Vol. 37 No. 21                    MARCH  21, 2010                     (Cycle C) 5th SUNDAY OF LENT Go your way, and from now on do not sin again   ENTRANCE ANTIPHON Give me justice, O God, and defend my cause against the wicked. Rescue me from deceitful and unjust men. You, O God, are my refuge. PENITENTIAL RITE God has created us to love and to be loved. The experience of Jesus’ love gave a new direction to St Paul’s life. The experience of Jesus’ compassion saved the woman whom the Scribes and the Pharisees condemned. Even though we are sinners ourselves, we may have cast the stone of judgement at others. As we call to mind our sins, we might remember especially the harsh and the unfair judgements we sometimes pass on others. With true repentance, let us ask pardon from the Lord and from one another for all our sins. I confess ... OPENING PRAYER Let us pray: Father, help us to be like Christ your Son, who loved the world and died for our salvation. Inspire us by his love, guide us by his example, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. FIRST READING (The prophet assures the Jews exiled in Babylon that there will be a new Exodus. This message of encouragement instils hope in the people.) A reading from the Book of Isaiah (43:16-21) Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. `Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (125) Response: What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad. When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, it seemed like a dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs. R./ The heathens themselves said: “What marvels the Lord worked for them!” What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad. R./ Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage as streams in dry land. Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap. R./ They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing: they come back, they come back, full of song, carrying their sheaves. R./ SECOND READING (Paul has willingly sacrificed everything for the privilege of knowing Christ. He hasn’t yet arrived at the goal but is still running the race of salvation.) A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Philippians    (3:8-14) I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Ez 18:31) Cast away from you all the trans-gressions which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. GOSPEL (The compassion and the apt intervention of Jesus save the life of a woman caught in adultery.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John   (8:1-11) Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you: go, and do not sin again.” This is the Gospel of the Lord   CREDO I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, we see God’s love and compassion in Jesus’ treatment of a sinful woman. With confidence in his mercy and kindness let us pray for all our needs, saying: Response: Lord God, have mercy on your people. 1. We pray for our Pope, bishops, priests and religious: that they may imitate the compassion and kindness of Christ in their dealings with others. R./ 2. We pray for all judges and all those in authority: that they may strive to temper justice with mercy, that they may be compassionate towards those who fail. R./ 3. We pray for all those who have been unfairly treated or unjustly condemned: grant them your grace to endure their sufferings with courage. R./ 4. We pray for all of us gathered here: that during this Lent we may continue to heed Jesus’ call to repentance and show the fruits of conversion through a new way of living. R./ (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: Merciful Father, we thank you for forgiving our sins. Help us to keep our hearts pure, minds clean, words true and deeds kind. We ask this... PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Almighty God, may the sacrifice we offer take away the sins of those whom you enlighten with the Christian faith. We ask this... PREFACE    (P 9) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. This great season of grace is your gift to your family to renew us in spirit. You give us strength to purify our hearts, to control our desires, and so to serve you in freedom. You teach us how to live in this passing world with our heart set on the world that will never end. Now, with all the saints and angels, we praise you for ever: All: Holy, holy, holy.... COMMUNION ANTIPHON Has no one condemned you? The woman answered: No one, Lord. Neither do I condemn you: go, and do not sin again. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Almighty Father, by this sacrifice may we always remain one with your Son, Jesus Christ, whose body and blood we share, for he is Lord for ever and ever.      LITURGY AND LIFE   The history of salvation reveals the Creator’s activity of creation and re-creation of the universe. Creation is the birthing of something new from nothing, while re-creation is forming something new from the existing things. One of the most powerful and typical examples of the re-creation of God is the conversion of Paul. Though a persecutor of the Church, Paul was called to be an Apostle. This great act of love and compassion of God changed the orientation of Paul’s life, and he became a new creation. Hence, Paul himself writes, “Everyone who is in Christ is a new creation.” The knowledge of this great love of Jesus makes Paul say, “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.” The activity of God gives direction to the activities that human beings should undertake in their life. If God works, we too should; if God loves, we too should; if God re-creates, we too should. Every call of God is meant to continue his work of re-creation. Hence, we are co-creators with God. God calls because there is someone somewhere who needs to be re-created by the presence of the one who is called. Whatever be the nature of the mission entrusted, its aim is to re-create humanity and not to destroy it. The gospel of today presents Jesus as a person who re-creates a person, while the Scribes and the Pharisees tried to destroy. The Scribes and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. In bringing her to Jesus, we do not notice their great love for justice, nor their great desire to transform the society. On the contrary, we notice their deliberate intention to destroy this daughter of God and to ruin the good reputation of Jesus. This incident indicates the unfailing presence of Jesus on the side of life, and the continuous attempt of the Pharisees and the Scribes to destroy life. They multiplied laws to complicate their comprehension by the simple people and to make their observance difficult; they were on the look out for the faults of others and they could see nothing good. On the other hand, Jesus sticks to his mission of re-creating by saving what was lost, uplifting the downtrodden, enriching the poor, healing the sick, etc. As a re-creator, Jesus sees the possibilities of persons. He saw the woman caught in adultery. He did not justify what she did, nor did he condemn her. Before fixing the problem in her, Jesus saw in her the possibility and willingness of conversion and a new orientation in her life. As a re-creator, Jesus does not react immediately. He remained unprovoked under deliberate provocation. He took time bending down and writing with his finger on the ground. Perhaps, this moment of recollection gave him insight how to respond aptly. In saving her, Jesus shows that the greatest law is the law of love and every other law should be applied only as a complementary of this greatest law. The indirect suggestions that Jesus gives us in response to the invitation of the Scribes and the Pharisees are these:   Know your mission: You are called to be a co-creator and not a destroyer. The law of love: The greatest and the best law is love, and every other law should be subordinated to it and complement it. Be law-abiding: Be a law-abider before you ask others to be law-abiding. The same measure: The measure you use for yourself and others should be the same; better if you can be gentler with others as you do not and probably will not know the deepest sorrows of their lives. Growth: Growth begins where blaming ends. —Fr Devasia Puthiyaparambil, ssp     March   2010 READINGS OF THE WEEK Psalter Week 1 22 Mon (V)   Dan 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62; Ps 22:1-3a,3b-4,5.6; Jn 8:1-11 23 Tue (V)   Num 21:4-9; Ps 101:2-3,16-18,19-21; Jn 8:21-30 24 Wed (V)   Dan 3:14-20,91-92,95; Ps Dan 3:52-56; Jn 8:31-42 25 Thu (W)   THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD, (Sol.), (Pro-Life Day)                    Is 7:10-14,8:10; Ps 39:7-8a,8b-9,10.11; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38 26 Fri (V)   Jer 20:10-13; Ps 17:2-3a,3bc-4,5-6,7; Jn 10:31-42 27 Sat (V)   Ez 37:21-28; Ps Jer 31:10,10-12ab,13; Jn 11:45-56