Homily Third Sunday of Lent Year B

 

Reading 1: On the First Sunday of Lent we heard about the covenant which God made with Noah after the flood and the sign of that covenant was the rainbow. Last Sunday we heard the test that God put Abraham through by asking him to be obedient to their covenant by sacrificing Isaac his son. The obedience of Abraham to his relationship to God spared his son.  Today, we see the covenant that God made with the Israelites in the desert during their exodus from slavery in Egypt.

 

The Commandments were the way the people would reflect their relationship with God through obedience. The first three focus primarily on God.  The first Commandment acknowledges the oneness of God, who had delivered then versus the many humanly created gods of the pagans. Commandments two and three reflect the holiness of God and the need to reflect this through worship. The last seven commandments deal with right relationship with each other. Love of God and love of neighbor.

 

Though the people confirmed their acceptance of their relationship with God and one another and offered sacrifice to seal their covenant with God, we know it took them 40 years of wandering in the desert before they could truly affirm their relationship. They were a rebellious, stiff-neck people, who were still self-centered rather than other-centered. They complained continually and did not trust God but sought rather to do things their way.

 

St Augustine described sin as being caved in on oneself. Sin closes us in on ourselves whereas love draws us out of ourselves. As long as they remained in that state of rebellion and disobedience, they were not ready to enter the land of promise and the joy of freedom.

 

Gospel: On the First Sunday of Lent we reflected on the temptations of Jesus. He came to confront Satan and to restore right relationship with the Father, who loves us. Last Sunday, we reflected on the Transfiguration, when Jesus was prepared for his upcoming death on the cross for our sake. He experienced the glory that he had before his becoming man and the glory he would experience again in his resurrected body. At the same time the Transfiguration was also meant to be a grace for the three disciples, preparing them for Jesus’ passion and death on the cross. They were told to listen to him.

 

Today, we see where Jesus’ focus is on, namely, restoring the right relationship between the people and God. Though they had entered into a covenant with God, they were not faithful to it. Like us they made their own human adaptations and gave it their own interpretations. The Temple was the sacred place of God’s presence among his people. It was a place of worship and praise. In time, for human reasons and some personal benefits, it became also a place of commerce.

 

Jesus by his actions showed the zeal we should have for the Lord. “My Father’s house is a house of worship.” The response of the religious leaders, who had sanctioned the commercial activities, was to demand the source of Jesus’ authority. What sign supports Jesus’ actions?  Jesus pointed to his upcoming death on the cross and the resurrection. These will be the sign to the people who he really was, the Messiah. It would demonstrate his zeal for the Father, by doing his will and being obedient even to the death on the cross.

 

How zealot are we for God? How zealot are we in the discipline of Lent? How zealot are we in seeking the Lord’s will in our life?

 

Reading 2: On the first Sunday of Lent we were reminded that Jesus suffered and died for our sins and brought back to life by the Spirit. We experience salvation through the waters of baptism as Noah was saved by water. Last Sunday, we were reminded that if God did not spare his own son but allowed him to give his life for us because of his great love, what more can God do to show us the depth of his love. Today, we heard that a central mystery of our faith is Christ crucified. This sign of the Father’s love was a stumbling block to the Jews, who sought signs and to the Greeks, who accepted what was rational. For a man to die on a cross was foolishness. It does not make sense rationally.

 

How can the death of a man on the cross be anything but weakness? Where is the victory? Paul said the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. For Jesus didn’t just die but he rose from the deal. By these events he saved us from eternal destruction. We have been reconciled back to God. We now have access to eternal life with God, when before we were doomed to eternal alienation by virtue of our sins. Praise God for his mercy and love. 

"Obeying God is listening to God, having an open heart to follow the path that God points out to  us. Obedience to God is listening to God and it set us free" (Pope Francis).

Even though Peter and his companions at Jesus' transfiguration heard the voice of God telling them to listen to the words of Jesus concerning his suffering and death as Messiah, they were not able to. Why? They knew Jesus but they didn't really know the real Jesus. Even though they acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, their understanding did not include a suffering Messiah, but a triumphant one. It was only after the death and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit, that their minds were open and their hears transformed. So much so, that in the face of being threatened by the Sanhedrin, if they did not stop preaching Jesus as the Messiah, Peter's response was: "It is better for us to obey God than to obey men". Peter embraced the true freedom that comes with obeying God. How obedient are we in all matters that pertain to our relationship with him?

