FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT
"Don't pet sweaty things, don't sweat petty things"

This is one of the witty cliches, of George Carlin. Our readings today point precisely to the second half of the witty saying, viz. "Don't sweat over petty things" - in a word get a life. St. Paul puts it more strongly, "I count all things as dung for the sake of the Kingdom of God"



1. How often as a priest I have heard these words, "Father I am worried.."
I drove in the car park, and ripped one of the tires
my daughter and son in law are constantly quarrelling - I wonder if their marriage will last.
we are having a baptism, and I cannot find the baptismal robe handed down by my grandmother.
I have had a biopsy on my lung and I will know the results next week.
Some of these are very serious, and as in the case of the lung biopsy, it could be a fatal illness. But in every case worrying is not going to help. It simply drains us of emotional and psychological energy. Worrying will not repair the tire, solve the marriage problem, find the baptismal robe or change the biopsy result. We cannot control our feelings, and hence feeling anxious is understandable. But worrying "if what..." only makes us get tired and less able to deal with the issues of real life.

2. The Israelites in Babylon in the reading from Isaiah are also worrying - to such an extent that they are giving in to despair, giving up their religious practices and tradition, experimenting with the local gods and religious cults.
Isaiah is there to remind them that God led their ancestors through the Sea at the time of the Exodus. He routed the chariot and the horse, the army and warriors from Egypt. Isaiah tries to instil hope in these exiled Israelites. He reminds them that this same God is going "to create something new." This echoes the thoughts of the readings from Last Sunday. And so the Israelites do not have to give into fear, needless anxiety. God is not only going to create order and discipline - even the animals and nature itself will perform wonders and praise God for His Providence. There is no need for them "to sweat over petty things."

3. Many centuries later, Paul picks up on these "petty things." In fact he says in comparison with knowing and loving Christ, all the riches and honour of this world is not only petty, but rather they smell like a dung heap. Pretty strong language indeed.
This is a very strong message for us as we live in a competitive world. The Leafs want to win the Stanley Cup, the Raptors want to make the play -offs, the Jays want to repeat the World Series victories of ‘92 and ‘93. Everyone want to be number One. It is pretty difficult to get out of this way of thinking. Even in our junior hockey and peewee baseball, every one thinks their child is a Wayne Gretzky or a Barry Bonds. The parents yell, threaten and fight, while the kids just want to go out and have some fun. Everyone wants a championship ring. These things get out of hand when some of our baseball teams have a combined salary more than the GNP of some third world countries. And as St. Paul says - and all this to what end? The glory will pass like the morning dew. If you do not think so, why don't we try this test.
Who won the Heisman trophy five years ago?
Who won the Oscars for the best actor and actress - five years ago?
Who won the Nobel prize for literature five years ago?
Who won the Miss Universe title in the beauty queen pageant, 5 years ago?
Pretty hard to tell. And yet they were the talk of the papers, magazines and National Enquirer.
But if I were to ask you who affected your life
when you were five years old
who was the teacher that made an impact in your life in school
who has touched your life with their generosity today. You would probably not hesitate to reel off those answer. These men and women whether Christian or not, will surely and certainly bring out what Christ taught us, "If you want to save your life - you must pour it out for others." In a word, do not spend your life chasing phantoms.. Do not sweat over petty things....

4. Our Gospel finds the Scribes and Pharisees spending their whole lives in these trivialities.
is the Sabbath being observed in all its strictness.
rituals about washing their hands before eating
rites about fasting and feasting.
One almost wants to shake them and say, get up and get a life. Today they bring a woman as the Gospel tells us "caught in the very act of committing adultery." The very picture is more disgusting than the adultery itself. You can see them as Peeping Toms peering through cracks and crevices to find out what is going on where and when. Now this is not to say Adultery is OK. Even Jesus says, "go and do not sin again."

These leaders of the people have come there with the woman in one hand and stones in the other. They would love to kill two birds with one stone. The woman's fate is already sealed according to them, but if they can trap Jesus as well, they will get two for the price of one. It seems a win-win situation for them. Should the woman be stoned. If Jesus says no, he is going against the Mosaic Law, if he says Yes, he is going against all the mercy and kindness he has preaching in public.

4b Jesus has no time for their petty mindedness. He turns the tables on them causing them to leave in anger and frustration. But as they leave, we find that they do not leave the stones behind, they clutch them to their hearts to use it to kill a bigger prey: Jesus himself.
God had promised through his prophets a new creation. He would change their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. As these leaders clutched their stones, they were trading in their hearts of flesh for hearts of stone. The Pharisees who had known their Psalms so well, should have remembered the 94 Psalm:
"O that today, you would listen to my voice, harden not your hearts."

5. My dear friends in Christ, as we near the Cross and Resurrection - the harshness of the Cross seems to be more pronounced : "stones for the woman, all we hold of value is garbage." Then through it all we see the Face of the Prodigal Father of last week. The Father still looks out at the horizon and because of the Love God has for us... God recognizes us when we are but specks on the horizon and God comes to meet us. There is no need for us to worry, no need for us to sweat over petty things. God is about to create something new for and in us.