Third Sunday of Lent
Year B
Lectionary: 29
Reading I
Ex 20:1-17
In those days, God delivered all these commandments:
“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,
inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
the one who takes his name in vain.
“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your beast,
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
OR:
Ex 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17
In those days, God delivered all these commandments:
“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 take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
the one who takes his name in vain.
“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the Lord, your God, is giving you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
Responsorial Psalm
19:8, 9, 10, 11
R. (John 6:68c) Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
Reading II
1 Cor 1:22-25
Brothers and sisters:
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Verse Before the Gospel
Jn 3:16
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
Gospel
Jn 2:13-25
Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
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.
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.
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.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
God so loved us that He gave us the gift of The Law to guide us and to show us a way to live that would bring us the most joy and happiness. When this was revealed first to the Jewish People it became a code of conduct for them to follow. It became the foundation of their culture; being found in all aspects of their lives and worship. With The Law came a fear of punishment and a fear of disappointing God. With the Revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God there was a change in thought and the way The Law was approached. The Apostle Paul mentions this change in his Letter to the Romans:
“In the same way, my brothers, you also were put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions, awakened by the law, worked in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, dead to what held us captive, so that we may serve in the newness of the spirit and not under the obsolete law.”
What he means is that with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the price for all of our sins has been paid. There should be no fear of punishment under the Law but, now being alive in the spirit, we should follow The Law out of love for Jesus Christ. The Law and what we gain from Sacred Scripture should be seen as instruction and a way to experience the Love of God more fully in our lives. The pages of Sacred Scriptures and the Teachings of the Church offer a true guide towards The Father because these all come from God. Looking at these things through The Revelation of Jesus Christ helps us understand them more fully and in the proper way since Jesus is indeed the Word made flesh.
God’s creation is all around us and we are a part of that creation. To live our lives correctly we need to listen to what He says about His creation and build our lives around His expectations. The culmination of these expectations comes through Jesus Christ. The culmination of Jesus Christ is what He did for us so that we may receive eternal life. The Apostle Paul’s words today emphasize this point:
“...but we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
During the Season of Lent we are encouraged to focus on the Crucified Christ; the Human Christ who gave up everything so that we could receive everything in return. Before we can fully know God we need to know Christ and familiarize ourselves with Him. It was Jesus’ intent to come down to our level so we can experience Him without any obstacles or barriers that might be created through our perceptions of God or because of a feeling of unworthiness that we might feel in the presence of God. It is through the Human Christ that we can get to know our God without the natural separation of man from God that has its origins in Original Sin. In the Creation Story we became witnesses to the type of relationship that God once had with us. It was personable and intimate. The Human Christ has the capability to bring us back to the way it was.
God wants to love us and us to love Him in an intimate relationship. By focusing intently on Jesus Christ and including Him in our lives is the logical first step. When we allow Him to enter our thoughts He will then ignite our spirit. He will merge with us and our lives will then belong to Him. We will then come to a point where we don’t know where we end and Christ begins because, as Jesus says, The Kingdom of God is within us.
It is natural for us to search for validation for things that we do in our life. It is a way of convincing ourselves that what we are doing is correct or the best at that time. This can sometimes get in the way of a relationship with Jesus Christ. We can find ourselves searching for the wrong thing when, in fact, what we are searching for is directly in front of us. Following the teachings of God and the teachings of The Church will lead us to God who we just might be searching too hard for without noticing that He has been with us the entire time. Listening to what God is saying through Sacred Scripture and approaching The Human Christ through prayer and meditation is what we have been instructed to do. Out of love we need to follow these instructions instead of designing our own pathway that can contradict what we have been told by God. Jesus has already told us that He is the way to the Father so why do we have to make it more difficult than it is? Lent is all about simplifying things and bringing them down to their most basic form. It is there where we can encounter Jesus Christ, form a relationship with Him, and then approach the Father. When this process is enacted upon we will then be propelled forward open and ready to receive God’s love which will then guide us further while raising ourselves up to the highest of heights.
Deacon Tom
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
We are temples of the Holy Spirit. Christ cleanses the physical temple in Jerusalem of all that is not leading people to God. We ourselves must be cleansed of all that does not lead us to God.
The first reading today is from the Book of Exodus and gives us the commandments of the Lord. Knowing the commandments of the Lord and striving to live in our lives these commandments is one of the way of being cleansed for God. We cannot achieve our own salvation but we can strive to cooperate with what God is asking of us and has asked of His People throughout the ages. The Book of Exodus makes it clear that God wants His People for Himself and is jealous in His love for us. This is a good jealousy that leads us to salvation and assures us that God is always there striving to love us and draw us to Himself.
Lent is a wonderful time to reflect on our own responses to God’s love. First we can always ask ourselves: Do I really believe that God loves me, just as I am right now? Do I believe that God is my ally in seeking to cleanse my life of all that impedes my relationship with God? Do I really trust the love of this God, who never wants to destroy me but who always wants me to be for Him?
