Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 7 April 2019, is the Fifth Sunday in Lent, which was known in the past as Passion Sunday.
The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, for the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year C) are:
The readings: Isaiah 43: 16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3: 4b-14; John 12: 1-8.
There is a link to the readings HERE.
Introducing the readings:
We are coming close to the end of Lent. The following Sunday, the Sixth Sunday in Lent [14 April 2019], is Palm Sunday, and so these readings prepare us to move closer to Palm Sunday and the Passion stories of Holy Week.
In the past, liturgical calendars marked the Fifth Sunday in Lent as Passion Sunday, the beginning of the two-week period called Passiontide. In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed Passiontide from the liturgical year of the Novus Ordo form of the Mass. However, but the day is still known as Passion Sunday in some calendars, including some parts of the Anglican Communion.
In those Anglican churches that follow the Sarum Use, crimson vestments and hangings are used on the Fifth Sunday in Lent – replacing the Lenten array (unbleached muslin cloth) – and crimson remains the liturgical colour until and including Holy Saturday. Reflecting the recent shift away from the observance of Passiontide as a distinct season, the Book of Common Prayer in the Church of Ireland and Common Worship in the Church of England suggest red for Palm Sunday and Holy Week only, but with white on Maundy Thursday.
Isaiah 43: 16-21:
The armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem in 587 BC and many of the people of the city were deported to Babylon. This portion of the Book of Isaiah (Chapter 40 to 55) was written in the final years of the Exile in Babylon. The author had great faith in God’s intervention in human affairs in history. He looks forward to a new Exodus when God will bring the people back to their land.
The reading opens with the prophet recalling God’s saving act in enabling the people to cross the Red Sea, where the waters separated, providing ‘a way in the sea.’ Their Egyptian pursuers, ‘chariots and horse, army and warrior,’ were swallowed up by the waters, and like the wick of a weak flame they ‘extinguished, quenched.’
If the people in exile have forgotten or given up on God in days of old delivered the people from slavery. They will find a new way in the wilderness, and they will be sustained on their journey with rivers in the desert and water in the wilderness; the wild animals will pose no threat to them as they make their journey back.
Psalm 126:
This short psalm is a prayer for the deliverance of the people and their restoration. It opens by recalling a past when people could dream dreams and were filled with laughter and joy.
This psalm prays that God may restore this happy time, like giving rivers in the desert and water in the wilderness.
The writer prays in well-known phrases that those who sow in tears may reap with shouts of joy (verse 5) and those who go out weeping may come home with shouts of joy.
Philippians 3: 4b-14:
In this reading, the Apostle Paul is writing from prison to the church in Philippi (Φίλιπποι), a prosperous Roman colony in east Macedonia in northern Greece, east of Thessaloniki and north of Mount Athos. It is named after Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. The ancient Greek theatre there dates from 357 BC and was first restored in 1957.
As he was writing to the Philippians, Saint Paul may have been under house arrest, perhaps in Ephesus. This epistle is a composite of two or three letters. It contains many personal references as Saint Paul exhorts members of the church in Philippi to live the Christian life and to live a life that shows good ethical conduct. He also introduces Timothy and Epaphroditus as his representatives (1: 1, 2: 19-29). He warns against legalists and libertines at each extreme.
Saint Paul has warned his readers about those who try to convince them that being a Christian requires conversion to Judaism, including circumcision (3: 2). When he condemns ‘the dogs,’ he is condemning cynics – the Greek words for cynics come from κυνικός (kynikos), meaning ‘dog-like,’ and κύων (kyôn), meaning ‘dog.’ He tells the recipients of this letter that true circumcision is of the heart, that true conversion is not in following religious legal precepts, but in true worship of God, in the Spirit and through Christ.
In this letter, Saint Paul also addresses two women who have worked with him too and who appear to be church leaders in Philippi, Euodia and Syntyche (4: 2). Many commentators have assumed they are two quarrelling women, but this is not indicated in the original Greek text.
