Homily: Monday - 5th Week of Lent 2017 - Deliverance from Evil

In our readings who heard of two women: one who was being framed by evil men, and one who was genuinely guilty of the sin of adultery.  Both were tempted to sin, pressured; but one was resisted sin, the other gave in. And in both stories, God is shown as the great deliverer.

Did you notice where Susanna temptation occurred? She was approached by wicked men, in a garden. This reminds us of course, of the temptation of Eve in the garden. But Susanna shows herself to be more like the New Eve, than the old, in her faithfulness to God, her desire for purity. She cries out to God who comes to her aid and delivers her from the wicked through the instrumentality of Daniel, who is a type of Christ.

The woman in the Gospel was truly guilty of adultery. And in this case, our Lord shows us the face of God’s mercy. Though she was guilty of sin, God did not abandon her, but invited her to repent, and to begin a new way of living: “go and sin no more” Jesus says.

In the first story, God delivers the innocent, by coming to their aid. In the second, God delivers the sinner, the guilty, through mercy—calling the sinner to repentance and offering mercy.

We are called to be innocent like Susanna. When we are being pressured to sin, coerced, threatened by the wicked, we are to turn to God to deliver us from evil. And we are called to be like the woman caught in adultery, guilty of sin, we turn to God to deliver us from evil, our own evil, the evil we have caused, and we have committed.

Blessed Duns Scotus taught that there are two types of redemption: preservative redemption and liberative redemption. God preserves us when we turn to him in temptation, and he liberates us when we’ve fallen.

The key is that we turn to God whatever our state, whatever our trial. We certainly pray for those who neither turn to God for preservation or liberation, those without faith. And we seek for ourselves, a deeper faith this Lent, that we can come to trust less in ourselves, and more in Christ.

For we celebrate in just two weeks, the source of our deliverance and redemption, the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. May the Lord deliver us from all sin, all temptation, all evil for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For greater devotion in our Lenten prayer, greater self-restraint in our Lenten fasting, and greater selflessness in our Lenten almsgiving.
That civil leaders will use their authority to protect the dignity of human life and the well-being of the poor, especially the unborn.  We pray to the Lord.
For deliverance from all evil and all temptation: for those under the influence of drug abuse, addiction, insanity, occultism, atheism, sexual perversion, and any spiritual evils which degrade the human person.
For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter, that these weeks of Lent may bring them purification and enlightenment in the ways of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.
For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness: that the tenderness of the Father’s love will comfort them.  We pray to the Lord.