Homily: Third Sunday of Lent

Transcription

1 Homily: Third Sunday of Lent None of us really likes rules. Isn t this true? We seem to cringe at the fact that so many rules are placed on us during our life. No wonder the very first word we learn to speak besides mommy or daddy is the word no. There s something within us that wants to rebel against rules and rule makers. We don t like it when our schools tell us that we can t wear our hair in a certain way or that we can t wear certain clothing. We don t like it when our employer makes rules about us being at work on time or fraternizing with others on the job. We don t like it when the traffic cop stops us and tells us that we were driving over the speed limit. We don t like it when the IRS tells us that we have to pay taxes on our income. We don t like it when our government tells us that we can t do this and can t do that. Our entire lives are spent under the burden of rules. The Church is no different. It, too, has rules about how we are to conduct ourselves as people of faith. Sometimes the Church establishes rules that compel us to live in a certain way. There are rules about marriage and divorce; rules about attending Mass on Sunday; rules about not eating meat on Fridays during Lent, and so on. Some of these rules are simply matters of discipline that are intended to improve the spiritual quality of our lives. But some rules are more critical to our salvation. Take the 10 commandments as an example of these kinds of rules. When Moses and the Israelites were wandering through the desert for 40 years looking to enter the Promised Land, they were a rag tag group of people. There was really no central government to keep people in line. They belonged to different tribes and each tribe had its own rules to govern their people. We see this kind of problem in some parts of the Middle East even today. People adhere more to their tribal laws and customs than the more universal laws which might help them unite as one common people. So, in order to bring unity to the people who were going to inherit the Promised Land and form a nation, God saw fit to establish commandments which would lay out for the Israelites a model of faithful living. The Book of Exodus tells us that, when the Israelites camped at the base of Mt. Sinai, Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. It is there that God gave to Moses ten rules or commandments which were to be obeyed by the people. 1

2 These commandments cover the bases in terms of addressing what is necessary to have a right relationship with God and what is necessary to have a right relationship with others. The first three commandments deal with faithfulness to one God; avoiding false gods, use of God s name and worship of God. This third commandment is known as the Sabbath Law which indicated that the people rest from all activity and worship God on the 7 th day the Sabbath or day of rest. The remaining 7 commandments deal with matters which impact the well-being and unity of God s people. It begins with the 4 th commandment to honor one s father and mother and continues with prohibitions against killing, committing adultery, stealing, lying and coveting others property or spouses. These commandments eventually evolved into entire books of rules and laws that were imposed on the people when they came into the Promised Land. By the time Jesus was living, there were over 900 various laws that good Jews had to obey. They covered everything from how to wash your utensils and dishes; what kind of foods you could or could not eat; how to purify your hands before you eat; how to deal with sickness and illness; what kind of people you had to avoid; how you should worship God including the prayers you had to say and what you could and could not do on the Sabbath and, of course, what kind of donations you had to make to the Temple. Suffice it to say that trying to be a religious Jew became almost impossible. The Pharisees and religious leaders prided themselves on being law abiding Jews but they could make life miserable for the common people who struggled to even make ends meet. This is something that Jesus noticed in his lifetime and in his ministry. He saw that God s laws based on the original commandments had grown severely out of proportion. He saw what could happen when the religious leaders tried to make their man-made laws equal to God s laws. He saw how burdened the people were trying to fulfill the letter of the law. In coming to the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus noticed the people doing their best in fulfilling the religious laws which mandated that good Jews had to offer sacrifice in the Temple. But he saw a disconnect between the letter of the law and the true spirit of the 2

3 law. The Temple was about prayer and worship about people coming together to worship the goodness of God but the religious leaders and the merchants saw it as a business enterprise. The money changers made money from a law which said that the people could not use Roman money to purchase their animals for sacrifice so they had to change that coinage into a Jewish version of money. But, of course, there was a charge for doing this. Jesus might also have noticed that those selling birds, sheep, goats and even oxen were greatly inflating the cost of their animals for sacrifice. This put a burden on the poor who could not afford even a small bird to make their prayer offering. Not only that, but the hustle and bustle of the environment was contrary to the spirit of prayer that the Temple was intended to promote. So, growing angry, Jesus made a whip and began driving people out of the area. He overturned the money changers tables and chased the animals out. He said, Stop making my Father s house a marketplace. In another version of this story, he referred to it as a den of thieves. Clearly, in his eyes, the Temple and, in fact, Jewish worship, had become corrupted. It had nothing to do with the more urgent laws to love one s neighbor, to feed the hungry or clothe the naked, to care for the sick. This disconnect was unacceptable. When challenged by the religious leaders as to his authority to act in such a way, Jesus responded, Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up. He was referring now to the Temple of his own body which would be destroyed on the cross but raised up in three days. Of course, the people did not understand his words and would later accuse him of being a terrorist of sorts who was going to destroy the actual Temple. By replacing the value of the Temple building with the temple of his own body, Jesus was saying something important. He is the embodiment of true worship. He is the house of prayer. He is the sacrificial lamb whose blood would bring forgiveness to all. He is the Law of Love. From now on, true worshipers would worship God in Him. No longer would those who believed in him have to be burdened by the man made laws that were created for other purposes. Those who believe in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, could now embrace the law out of love of God and neighbor and not out of fear. Beginning with love of God in Christ, true believers could now worship in spirit and truth. 3

4 So, here we are today. We are part of a faith and a church that seems to have many laws. Some of those appear to be burdensome and some of them may seem outdated. But the real issue is how we choose to look at those laws. It s easy for us as Catholics to get bogged down in the letter of the law without recognizing and living the spirit of the law. Do we honor the rules and laws set down by our parents because we don t want to get punished for doing otherwise? Or do we honor our parents because we want our family to live in peace and harmony? Do we regret driving over the speed limit because we got caught and had to pay a hefty fine? Or do we regret the possibility of putting ourselves or others in danger? Do we honor laws regarding marriage and sexuality because we don t want God to condemn us to hell? Or do we honor such laws because they help establish healthy and loving relationships and families? Do we attend Mass on Sunday because we don t want God to convict us of a mortal sin? Or do we attend Mass because it is spiritually healthy for us and contributes to the well-being of those who worship with us? Do we avoid eating meat on Fridays during Lent because it s a sin? Or do we fast and abstain from meat because it promotes unity with the poor and helps discipline our bodies? In so many ways, we are invited by Christ the true law-giver to be obedient because he himself practiced obedience to his own Father out of love for us. We should be law abiding people because it is love that motivates us. Perhaps during Lent we can reexamine our motives for obedience and come to a more mature place as practitioners of God s law. 4

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