Something New

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent
Sunday, 17 March 2013

        “Thus says the Lord . . . see, I am doing something new!”

        My brothers and sisters, we’ve had a lot of “new” in the Catholic Church this past week: A new pope, from the “new world”, with a new name, and, as some are considering, a new approach to the papacy. From the look of things, Pope Francis is making the Church “new”, in a manner of speaking.

        Our new Holy Father is, in some ways, following the example of Christ from this week’s Gospel. In a society where individual sinners were outcast in one way, shape or form, Jesus goes in the total opposite direction. Where Jesus could have verbally joined in the condemnation of the woman, He instead says nothing, simply writing in the dirt. Jesus chooses mercy over condemnation. He chooses humility over pride. He was doing “something new”.

        So we are called to do the same thing: to constantly choose to do something new in our lives. We are called to choose mercy over condemnation. We are called to choose humility over pride. We are called to choose silent witness over yelling with the masses. We are called to choose the radical way of love of Jesus Christ. We are called to choose the Cross and the journey to Jerusalem.

        My friends, we choose this new life, this radical way of love, we choose the Cross so that, as Saint Paul reminds us, that “[we] may gain Christ.” As we choose this new way of life, away from condemnation, away from pride and yet towards the Cross, we come to recognize that our journey to Jerusalem is inevitable.

This is why we need to encounter Christ – to make this inevitable journey one that becomes, in some way, bearable through His compassion, mercy and grace. To carry the Cross otherwise becomes unbearable.

This is why we need to encounter Christ – so that the world may know not of the condemnation of the cynical and sarcastic, but the mercy of God through us and our actions.

This is why we need to encounter Christ – because the “something new” being created by God is our hearts, our lives. The “something new” is the renewal of our lives to be conformed to God.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta reminds us that we need to be the kind, good, blessed people of God that He has created us to be. She gives us this reflection:

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

This great spiritual powerhouse of the Twentieth Century so quietly reminds us that it is that relationship between us and God which is to be dominant and central in our lives. We do what we do not just because Jesus tells us to be nice to others, but, rather, because OF our relationship with Jesus.

WE are that “something new” God is creating through our relationship with Him. 

WE become that “something new” when we allow God to transform our hearts to become like those of His Sacred Heart. 

WE become “something new” when we allow the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives and breathe into us a new relationship with God and each other. 

WE become the “something new” when we finally recognize that as we continue to travel the road to Jerusalem, the journey is never about *us*, but, rather, our relationship with God and others, and how we are to introduce others to God, and God to others.

When we quit the life full of condemnation, pride, selfishness, and recognize our sinfulness, we accept a life that’s full of mercy, humility, generosity, and come to know how our God saves us. It is in the Eucharist, through the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass, that we come to know this “something new” in our lives.

The woman caught in adultery came to know of the mercy and compassion of God – but only by recognizing her sinfulness. It’s now up to us, as we journey to Jerusalem and the Cross, to seek out God’s mercy and compassion. It’s now up to us to choose to become that “something new” that God is creating.

The Lord has given us, I believe, a wonderful example in our new Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis, on how to travel with the Lord and to become that “something new” for the sake of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless our new pope, and may we follow in his example of humility to seek the mercy of our God.

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Enjoy the journey . . .