Sexagesima 2010
“Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God.”
A Bible memory verse: St. Luke viii: “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
Wednesday: St Scholastica, Evening Prayer 5:45, Low Mass 6pm, and Bible study 6:45 on the Gospel of St. John (picking up at John 4:1).
Remember the next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday (a day of Obligation). Imposition of Ashes and Choral Mass begin at 6pm.
Next Sunday February 14th, Quinquagesima, Morning Prayer at 9:30am; Choral Mass at 11am.
Thank you so much to everyone who has responded with your pledges.
Reflections: In our Sexagesima Gospel Our Lord offers us the wonderful Parable of the Sower. In it he describes how most folks will respond to Him and His Word. He knew that it was going to hard for them to hear and understand. Many will hear and not really hear. Many will see and not really see. The seed of the Word sown by the Word Himself will not be taken in … and there will be no fruit. As Scripture says, His own received Him not. Even His own disciples were perplexed.
And then He does a wonderful thing. He draws aside the veil of countless centuries and He explicitly explains the Parable to His disciples. (And by inheritance, to all of us. We are to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.) It is not as though the disciples were prepared, or able, or safe to receive it. They didn’t get it. In fact they were headed for the sad crisis of cowardice and betrayal in Jerusalem. They themselves weren’t a lot of good ground … but Our Lord as Sovereign decided to give them Word and Spirit. And till them up and spade them over, so to speak, and make them “good ground.”
So we have the miracle of His opening the mysteries of God for the first time in all of history. Then we have miracle of to whom He opened the mysteries … His disciples and thereby us and all men. And we have the miracle of the Gospel itself which is the guarantee of reconciliation with God Almighty. The Gospel which to us seems so open, so available, had been closed to all mankind. And we have it now as a “testament”, a new testament, a God given legal guarantee of the terms and realities of our relationship with Him and our eternal life. Can you think of picking up your Bible or your BCP (which is mostly Scripture) and holding it in your hands knowing that it is a written totally solid guarantee of your eternal glorious future? That’s what it really is, you know. Nothing less than that. How’s that for a warranty? Terms of the contract … forever. Benefits … resurrection and glorious eternal life. I’ll take it!
Praise be to Jesus Christ!
God bless you all.