The second reading is from the First Letter to the Corinthians. Saint Paul is clear that he proclaims Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. We can imagine how odd it must have sounded to people of the time of Saint Paul to say that a Savior had actually come and was crucified—but that the Crucified One was and is God! Even today people find it very difficult to believe that Jesus is Lord and God. We can think of a Eastern song that proclaims: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! That is the heart of our Christian proclamation. We must believe that Jesus is fully human and fully God, that Jesus lived among us, that Jesus was crucified for us—and yes, Jesus rose from the dead for us.
Over and over we return to the incredible Good News: Christ rose from the dead! Christ is risen! He died for us, but He rose for us as well, to show us that there is another life and that there is life after death and that we are all invited to share in this Divine Life.
Today’s section of the Gospel of Saint John reflects on the cleansing of the temple and shows us Jesus telling those who doubt Him: “Destroy this temple and I shall raise it up in three days.” Those around Him did not understand until after the Resurrection. Jesus spoke to His followers and to others with clarity, even when they could not yet understand what He was saying.
Do we listen to the Lord? Can we believe His words? Lent prepares us to celebrate the death and resurrection of the Lord—when we have faith. Let us walk in the way of the Lord.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip
hese are mysterious readings today on this third Sunday of Lent! The first reading, from Exodus, is simply the great commandments given to us by God. But the text seems to speak of a jealous God who inflicts punishment on the children of those who hate Him and blessings on the children of those who love Him.
Yet, at a human level, probably all of understand the truth of this kind of statement. It is not that God is inflicting punishments on children, it is only that the effects of the ways that our parents live truly touch our lives to the core. Thus, very often, the life of the child is formed by the way its parents lived while the child was young. Parents who are truly seeking God seem often to be able to pass that desire for God on to their children. And parents who ignore God also pass that attitude on to their children. The children of thieves are often thieves and the children of really virtuous parents are often virtuous. There are always exceptions, of course, but in general, this is how life works.
The second reading is about proclaiming a crucified Christ. This phrase does not strike us as so scandalous because we are people who have been exposed to the idea of a crucified Christ. To the Jews, Paul says, a crucified Christ is a stumbling block. That is because the Messiah that the Jewish people await—from their point of view—could not be killed. And a stumbling block to the Gentiles because a Messiah who is killed is obviously not very successful!
Paul wants us to know that a crucified Christ is truly the wisdom of God. We know from other parts of Paul’s writings that this crucified God, Messiah, is truly the way that God acts in our world. And for those who believe is it truly wisdom. We must embrace death to come to the Resurrection. Once again, even in human terms, this is wonderful wisdom. The alcoholic must embrace the death of his or her addiction in order to remain sober. The lustful person must allow lust to die in order to become chaste. And Jesus Himself tells us that if we want to live, we must die to self.
The Gospel is the story of the cleansing of the temple—a truly remarkable episode in the life of Jesus! The whole Christian tradition does not generally think of Jesus as having anger at all, and so Christians thinkers have to find ways to justify these angry actions of Jesus. But the Gospel today does not describe Jesus as angry, only as determined that the temple will be a place of prayer.
One of the challenges of today’s readings is whether we are able simply to accept behavior that is inappropriate, or do we do something about it? So very often most of us try to avoid such situations. Today, there are tough questions: what do we think about the possibility of war? What do we think about the death penalty? What do we think about abortion? What do we think about birth control? What do we think about the goodness or badness of the economic policies of our country?
These are questions that can make us squirm, no matter what side we come down on! We recognize that whatever our opinion, at least some others will be opposed to it. And we humans don’t like that kind of opposition. That is why there was a saying: don’t discuss religion or politics!
But we are followers of Christ and so we must seek for ways to live that will pass on a truly divinely blessed life to those who come after us. We are Christians and so we want to embrace a crucified Christ and the notion that the salvation of the world comes about by embracing death. We are a people that accepts that life must be purified, just as the temple was purified. Within ourselves, we must get rid of all that keeps us away from God and all the works of the world that do not give glory to God. In that way, our lives become more and more focused on the one thing necessary: doing the will of God!
Let us ask today that the temple of our own being may be cleansed!
CHRIST IN THE DESERT MONASTERY
Lent around the world
Denmark
The last Sunday before Lent begins is called “Fastelavn.” Cream- or jam-filled buns are eaten and children dress up in costumes. A barrel filled with candy is beaten, much like a Mexican piñata, and the two children who break the barrel are crowned the Cat King and Cat Queen (because the barrel used to contain a live cat instead of candy.)
Greece
The Monday before Ash Wednesday, called Kathari Theftera, or Clean Monday, is a national holiday in Greece. Families go to the countryside and beaches for picnics and kite-flying. Greek Orthodox Christians give up all meat and animal products during Lent, and eat beans, orzo and pastas. Cookies and cakes are permitted as long as butter is omitted.
England
The arrival of Lent is marked by making pancakes and also holding pancake races. The British Isles also have one of the most beloved Lenten customs of eating hot cross buns to symbolize the Cross. During the Middle Ages, the English traditionally marked Laetare Sunday with the celebration of “Mothering” Sunday, so-called because apprentices were given the day to go and visit their “mother churches,” the churches where they were baptized.
