Saturday, 2 March, St. Rose of Lima
in Garretson
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
Ex 20:1-17
1 Cor 1:22-25
Jn 2:13-25
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
How’s your Lent
going? Here we are at the 3rd Sunday already! From the Book of
Exodus we are called to be mindful of the 10 Commandments. That is about as
good a plan for Lent as one could think of: to see how you measure up to the
big ten. And so the 1st Reading for today can form a lesson to carry
us through another week of our Lenten retreat. Both in the passage from St.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians which makes up our 2nd Reading, and
in the account from John’s Gospel of Jesus cleansing the Temple by chasing out
the buyers and sellers with a whip of cords we have a ponderous reflection on
the person of Jesus Christ: but we proclaim Christ
crucified… Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God… Zeal for your house will consume me… and
they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.
Lent should
probably divide the spirits. It should push us personally to take a stance,
both morally in terms of living out the 10 Commandments and in having us witness
in all we say and do to Jesus for Who He truly is as in faith we profess Him: but we proclaim Christ crucified… Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God… Zeal for your house will consume me… and they came
to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.
It is certainly
true that the Lord Jesus embodies a rule for life. He is the teacher like no
other, but His very way of being among us makes Christ so much more than a lawgiver.
In the Lord we encounter in a real person the power of God and the wisdom of
God… which is to say that we come face to face with the living God. Like
the Apostles, facing Jesus should disarm us as surely as it did them.
Just how much are we; how much are
you and I truly believers? Has our Lent given space to Christ in us? The verse from
the responsorial [Lord, you have the words of
everlasting life] hearkens
back to the standoff in John’s Gospel over the Bread of Life discourse. There Jesus
tells His listeners, I am the Bread of Life come down from heaven. He who
eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have life in Me. A goodly part of
the crowd walks away as they find His claims to be altogether too much. Jesus
challenges His disciples, are you going to leave me too? They respond, “Lord,
to whom shall we go, you have the words of everlasting life”.
It is sort of funny/sad how embarrassed or
ashamed we can be about the Lord Jesus Christ when we encounter Him at full
stature, as He truly is. Should it be any wonder that people walk away from the
Church, walk away from Jesus and His message? I don’t mean to walk away out of
indifference or disgust at the weakness of faith, the laxity or hypocrisy of
people who claim to be pillars of the Church. Sadly enough, we see that kind of
walking away all too often, especially among our young people, who have never
been challenged by the faith of their parents, which is not really faith at
all, but rather social conformity out of indifference.
No, people should
leave the Church for a much better reason. They should pull out their hair and
run the other way because they are encountering the Lord Who has come into His
Temple to sweep clean the threshing floor of chaff, so to speak. We don’t want
Catholics to be frightful nags, but rather people who stand in awe of Christ
among us. Our encounter, our witness should be to the Good Shepherd Who lays
down His life for the flock… but we proclaim Christ crucified… Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God… Zeal for your house will consume me… and
they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.
How is your Lent going? Is it opening
you up in awe to Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Has it made you
more eager to get down on your knees before Him? Are you in the habit of making
a good confession for Easter? Maybe with the 10 Commandments in the docket this
would be the week to do that examination of conscience and prepare yourself for
that Lenten/Easter confession.
Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God… His zeal should be the one not to drive
me away but to draw me toward Him, to consume me with love for Him.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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