Recently I upgraded my phone and it is as if I opened a Pandora box for phone scammers. I get so many calls from strange places (as far away as India, the Philippines and Africa). They all are trying to sell ‘you stuff’ (land, house, bitcoin shares etc.) and they all make that ‘without any effort’ (I repeat –without any effort) you can be all set. The world always has a lot that will fascinate us in this way, things it will sell us as our only security (social security) things that range may range from a career, lifestyle, status, possessions, positions or places and these may in fact work for a while, but for Christians and believers we do not (so we hope) fall for this ‘scam’. Our only social security is the hard choice, the hard discernment to center our lives on God- meaning, ‘the cross’ is our security. This is the point of the reading this Third Sunday of Lent. The First reading comes from the book of Exodus. The theme of Exodus is ‘God sets his people free’. The book is about the making of a covenant – God enters a special relationship with Israel. His identity is ‘I am who I am’ which is revealed to Moses, meaning a commitment to be always with his people and act on their behalf. On their part the Israelites had to renounce the worship of other gods or idols in order to belong exclusively to God.
“I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God."
The Ten Commandments require a personal response. These laws are not meant to limit one’s freedom, but to show the right way to goodness and happiness. The first three are vertical (regulate the relationship with God); the other seven are horizontal. They are concerned with one’s neighbor. Jesus summarizes them in two: the love of God and the Love of one’s neighbor as yourself, the hard choice to live by. These are our security. Listening to the commandants, how would you evaluate yourself and what gives you security in your life? How do you fair in keeping God and the love of neighbor at the center of your life? What besides God seems to recently take center stage in your life? Saint Paul asks in the second reading. What is it that will distinguish Christians from the Jews (those who believe in signs) and Greeks (those who believe on human wisdom)? ‘We proclaim Christ crucified!’ (The foolishness of God wiser than human wisdom, the weakness of God, stronger than human strength), do not idolize your leaders for we do not follow any human beings or institution. We are followers of Christ. The Temple played a central role in the liturgical life of Israel. But what had become of it? Gradually, a new worldly spirit had slowly penetrated its worship- the selling and buying of commodities (animals for sacrifice) had now taken over the true reason for the temple. Money changers had no regard for where they were (the sacred place) and they fleeced the poor pilgrims with exorbitant prices for profit (disregard of neighbor). It seems as if everything was in reverse order –the priority is now self-interest over the worship of God and love of neighbor. For Jesus, this temple is desecrated and it must be cleansed.
“Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
Jesus’ reaction of anger may be unexpected and shocking to many. And it is true that anger is a dangerous thing, but when do we need to react when something is blatantly wrong? Are there times we ought to be angry? How today we no longer get angry at the right things! (People get mad at people who do the right things!) Isn’t most of our anger motivated by self-interest or petty things?
The cross is our security (social security), when we speak up against injustice and are met with coldness but stay committed, when families live for each other without counting the cost and when we serve others, not to be simply compensated. We pray that the Lord gives us always the grace to keep him and the service of neighbor at the center of our lives, especially when it is hard.
~ Father Anthony
readings of the mass
SELECT HEREfor the Audio recording of the Readings of Sunday, March 7th, 2021, Third Sunday of Lent
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, March 7th, 2021, Third Sunday of Lent.
Reflections
Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 17th with Easter Sunday on April 4th
During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to seeking the Lord in prayer and reading Scripture, to service by giving alms, and to practice self-control through fasting. Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God's gifts—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents.
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
READ HERE a special Lenten message from Bishop Robert McManus, the Bishop of the Diocese of Worcester.
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the mass: march 7th, 2021, third sunday of lent
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