4th Sunday of Lent (A – Scrutinies)
You may have noticed that we read the Year A selections the past two weeks. We will do so again next week. Bishop Coerver asked that all of the churches in the diocese join together to use these readings for the middle three Sundays of Lent. These three Sundays, we celebrate the Scrutinies.
During the Scrutinies, the Elect preparing for Baptism, are encouraged to examine their lives in order to uncover and heal all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the hearts of the elect, and to strengthen all that is upright, strong, and good. The elect are encouraged to receive the spirit of Christ who is the living water (that’s last week’s gospel), the light of the world (that’s today’s gospel), and the life (we will hear about the resurrection of Lazarus next week). Through prayer and exorcism, the elect are freed from the effects of sin and the influence of the evil one so they are free to open their hearts to receive the gifts of our Savior.
Even where we do not have the elect in our parishes it is good for us to be united as one local church in our diocese, and to pray together for the elect everywhere. It is good, too, to scrutinize our own lives. Where are we weak and tempted? Where do we sin seriously? Where do we need to be freed, healed, or strengthened?
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