Fifth Sunday of Lent: March 29, 2009

The readings this weekend are wonderful meditations on “drawing near” to God. The sacrifices in the temple were known as “qorbanim,” “the near-draw-ers” meant to draw the worshiper near to God and God near to the worshiper. The Mass in the Eastern Rites is called the “Qurbana” the “drawing near,” as Christ draws so near to us He enters us, and we so near to Him that we take Him into us. Jeremiah reminds folk that the path to God is VERY near—not at all far away—it’s in the human heart! And in the Gospel Gentile Greeks “draw near” to see Jesus, and Jesus speaks of the ultimate “drawing near” to God—death, itself. All life is a “passage” as we draw nearer and nearer to God, a labyrinthine journey, twisted and turning, but always bringing us nearer. Lent is our rehearsal for our homecoming…….it is for this we came.