First
Reading – Exodus 20:1-17 ©
Responsorial
Psalm – Psalm 18(19):8-11 ©
Second
Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 ©
Gospel
Acclamation – John 11:25, 26
Alternative
Acclamation – John 3:16
The Gospel According to John 2:13 –
25 ©
(NJB)
Listen!
Consider the reading from The Book of Exodus
and this reflection on the law:
There is fairness here, for the most part; the
reading articulates a basic understanding of justice. Like any law, insofar as
it approximates true justice, it approximates the divine will.
Insofar as it does…it does, insofar as if fails it
fails.
Be mindful.
It is easy for human beings to misunderstand,
misconstrue or misapply even the simplest tenants of the law.
All of the laws in our sacred books were written by
human beings. They represent a myriad of interests. In some cases the law attempts
to express divine justice, in other cases the law is directed to human
interests. Even the best expressions of the law may be turned to bad ends by a
bad will.
It is fallacious to suggest that the law itself is divine;
such commentary amounts to little more than propaganda. We must engage the law
with our hearts and minds, to understand it and relate it to the unique challenges
of each generation.
The beginning of wisdom is this:
God, the creator of the universe, God never spoke
these words. Neither did God deliver the people from Egypt. God does not care
about idols, and graven images, God’s only concern is that human beings are not
enslaved to them.
Slavery itself is an affront to God, who created all
of us free, and desires that we remain that way. Spiritual slavery, mental
slavery, material slavery, economic slavery…are an affront to God.
Know this.
God does not punish people for the crimes of their
parents, or reward people for their good deeds. God does not intervene in human
events.
Law is the servant of justice and not the other way
around.
As children of God and servants of justice we must
remember not to lie, cheat or steal; we should honor our parents who brought us
into this world, and honor all people we encounter just the same. We should
honor the stranger among us, the alien and the foreigner…as Jesus said, we
should honor our enemy…we should honor them with the same love that God has
shown us.
Be mindful of the apostle and his teaching for today.
It is like a shadow play, all smoke and mirrors, an exercise in the art of
misdirection. His words do not serve as a foundation for anything, let alone
faith in a loving and caring God, they are better suited for turning believers
into sycophants.
Beware of the preacher who cannot make a rational
argument, who asks you to abandon reason.
Beware of the preacher who cannot prove anything,
then asks you to ignore all other proofs.
Beware of the preacher who threatens while promising
power as a reward for blind obedience.
These preachers are a con-artists.
We do not purchase eternal life with the currency of
belief, grace is not transactional.
We were made by God, and we were made for eternity;
God has a plan for us and desires our faith in it.
The gift of life is free. We do not have to ask for
it, just as we did not ask to be born, like true love, eternal life comes to us
without conditions.
If you place your trust in the way, you will
find peace in the world, and you will understand that the things we endure
here: pain, suffering, alienation, uncertainty, hunger, disease and death, that
all of these things are temporary.
Have faith; there is no condemnation in God nor in
the ministry of Jesus, in God and Jesus there is hope and love, there is
justice and there is mercy, in the divine there is grace…all grace, and
humility.
Listen!
No one is condemned because they refuse to believe
in the scriptures, in Christian doctrine or the dogma of the church. To spread
such news is contrary to the gospel, reflecting the principles of an
extortionist.
Remember!
There is no magic power in a name. Faith in Jesus brings
liberation from the exigencies of the here and now, of our present reality,
which is a blessing to everyone who finds it and to all whom they encounter.
Consider the Gospel reading for the day.
This reading moves in many directions.
The writers of John’s Gospel mixed into this
reading a commentary on the social corruption of their day, more than a century
after the death of Jesus. In doing so they distanced themselves from the memory
of Jesus and the disciples; they did so propagandistically.
It was unnecessary for the writers to comment
on the Jewish Passover as if it were an alien tradition; this was unnecessary unless
they were writing to people who were not themselves Jewish and their desire was
to distance Christianity from its Jewish origins.
Let us be clear, Jesus was a Jew. He was a
Rabbi, a leader in the synagogue and man of the diaspora. He was a Pharisee. To
Jesus and the disciples the Passover was simply the Passover…it was not the not
the “Jewish” Passover. These subtle shifts in the narrative reveal the Gospel
writer’s intentions.
There was corruption in the temple. There has
always been corruption in the priesthood (in every priesthood there has ever
been), both before the time of Jesus and after.
Religious institutions are organized along
commercial lines as much (or more) as they are organized along spiritual lines.
Knowing this, it is wise to apply this critique to the entire community of
believers, not just the hierarchy. We should apply it to the working of the
church in all times and all places…including
your own Church in the here and now.
First Reading – Exodus 20:1-17 ©
The Law Given at Sinai
God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am the
Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery.
‘You shall have no gods except me.
‘You shall not make yourself a carved image or
any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under
the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your
God, am a jealous God and I punish the father’s fault in the sons, the
grandsons, and the great-grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness to
thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
‘You shall not utter the name of the Lord your
God to misuse it, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who utters his
name to misuse it.
‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.
For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a
sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor
your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals
nor the stranger who lives with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens
and the earth and the sea and all that these hold, but on the seventh day he
rested; that is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred.
‘Honour your father and your mother so that
you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given to you.
‘You shall not kill.
‘You shall not commit adultery.
‘You shall not steal.
‘You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbour.
‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his
ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.’
Responsorial
Psalm – Psalm 18(19):8-11 ©
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it
revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it
gives wisdom to the simple.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they
gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it
gives light to the eyes.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and
all of them just.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
They are more to be desired than gold,
than
the purest of gold
and sweeter are they than honey,
than
honey from the comb.
You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.
Second
Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 ©
The Crucified Christ, the Power and Wisdom of
God
While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks
look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an
obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who
have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power
and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and
God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Gospel
Acclamation – John 11:25, 26
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal
glory!
I am the resurrection and the life, says the
Lord; whoever believes in me will never die.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal
glory!
Alternative Acclamation – John 3:16
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal
glory!
God loved the world so much that he gave his
only Son: everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal
glory!
The Gospel According to John 2:13 –
25 ©
Destroy this Sanctuary and in Three Days I Will Raise
It Up
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John
and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone by themselves. There
in their presence he was transfigured: his clothes became dazzlingly white,
whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with
Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter spoke to Jesus: ‘Rabbi,’ he
said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for
you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say; they were
so frightened. And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a
voice from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ Then
suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them any more but only
Jesus.
As they came down from the mountain he warned
them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen
from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves
they discussed what ‘rising from the dead’ could mean.
The Third Sunday of Lent (Year B)
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