05 Apr Friday

The woman, commanded by Jesus to go and sin no more, has been restored to her “upward calling”, Paul’s phrase. We re a people in a community “for God, “I formed for myself.” We, gifted with free will, can choose. Jesus is inviting the woman (and us) to live in such a way that our lives “announce my praise.”

The progressive steps of the journey to conformity to Christ are outlined by Paul in the Philippians reading. He is very aware and very clear that this all doesn’t just happen at once. It is a journey and a process that is challenging. The point is that I “continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it.” This possession is not in economic language but in the language of athletic contest, the image of a race used elsewhere by Paul.

This language and its image present an opportunity for a homily about our own Lenten achievement of the goal. Athletic events, like soccer, are also very social events for the adults present. To some extent it is about community, competitive as it is.