3rd Sunday of Lent
Last Saturday I spent the day at Holy Cross Benedictine monastery in Rostrevor with other members of the Order of Malta. The monastery is up the Kilbroney Valley in County Down, a lovely place on a cold but sunny day that Saturday was. As I was waiting on my friend to bring me back home I sat on a bench and behind me was a running stream it reminded me of the lines from the Psalms, near restful waters he leads me to revive my drooping spirit. This is what Lent is really about. It is a call to take the time to come apart in some way and leave the day to day lives we lead behind for a time and let the lord revive our spirit so that we can enter more fully into the life of faith that we are called to at Easter as well as every other day in the year.
In the First Reading from Exodus God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses and they tell us to worship god, avoid idolatry, respect His name, observe the Sabbath, honour parents, and refrain from murder, adultery, theft, lying, and coveting other peoples goods. These commandments are the basis of living the life that God wants for us as people of faith. The Response to Psalm is you have the message of eternal life O lord.Your laws Lord energize and awaken us, and your principles and commands guide us in truth, showing us that you are the way the truth and the life. Your eternal statutes bring justice and enrich our lives. In the Second Reading from the 1st letter to the Corinthians the Jews demanded miracles and the Greeks were looking for wisdom. They were told What we proclaim is Christ crucified and that was a stumbling block to Jews and seemed to be complete foolishness to Gentiles who did not understand it. Yet, for all those who respond to the call of faith Jesus embodies God’s power and wisdom, and that surpasses our own understanding and strength. This Sunday’s gospel reading puts Jesus’ knowledge of our human nature so clearly: He really knew what was going on in the hearts and minds of those around him. He knew what they thought. He saw what they did to the Temple. The Temple was supposed to be a place were you would celebrate the spiritual presence of God in the world. As we hear in the reading the people changed the Temple into a marketplace when it should have been a quiet place of spiritual encounter. Jesus knew that people would see the signs that he worked, the miracles he performed, but would refuse to see and hear the messages behind the signs and the miracles that were there if front of them.
Instead they would see him as a wonder worker, a superman, a good show and Jesus wasn’t about any of that. The portrait of Jesus in today’s Gospel is a world away from the storybook caricature of Jesus, the meek and mild figure he lost his temper as he drove the money lenders out of the temple after seeing what they were doing there. Our faith is not about a good show instead it is about our relationship with God and with one another. Jesus shows us what real love is as he went on to die on the cross for us on Good Friday. Our dying to ourselves during Lent is an identification with the power of Christ crucified. Our calling, then, is to be strong in faith as we look forward to Easter. God gives us signs both people and places as anchors of faith. But, we must trust the Lord enough to cut ourselves free from our anchors and allow him to guide us through the rough currents of life. Are we prepared to do this during our Lenten journey to Easter and beyond as we live our daily lives as people of faith?
Fullerton T 