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The Third Sunday of Lent
predmore.blogspot.com
March 4, 2018
Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm
19; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25
Moses gives the Ten Commandments
to the Israelites in the desert as a covenant with God. The church places
emphasis on this reading during Lent because it is the core of our moral code
that we can return to as we examine our consciences. The commandments honors
God and the people around us and Jesus later summarizes them as attitudes that
“love God” and “love others as ourselves.” The commandments help us develop a
loving attitude and positive regard for those who are around us. Thereby, we evaluate
the strength of our relationships and notice where we need to reform our lives.
In the Gospel, Jesus enters the
Temple upon his arrival in Jerusalem and he is upset because of the excessive
commerce that is conducted there. It is understandable that money changers
would exchange Roman coins for Jewish ones that could be used to purchase sacrificial
offerings or pay the Temple tax, but the practice evolved into something more
than what was intended. Jesus is intent on restoring the relationship of Temple
worship to its rightful position in society. The House of God is to be restored
to a place of prayer.
Each of us has many relationships
that need mending. Today is a good day to start because we are entering into
the heart of Lent. As I have recently spent a great deal of time with the
elderly in nursing homes, I’ve seen how many of them lament that some relationships
remained unreconciled or they have not forgiven themselves for choices they
have made. Life is too short to not give the extra effort to forgive or to ask
for forgiveness.
This Lent, why don’t we try an
unusual step? Let us ask another person to forgive us for our actions that did
not bring about the most positive outcome. Too often, I hear people say that
they must forgive a person for an offense done unto them. While that is
admirable, it is still an action that another person has done against us. In other
words, we are still blaming the other person while trying to forget about the
whole experience. When was the last time we owned up to our own failings and
asked that someone else forgive the ways we acted? This is where true humility
and repentance occurs.
Acknowledging our own offenses is
not easy, especially in a climate where everyone is promoting their own right
to be respected. I know there are times when I do not act lovingly to a person
who offends me. I may not fight back, but I might not give an inch either. My
actions might not provide the best conditions for continued dialogue, and
without that, we will both walk away offended. A better way forward for me is to
use these occasions as opportunities to teach others about what I need and to
express how I am feeling, but the more important work is to pay more attention
to how they are feeling and asking about what they need. Kindness and tolerance
for different perspectives will help us move towards reconciliation and greater
mutual understanding.
In the end, what type of person do I
want to be? I want to be known for kindness and gentleness, for caring for
another person who is in need, as one who is open to reform as I learn how I am
sinful, and as one who loves Christ and wants others to know of his power to
heal their souls. Christ can reconcile our relationships. I know it. I’ve seen
it. I’ve experienced it. It often calls for us to take the first step, to reach
out and to ask for forgiveness, and to ask for another chance. The miracles
that follow always come from God’s approval of our steps. This is the culture
we want to build during Lent. These are the reforms God calls us to make. God’s
temple is restored and rebuilt each time we turn over that stone and restore it
to its proper place.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday:
(2 Kings 5) Naaman, the king of Aram, contracted leprosy. A captured girl
wanted him to present himself to the prophet in Samaria. Naaman was instructed
to wash seven times in the Jordan River and his flesh became again like the
flesh of a little child.
Tuesday:
(Daniel 3) Azariah asked for the Lord’s deliverance. He asked that the Lord
deal with them in kindness and with great mercy.
Wednesday:
(Deuteronomy 4) Moses spoke to the people asking them to hear and heed the
statutes and decrees he received from the Lord. Do not forget the things the
Lord has done.
Thursday:
(Jeremiah 7) They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their
backs, not their faces, to me.
Friday:
(Hosea 14) Return to God, who forgives all iniquity. The Lord will heal their
defection and love them freely for his wrath is turned away from them.
Saturday:
(Hosea 6) Come, let us return to the Lord. It is love that I desire, not
sacrificed, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Gospel:
Monday:
(Luke 4) Jesus reminded people that a prophet is without honor in his own land
and he called the mind the story of Naaman, the foreigner from Syria, who was
cured.
Tuesday:
(Matthew 18) Peter asked Jesus about forgiveness. He said to forgiven seventy-seven
time because unless each person forgives from the heart, he will not be
forgiven.
Wednesday:
(Matthew 5) Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Each
commandment is to be observed; the one who does it will be the greatest in the Kingdom.
Thursday:
(Luke 11) Jesus drove out a demon that was mute and was then accused of being
in league with Beelzebul. Jesus explained to them how that does not make much
sense.
Friday:
(Mark 12) A scribe asked Jesus to declare which is the first commandment. Love
the God with you whole soul and your neighbor like yourself. The scribe was
well pleased.
Saturday:
(Luke 18) Jesus told a parable about prayer to those who were convinced of
their own righteousness and despised everyone else. The one who is humble is
favored by God.
Saints of the Week
March 7: Perpetua and Felicity (d. 203), were
two catechumens arrest and killed during a persecution in North Africa.
Perpetua was a young noblewoman who was killed alongside her husband, their
young son, and their pregnant slave, Felicity. They were baptized while under
arrest and would not renounce their faith. Felicity was excused from death
because it was unlawful to kill a pregnant woman, but she gave birth
prematurely three days before the planned execution. They were flogged, taunted
by wild beasts, and then beheaded. They appear in the First Eucharistic Prayer.
March 8: John of God (1495-1550), was a
Portuguese soldier of fortune who was brought to Spain as a child. He was a
slave master, shepherd, crusader, bodyguard and peddler. As he realized that he
frittered away his life, he sought counsel from John of Avila. He then
dedicated his life to care for the sick and the poor. He formed the Order of
Brothers Hospitallers and is the patron saint of hospitals and the sick.
March 9: Frances of Rome (1384-1440), was born
into a wealthy Roman family and was married at age 13. She bore six children
and when two died in infancy, she worked to bring the needs of the less
fortunate to others. She took food to the poor, visited the sick, cared for the
needy in their homes. When other women joined in her mission, they became
Benedictine oblates. She founded a monastery for them after her husband's
death.
This Week in Jesuit History
· Mar
4, 1873. At Rome, the government officials presented themselves at the
Professed House of the Gesu for the purpose of appropriating the greater part
of the building.
· Mar
5, 1887. At Rome, the obsequies of Fr. Beckx who died on the previous day. He
was 91 years of age and had governed the Society as General for 34 years. He is
buried at San Lorenzo in Campo Verano.
· Mar
6, 1643. Arnauld, the Jansenist, published his famous tract against Frequent
Communion. Fifteen French bishops gave it their approval, whereas the Jesuit
fathers at once exposed the dangers in it.
· Mar
7, 1581. The Fifth General Congregation of the Society bound the professors of
the Society to adhere to the doctrine of St Thomas Aquinas.
· Mar
8, 1773. At Centi, in the diocese of Bologna, Cardinal Malvezzi paid a surprise
visit to the Jesuit house, demanding to inspect their accounting books.
· Mar
9, 1764. In France, all Jesuits who refused to abjure the Society were ordered
by Parliament to leave the realm within a month. Out of 4,000 members only five
priests, two scholastics, and eight brothers took the required oath; the others
were driven into exile.
· Mar
10, 1615. The martyrdom in Glasgow, Scotland, of St John Ogilvie.
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