In Isaiah the prophet Chapter 6 we have the following: In the year that King Uziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lofty and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him, each had six wings and with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said, A Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.@ A The whole earth is full of his glory.@ The pivots of the threshold doors shook at the voices of those who called and the house was filled with smoke. And I said, A Woe is me, I am lost for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!@ Then one of the Seraphs flew to me holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The Seraph touched my mouth with it and said, A Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.@ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, A whom shall I send? And who will go for us?@ And I said, A here am I, send me!@

I don= t know if the tradition of monasticism was specifically focused on this text when they talked about humility. But it certainly is a summary of the whole biblical stance in the relationship of man before God and the corresponding first degree of humility. Let= s first look at this text.

King Uziah died so the community is suffering a kind of uncertainty. There= s no longer a nice governance going on and everything is fine, hopefully it wasn't breaking down to the point that everyone had to protect their own property. But it certainly was a very shaken situation so much so, that Isaiah goes to the temple to pray. So he's already disposed in the sense that he= s aware of the vulnerability of himself and the situation. As he= s praying the Lord appears to him in all his majesty,

as much as can be done for a human being, but certainly we would all be terrified to have this vision unless God gave us, like he gave Isaiah, strength.

The Seraph are there and they all cry out, A Holy, holy, holy@ so this is the strong attribute that is selected of all the attributes of God his holiness is what is focused on. Holiness in the Bible is the attribute of God. He's totally different than us. We don= t know that directly except that it implies justice and truth and right living. So it= s not surprising then that the angels are singing holy, holy, holy. God= s sanctity is brought before him. This is the kind of God we responded to when we came to the monastery and live our life under. In the light of that awareness, Isaiah sees not only his own sinfulness but the sinfulness of the people. He's already been preaching to the people and telling them to shape up that they're not doing what God wants. So now he's joining them. He admits that he= s a sinner like they are. God knows what he= s doing and he touches him through the angel, purifies him and then to send him to do his work.

This is a rather powerful and foundational text when it come to the question of humility because the Rule in Chapter 7 the first step of humility is described as a call to utterly flee forgetfulness by keeping the fear of God always before one= s eyes. We must constantly recall the commandments of God, continually mulling over how hell burns the sinners who despise God, and eternal life is prepared for those who fear God. Therefore we should guard ourselves at all times from sins and vices, thoughts of tongue and hand, so it= s very incarnational and graphic, our feet, our self will and also desires to the flesh.

So we entered Lent really with a good response. The monks have come to me early. A lot of monks within the first week I had almost half of the community, their commitment and they were generous. And everybody else eventually showed me their commitment. So the Lord has called us and has moved us with grace to the point of purifying ourselves. But the fact is we need to go further. God wants our whole heart. God wants to use us to further his agenda which is the salvation not only of our souls but the souls of tons of people that we may not know about in this world. That means that what we have learned during Lent has to continue. We can= t go back. Now Lent= s over with so let me eat more, etc. What I have learned this Lent to counter certain attachments especially negative attachments, that is actual sins and vices, they have to continue to stop. But God is not even satisfied with that. God wants your whole heart. Which means even some good things he may be asking you to give up. That can be very tough. I don= t know exactly what your life is like and what God is asking you but I know I like red wine and if the Lord said no more red wine I= d probably have to struggle but I= d do it. But in the life of Conchita at the age of almost forty the Lord said, "Your husband or me!@ She loved Poncho, they had a good relationship and a beautiful family. And of course, she prayed about it and said, A OK, Lord.@ and within a month he died. Then she from that point on the Lord moved her to an intimacy that is greater than a spiritual marriage. It= s called mystical incarnation which means that every thought of hers was Jesus= thought, every action was Jesus= action. But that= s the movement that God has for each of us.

So if we are going to profit from Lent and see what God is doing and rejoice in the great work of redemption that we celebrate with the resurrection then we really have to ask ourselves what have I really learned this Lent about getting closer to God and doing what he wants pleasing God, not myself, furthering His agenda, not my agenda, and of course that never stops. You can= t say that you are passed the first degree of humility. Maybe for some it= s only the beginning because for some people it= s quite clear, don= t forget God= s commands. Well there= s a lot of things we can easily forget.

So God= s design for us is a lot richer, deeper, fuller and more life giving than we dare believe. And it= s not just that he= s already done the redemptive act he is moving all those who have been baptized and have given themselves to him toward this enrichment that we call a graced life that is absolutely unbelievable as we see in this reading of Isaiah.

So I want to encourage you to profit from what you have done. Your generosity in Lent is admirable and I would hope you would not go backwards from here but continue so that the Lord can complete what he has begun in you.