Third Sunday of Lent: Gospel B

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

· This is the first of three Passovers that John mentions in his Gospel. The other two are found in Jn 6:4 and 13:1.

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." His disciples recalled the words of scripture, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 

· In the synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Mark the cleansing of the Temple by Jesus takes place at the end of his ministry just prior to his passion. But for John it fits better theologically here. It sets the stage for his ministry.

· The sheep and oxen and doves were the animals offered in sacrifice in the Temple. The doves were what the poor could afford. Recall that this was what Joseph and Mary could afford when they presented Jesus in the Temple. (Lk 2:24)

· “Zeal for your house…” Look up Ps 69:10.

· When have we felt such zeal for God’s glory?

· Do we feel at times the same is happening in our churches today?

At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 

· This is one of the charges that will be hurled against Jesus during his trial before the leaders.

· How often do we look for signs, when God is looking for response to the signs he has already given us of his love?

· The greatest and final sign of Jesus’ true identity is his death and resurrection. But even this will not be enough for some.

Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.

· Even though many people believed in him, their faith would be shaken by his arrest and death. Even the apostles faltered at the time of his death. Only the fact of the resurrection restored them.

· How strong is our faith in Jesus? Where have we faltered in our journey?

· Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. What needs to be cleansed within us so that God may be better glorified?

We look more like Peter in his response to the word of God. Having been told by the Father to listen to Jesus, sometime later Peter was able to act on that admonition. After Jesus' teaching on giving the disciples his Body to eat and his Blood to drink, many disciples left Jesus. Peter's response was: "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and we recognize that you are the Christ, the Son of God." In that instance, he heard and he submitted without  understanding. Unfortunately, he could not do the same when Jesus spoke about his upcoming passion and death. Even when Jesus forewarned Peter that before the crock crows twice Peter would deny him. Peter objected vehemently. But he failed when pressed. How attentive do we listen with our hearts to God's word? How often we to succumb like Peter? What can we do but get up and start again.

"This is my Beloved Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him." Do we listen with our ears or hear with our heart? Do we listen attentively to every word or do we have selective hearing? Do we listen, seeking understanding, or do we question everything we hear with skepticism?  What is more important, the person speaking, or the words spoken? The Father's voice told the three disciples, witnessing Jesus being transfigured by his past and future glory, to listen to him. They had just witness a glimpse of Jesus true identity in his transfiguration. In reality, the Father was telling them to accept what Jesus is telling them as truth, because of who he is. In accepting his word they were to submit to  him in obedience. How attentive do we listen with our hearts to God's word?

"Man is never wholly free from temptation...but with patience and true humility we become stronger than any enemy. The patience and humility required to defeat the enemy come by following Christ every day and from learning to build our life not outside of him or as if he did not exist, but in him and with him, because he is the source of true life. In contrast to this is the temptation to remove God, to order our lives and world on our own, relying solely on our own abilities. This is why in Jesus God speaks to man in an unexpected way, with a unique and concrete closeness, full of love, because God has now become incarnate and enters the world of man to take sin upon himself, to overcome evil and bring man back into the world of God" (Pope Benedict XVI).

Temptation and sin are part of the human experience, with two exceptions, Jesus, because he is God and Man, and Mary, because of God's prevenient grace in lieu of being the Mother of Jesus. Without the grace of God and our cooperation, it would be hard for us not to fall into sin because of concupiscence. Only in Jesus, who in his humanity has shown us how to confront the many arrows Satan throws at us, can we be victorious. We must never fight Satan on our own. We should always let Jesus fight him, as we stand behind Jesus.

 "Sin is that process which makes us change our hearts from good to bad, which takes us downhill, something which grows, slowly grows, then infects others and ultimately excuses itself....When we find ourselves in a sin, in a fall, yes, we must go to ask the Lord for forgiveness, it is the first step that we must take....But then ask yourselves, how did I come to fall there? How did this process start in my soul? How did it grow? Who have I infected? And how in the end did I justify myself for falling?" (Pope Francis)

The Devil is a cunning creature, who has perfected his art of tempting us and deceiving us. He starts with small enticements that seem insignificant and harmless at first. But in reality they could be the beginnings of a deeper future pitfall. One step leads to another and one misstep leads to another. He is patient. He convinces us that it is not a big deal. It is like cooking a frog. You start with the frog in a pot of room temperature water on the stove. Then gradually you increase the fire, letting the frog adjust to the heat. The frog doesn't jump out of the pot. Eventually the frog is cooked. This is the process the Devil uses with us, unless unlike the frog, we jump out of its net by the grace of God.