Homily for Quinquagesima

Quinquagesima ("50 days") is indeed fifty days before Easter. On this last Sunday before Lent, we hear Jesus once again prepare His disciples, and us, for His passion, death, and resurrection. But they just don't get it. It's no accident that the following section of the Gospel reading, Luke 18:31-43, gives us Jesus healing a blind man. His faith in the Christ made Him well. That is, the formerly blind man saw who Jesus is, the Suffering Savior, and followed Him.

Yes, Jesus must open our eyes to see that the coming season of Lent is vital for understanding and trusting who Jesus is and what He has come to do for us. He shows us His "Sacrificial Grace" by going to Jerusalem, suffering, dying, and rising again for us. It's the very love proclaimed in the day's Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians 13. "The great love chapter" is the chapter about His great, sacrificial love for us.

To listen to "Sacrificial Grace," click here and download the audio file.