Saint Paul concludes this epistle by thanking the Philippian community for their generous support (4: 10-20).
In this reading, Saint Paul sets out his own Jewish credentials and explains that he knows what it is to live a true, conscientious Jewish life. He was born a Jew, he was circumcised as a Jew and not as a convert; and he is from the tribe of Benjamin – an elite tribe that included Israel’s first king, Saul, his own Jewish name. He is as Jewish as he can be, ‘a Hebrew born of Hebrews’ (verse 5). Like his fellow Pharisees, he knew the Law well and applied it in his daily life. He zealously persecuted Christians and faultlessly kept the Mosaic Law.
But knowing Christ has made him realise that a religiously legal-based, approach to God is a loss. True religion involves faith in Christ (verse 9).
He wants to know Christ in his suffering and in his resurrection. He is making progress not on his own, but through God’s grace. He has left his past behind him, and eagerly seeks what lies ahead. As the winner in a race of Greek athletes was called up to receive his prize, so Saint Paul now seeks God’s call to share in the heavenly life.
John 12: 1-8:
The timing for this Gospel reading is the day before Palm Sunday, and the setting is in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, 3 km east of Jerusalem. There, in the previous chapter, Christ raised Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, from the dead (see John 11: 1-44).
The name Lazarus is a Greek form of Eleazar. As the freed people moved through the wilderness in the Exodus story, the priest Eleazar was responsible for carrying the oil for the Temple menorah or lampstand, the sweet incense, the daily grain offering and the anointing oil (see Numbers 4: 16).
So, as Saint John’s Gospel carefully sets the location and the timing of this story, we can expect a story with a connection to death and resurrection, and with some association with anointing.
The plotting against Jesus has intensified. Meanwhile, many people are making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. The religious authorities, aware that Jesus is ‘performing many signs’ (11: 47), now want to arrest him.
Jesus now returns to Bethany, where the family of Lazarus invite him to dinner. In this account Martha serves the meal, and Lazarus is at the table with them. In Saint Luke’s account, Martha serves while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus (see Luke 10: 38-42).
Mary takes ‘a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard’ to anoint the feet of Jesus. Nard was derived from the roots of the spike or nard plant grown in the Himalayas. If the guests were reclining on couches, Jesus’ feet would be accessible for anointing, but a respectable Jewish woman would hardly appear in public with her hair unbound.
The reaction of Judas reaction points forward to the impending arrest of Jesus (see John 18:1-11). The cost of this nard, 300 denarii, was almost a year’s wages for a labourer. I wonder whether a parallel is to be drawn with the 30 pieces of silver in Saint Matthew’s Gospel (see Matthew 26: 15)?
Anointing was the last step before burial, but it was not for executed criminals.
Had Mary bought the perfume to have it ready Christ’s burial?
Did she realise that using now was not a waste of the perfume?
Reflecting on the Gospel reading:
Martha and Mary have offered their home in Bethany as a place of welcome, peace and refuge for Jesus. His life is under threat, but still he has time, and they have time, for a meal together.
They had a hint of the Easter story already in this home when Jesus raised their brother Lazarus from the dead. Now we have a sign of Jesus’ impending death, when Mary anoints his feet with costly perfume.
But Judas fails to see the full picture, to understand the full scenario that is beginning to unfold. Judas has a point, I suppose, from our point of view. There is so much need in the world, so much need around us, there is so much that is demanding of the best of our intentions.
But, so often, the best of my intentions remain just that, and I never do anything about them. How often do we hear people say, ‘Charity begins at home,’ as a way of putting down people who genuinely want to do something about the injustices around us, even the injustices in the wider world?
Yet, so often, we suspect, that in their case charity does not even begin at home … it never even gets to the starting blocks.
For Mary, in this Gospel reading, charity begins in her own home. But we get a hint that it is not going to end there. It has only started.
Judas is told the poor are always going to be with him … perhaps because charity does not even begin in his own home, never mind reaching out beyond that.
Mary’s action is loving and uninhibited, Mary’s gift is costly and beyond measure.
