Basics of our Faith: We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, visible and invisible We believe in One Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, truly God and truly Man, only Son of the Father, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father We believe that we are redeemed by the oblation, sacrifice and satisfaction once for all made by our Lord Jesus We believe He rules in Heaven and will come again to judge the quick and the dead and that of His Kingdom there shall be no end We believe in the Holy Ghost, giver of life, who spoke by the Prophets We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ We believe that the sacraments are the visible and outward sign of their effective and inward grace We believe that we will be raised again and, if faithful and true to our Lord and His Word, we shall be saved
14 March, AD 2010 Fourth Sunday in Lent  “Grace in the Darkness”  INFSHG+  Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved.  (Collect)           This passage does not come directly from either the Epistle or Gospel appointed for today, but from the Collect we prayed before we heard the actual words of Scripture. The purpose of the Collect in the Mass is to strike a note of unity in our hearts and minds as we approach the altar.  We come from wherever and usually have our own problems on our hearts or, more happily, joys to celebrate. It is not as if we arrive as strangers, but we are a bit estranged. We are not of one mind or one heart. The Collect is intended to call us from our own issues and to bring us together to pray to God with one heart and one mind.When we have the unity, we spiritually begin to merge and the power of our prayer increases. We all begin to reflect on the same aspects of our faith and the same lessons. We remember that the most important thing we can say about ourselves is that we constitute the visible Body of Christ. The most important things about the Body of Christ is that He is one. So, we should always be attentive at the Collect, to hear what God calls us to meditate upon as we gather ourselves to worship Him and to celebrate the mystery of Communion. This all does not mean that the Collect itself needs to be strictly uniform. Today’s Collect, for instance, does not strike just one note.  It strikes two and the most important thing to observe is that the one leads to the other in a way that is distinctive about today. In today’s Collect, we first observe that our present state is close to pitiable. We know that we are sinners and that sinners deserve punishment. That is a note entirely consistent with being in the middle of the most penitential season of the year. We are supposed to be very aware of our sinfulness in the very midst of the season.  But today is not a usual day in the penitential course of Lent. In the Latin tradition, today is Laetare Sunday and that means that far from feeling sorry for ourselves or miserable about whatever we have not achieved, the Church calls us to Rejoice with Jerusalem. Here, at the very midpoint of the Lenten season, when all that oppresses us is most obvious to us, the Church remembers what she has been sent into the world by the Lord Jesus to do: to bring solace and peace to troubled minds. She is not instructed to impeach the guilty. We are all guilty, one way or another. To rake that over the coals endlessly is abusive. She is called to a far more loving and comforting duty: she is called to remind us that, however we have sinned, the hand of God is always extended to welcome us back into His love and fellowship. Our Lord Jesus always stands ready to embrace us in forgiveness. The Holy Spirit always hovers , ready to enter in and fill us with the light and grace of God. God is at the ready, the only question is: are we? That is the second note the Collect strikes today: given the sins of this world, shall we be willing to admit our guilt so that we may be forgiven and given the holy sustenance we need to grow in faith? The Lord Jesus is the way and all that is wanting is whether we will set off on that way. Consider the Epistle now, in the light of the Collect. St. Paul teaches the Galatians that there are two paths they can take: in the first case, they can follow the path of Ishmael, the natural-born son. They can have dominion here for a while, but it will not be long before they discover that by relying on natural powers they will end up enslaved to nature and nature’s law. There may be some pleasure in the present, but there can be no salvation in eternity. As the natural-born, they are now tied to the earth and hostage to its fortunes. That is not going to turn out well. Far better they choose the path of promise, the choice that opts for God and the promise He has made. Now, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune may sting, but the sting is temporary and does not endure. The spirit rises above the earthly unhappiness and rejoices. There is salvation at the end of the road of promise and there is relief. Our weary souls will be comforted and will in the end be changed. So we are encouraged here in the very midst of Lent. While we await the commemoration of the inexpressible drama of our redemption, dismayed by the memories of all we have done wrong or failed to do right, our God reaches down to us and lovingly give us His grace through the Eucharist of the Body and Blood of His only-begotten Son. The redemption we will soon re-enact is already at work for us, cleansing our hearts of guilt and building up our spirits in faith. Of course, this doesn’t happen automatically.  We are not robots being maintained by a divine auto mechanic. We are living breathing souls and for the grace of God to truly work in us, we must work at accepting and using that grace. Reflect on all that you have thought, chosen to do and chosen not to do. Consider how what you have thought, done and said compares with what God has commanded us to think, do and say. Then, be prepared to admit that these things were done by free will and, by free will and the grace of God, you are going to work at driving all the false and evil thoughts, words and actions out of your lives. We focus on fasting in Lent by avoiding some treat for the duration. That has value, but it can be a distraction. We are trying to prepare ourselves for our heavenly home and fasting is part of that discipline. Rather than giving up chocolate cake, for instance, why not admit to ourselves what is our most chronic temptation and fast from giving in to that? This is something you can really use God’s grace on and something God is especially ready to help you overcome. Use the rest of the season to do this. Focus on fasting from the indulgences you grant yourselves and not so much on worldly treats. Seek God’s help and He will help you be the best you can be, every day better prepared to stand before Him and to rejoice when He calls you to everlasting salvation because you trusted in Him and gave over your sins. Be at peace and may the God of love and peace delight to dwell within you, blessing and consecrating you for the life eternal for which you were always designed. +And now, unto God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost be ascribed all might and majesty, power, dominion and glory, both on this day and every day, world without end. Amen.