this world is unimportant. St. Paul calls them rubbish. To know Christ as we should know Him far surpasses an intellectual knowledge. It involves a personal daily relationship between Jesus and ourselves that far surpasses all the worldly pleasures and wealth that can be gained in a lifetime.

The door to salvation that comes to us through the love and mercy of Jesus Christ is by faith alone. No works of any kind that are performed prior to the Sacrament of Baptism can save anyone. As a Pharisee, Paul enjoyed a perfect observance of the 613 prescribed Mosaic Laws. Yet, none of these works saved him. His salvation solely depended on his living faith in Christ.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual works that we perform after our baptism, these are signs of our living faith in Christ. For "faith without works is dead." [Jas. 2:26] These spiritual works include our reception of the Church Sacraments which give life to the soul.

St. Paul viewed his heavenly call in Christ Jesus as a race that still had to be run. That was his goal, to win the race. While all the runners compete in a race, only one receives the prize. All should run in such a way that they may win the race. All should persevere in their living faith to ensure the reservation of their crown of righteousness that the Lord will give on that day to all those who long for His appearing. [Phil. 2:16; 1 Cor. 9:24; 2 Tim. 4:7]

During today's Gospel Reading, Jesus gave us a basic command that helps us to identify if we are on our way to completing our race, if we are persevering in our living faith. Jesus said, "Go your way, and from now on do not sin again." You see my brothers and sisters, faith alone cannot save anyone. If you have faith and continue to live in mortal sin, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.

One's faith must be a living faith, pure and holy in nature. It must be continuous. It must include the Sacrament of Baptism that admits us into the Mystical Body of Christ. It must include the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit for the purpose of sanctifying our souls in the likeness of Christ. It must include the Sacrament of Confession for the remission of our sins. It must include the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Living Bread that gives life to our souls. It must include spiritual works as a sign that we are children of God who are persevering in their living faith.

While all this may appear to be so complicated, it all comes naturally when we place our trust in the Spirit of Jesus who teaches and guides those who place their living faith in Christ.

This week, in view of our in-depth spiritual perception of what has been freely given to us through the infinite love and mercy of God, let us show our gratitude to God by having a change of heart, by not sinning again. Let us refrain from judging others. Let us strive towards our need of sanctification before we concern ourselves with the needs of others. For it is when we have successfully walked in the love of Christ that others will learn from us how they should walk in the love of Christ.