Love like that begins at home, and it goes on giving beyond the home, beyond horizons we never imagine.
Later that week, the disciples must have been reminded of Mary’s actions when Jesus insisted on washing their feet in a similar act of love and humility.
How would I feel if Jesus knelt in front of me and washed my feet?
Would I worry whether I had smelly socks, whether he would notice my bunions, chilblains and in-grown toenails, so concerned about what he thinks of me that I would never stop to think of what I think of him and what he thinks of others?
Or would I, like Mary, smell the sweet fragrance that fills a house that is filled with love?
Someone recently described prayer as ‘a time of living in the fragrance and the scent of God. It is gentle, light and lasts long. It comes off us; if we live in love, we spread love, and others know that something deep in us gives a fragrance to all of our life.’
Mary is extravagant and generous and is not inhibited by the attitude of others around her. How much did she understand about Jesus’ impending death when none of the disciples saw it coming?
Mary does not sell the perfume, as Judas wants. Instead, she keeps it and she brings it the grave early on Easter morning with the intention of anointing the body of the dead Jesus.
Can people smell the fragrance of Christ from us?
Are we prepared to let charity begin at home?
And then, in the joy of the Easter Resurrection, are we ready to allow it to be shared with the whole world?
John 12: 1-8 (NRSVA):
1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’
Liturgical resources:
Liturgical Colour: Violet
The canticle Gloria is usually omitted in Lent. Traditionally in Anglicanism, the doxology or Gloria at the end of Canticles and Psalms is also omitted during Lent.
Penitential Kyries:
In the wilderness we find your grace:
you love us with an everlasting love.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
There is none but you to uphold our cause;
our sin cries out and our guilt is great.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed;
Restore us and we shall know your joy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect:
Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
Grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross,
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Lenten Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Lenten Collect should be said after the Collect of the day until Easter Eve.
Introduction to the Peace:
Being justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5: 1, 2)
Preface:
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who was in every way tempted as we are yet did not sin;
by whose grace we are able to overcome all our temptations:
The Post Communion Prayer:
God of hope,
in this Eucharist we have tasted
the promise of your heavenly banquet
and the richness of eternal life.
May we who bear witness to the death of your Son,
also proclaim the glory of his resurrection,
for he is Lord for ever and ever.
Blessing:
Christ give you grace to grow in holiness,
to deny yourselves,
and to take up your cross and follow him:
Liturgical variations for Passiontide and Holy Week:
Penitential Kyries:
Lord God,
you sent your Son to reconcile us to yourself and to one another.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus,
you heal the wounds of sin and division.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit,
through you we put to death the sins of the body – and live.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Introduction to the Peace:
Now in union with Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of Christ's blood; for he is our peace. (Ephesians 2: 17)
Preface:
Through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
who, for the redemption of the world,
humbled himself to death on the cross;
that, being lifted up from the earth,
he might draw all people to himself:
Blessing:
Christ draw you to himself
and grant that you find in his cross a sure ground for faith,
a firm support for hope,
and the assurance of sins forgiven:
Suggested Hymns:
The hymns suggested for the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year C) in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling, include:
Isaiah 43: 16-21
262, Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
81, Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided
605, Will you come and follow me
Psalm 126:
567, Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go
356, I will sing, I will sing a song unto the Lord
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done!
Philippians 3: 4b-14:
218, And can it be that I should gain
561, Beneath the cross of Jesus
11, Can we by searching find our God
566, Fight the good fight with all thy might
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
95, Jesu, priceless treasure
99, Jesus, the name high over all
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
671, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
588, Light of the minds that know him
81, Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided
248, We sing the praise of him who died
247, When I survey the wondrous cross
376, Ye holy angels bright
John 12: 1-8:
517, Brother, sister, let me serve you
523, Help us to help each other, Lord
495, Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love
101, Jesus, the very thought of thee
587, Just as I am, without one plea
7, My God, how wonderful thou art
499, When I needed a neighbour, were you there
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
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