Christ Himself becomes our way through sin's wilderness

The Fifth Sunday of Lent
Is 43:16-21; Phil 3:8-4; Jn 8:1-11 (Year C)

‘Thus says the Lord. No need to recall the past, no need to think of what was done before. See, I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light; can you not see it?” As we draw ever closer to Lent’s triumphant conclusion in the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, the words of the Prophet Isaiah move our attention to what the Father is bringing about in our midst.

If, at the beginning of Lent, we were confronted with our own sinfulness and missed opportunities, we are now invited to forget the past, to believe that our own salvation is this new deed that God creates, which he brings to light in our inmost being. Christ himself becomes our way through sin’s wilderness. He alone becomes the water that revives and gives life to drooping spirits. Where once we could find no words, we become the people he has formed for himself, singing his praises.