Third Sunday
of Lent
6-7 March 2021
at St. Mary’s in Salem
1 Cor. 1:22-25
John 2:13-25
“Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
“Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Words from St. Paul to the Romans!
In this Sunday’s first Reading, we just heard the Ten Commandments proclaimed from the Book of Exodus. As we know from elsewhere in the Old Testament, the commandments were for God’s Chosen People not only a heavy responsibility to be lived out in their daily lives, but they were also a boast, a source of pride, because they indicated the wisdom of God, the Giver of the Law. ATTENTION: with the New Testament that changes.
“Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
If we had to sum up what makes the New
Testament different in 10 words or less, that would be it. “Christ the power
of God and the wisdom of God.”
As precious as the 10 Commandments are
to us as a rule of life, we read them as Catholics in the light of the person
and mission of Jesus Christ. Jesus, Our Lord and Savior, is our unique point of
reference, the one and only absolute authority for us in our lives. Through His
Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, we come to know Jesus and His Will
for us.
For Christians, focusing our lives on
the Lord has always been tough, even back in the time of St. Paul, but I get
the impression that it is even harder today, because in the Western World at
least religiosity has fallen on hard times. The challenge to live the Christian
message was never easy (Hence the words of St. Paul: “Jews demand signs and
Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to
Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,”). The conflict or scandal here has to do
with the exclusivity of the person and message of Jesus Christ. The 10 Commandments
are guideposts, but to invest study and obedience in them alone is not enough.
Jesus, true God and true Man, must take center stage in our lives; He must animate
my living the Law. My attachment to Him is what breathes a soul into the Law
and thereby into my daily living.
Of course, the situation in the world today would be much
better, less dramatic, if people started with the 10 Commandments, if they
truly held to God’s Law. The Law is foundational; it is where we start; it
prepares the way of the Gospel and opens our hearts to Christ. Sadly however, in
our day a general lack of respect for God’s Law puts us at a disadvantage in
terms of knowing Christ. We must deal with our disadvantage, with that loss of
appreciation for good old-time religion, by which I mean the best cultural
Catholicism has to offer. Religiosity does not seem any longer to be the
binding thread which holds society together, as indeed it did for millennia and
up until just decades ago. This type of religiosity applied not only to
Catholics but to all the other groups who are party to the Judeo-Christian
tradition. Sadly, today none of these groups or institutions seems to count for
much in our secularized world. You get the impression that people nowadays
think it quaint that for most of human history a given people was not
considered a people at all, that a culture was worthless if it was not somehow
built up on God. God and His Law for all of history was what made a people blessed.
Divine precept established a people and gave it something to be proud of. That
was true of the Old Testament and since the dawn of the Christian era has gone
radically farther and been thoroughly personalized; the Son of God has taken
center stage. The Law is anchored in Jesus, the only Way, the only Truth, and
as such the Life of the world.
It is in that sense that we understand
today’s Gospel. Jesus drove out the buyers and sellers, with all their wares,
Jesus drove them out of the Temple. He took over and established right order in
God’s House, the House of His Heavenly Father as He said. He spoke then of the
true Temple, not of stones and mortar, but the Temple of His Body, which His
enemies would crush on the Cross, but that He would raise up from the grave in
three days. In the era of the New Testament old-time religion reaches
fulfillment in the person of Jesus, God made Man.
Question!
How is your Lenten time of prayer and penance going? Is it helping you to open
your heart to our Lord and Savior, allowing Him to command in your life? My
message would be: Do not be shy of that possibility! Do not be ashamed of
choosing the very best for yourself personally, and by your witness and good
example for the world around you as well. Start with renewed attention for the
Law which can bring you genuine wisdom, but do not stop there! Turn your life
over to Christ! Let Him reign in your heart! His is the power and the glory.
“Jews demand signs and Greeks look
for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and
foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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