Newfoundland, Canada
Various items are baked into pancakes on Mardi Gras. The person who gets a coin will be rich; a ring, will marry; a nail, will become a carpenter; and a thimble, will become a tailor.
Poland
Shrove Tuesday is called “Sledziowka” (“Sledz” is the word for herring.) Various dishes of herring are typically served that day.
Goa, India
Catholics have their own version of Carnival with three days of music, dancing and feasting, culminating in a Mass. Notably, the Indian Catholics have traditionally been joined by Hindu and Muslim neighbors in the festivities. A similar festival is held in Kerala, where Catholics hold the Raasa parade on the day before Ash Wednesday. The name Raasa is derived from the Sanskrit for “fun,” and the festival likewise includes music and dance as well as fireworks; it also ends with a Mass. There is no feast, although there is the Chembeduppu ceremony in which offerings of raw or half-cooked rice are placed in large copper vessels (chembu) at the churches. After the Mass, the copper vessels are carried in a procession, with golden and silver crosses, flags and bands.
Ireland
When it comes to abstinence on Fridays during Lent, the tradition in Catholic countries, of course, is that fish is eaten in place of meat. The Irish typically eat fish soup on Fridays. In the Caribbean, meanwhile, the seafood of choice is cockles.
Middle East
Among the Melkite Catholics of Jordan, Syria and other parts of the Middle East, fasting during Lent entails abstaining from meat, dairy products, eggs, fish, olive oil and alcohol.
Mexico
The final Friday of Lent is devoted to Our Lady. Known as Viernes de Dolores, “Friday of Sorrows,” altars are set up in churches and homes in her honor. On the fourth Friday in Oaxaca, called la Samaritana, aquas frescas, fruit drinks and ice cream are given to passersby in honor of the Samaritan woman who gave Jesus water at the well.
Germany
In some parts of Germany, old Christmas trees are burned during Lent to welcome in spring (Lent being the old Germanic for “spring.”) Holy Week is also honored by the staging of processions and passion plays to remind the faithful of Our Lord’s suffering. The most famous of these is held every 10 years in Oberammergau, Germany, a custom that dates back to 1633 when the people of the town vowed to stage a passion play should God be merciful and end an outbreak of the plague. The first play was held the next year. Holy Thursday is known in Germany as “Green Thursday” (Grundonnerstag), for reasons that remain a mystery. The same name is used among the Czechs and the Slovaks. Normally, green foods are eaten, especially green salads and spinach.
Slovakia
On Palm Sunday, called Kvetna, or Flower Sunday, after the morning Mass, children in villages gathered behind a maypole and went through the town singing a song about Christ journeying to Jerusalem.
Bulgaria
The Lazarouvane festival is celebrated on the Saturday before Easter and honors spring and young girls. A beloved event every year, the Lazarouvane represents a kind of debut for girls. They gather on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, decorate the gates of the village with willow twigs, and then walk through the village singing. The next day, they make Palm Sunday wreaths. According to superstition, young girls who refuse to take part will never find a husband.
Needless to say, the day is also used for marriage proposals.
Philippines
On Good Friday some of the faithful in the town of San Pedro in the Philippines actually endure crucifixion as well as flagellation with sharp-tipped whips. The crucifixions do not last long enough to cause serious injury or death. Passion plays or sinakulo are also often performed during Lent. These plays are performed over several nights during Holy Week. On Holy Thursday, the most common activity among Catholics has been to visit three, seven, nine or even 14 churches. The custom of the churches is based on keeping vigil in the spirit of Christ’s journey to Gethsemane after the Last Supper. The practice likely began with the pilgrims who made their way to Rome to visit the seven great pilgrim churches.
Czech Republic
From Holy Thursday night, the bells of churches fell silent across parts of Europe, such as in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg. Children were told that the bells were quiet because they had gone to Rome to make confession. As there were no bells, children would be sent out with wooden clappers to call the villagers and townspeople to services for the rest of the Triduum. With dawn on Easter morning, the bells began to ring once more. In the Czech Republic, the Thursday of Holy Week is called Soot-Sweeping or Black Wednesday because chimneys were traditionally cleaned this day to prepare for Easter.
Malta
The Wednesday of Holy Week is known as Drums’ Wednesday because children go to church and drum on chairs to create the sound of thunder. The tradition of Visita Iglesia (visiting churches) is popular. Some families will visit 14 churches, with each church providing one of the Stations of the Cross. A special almond and honey cake, called kwarezimal, is a Lenten highlight on the island. Honey-coated fried bread filled with spinach is another favorite.
Russia
Orthodox Christians give up all animal products, omit meat and forgo oil and wine on weekdays.
Sweden
Pancakes are also eaten on “Fat Tuesday,” traditionally accompanied by bowls of pea soup.
On Holy Thursday, children dress as witches and receive candy and Easter eggs.
Italy
Bottles of holy water are traditionally passed out during Lent for use in blessing homes.
United States
In many Midwestern cities in the United States settled by Polish immigrants, pączki, a doughnutlike pastry, are eaten just before Lent, especially on Fat Tuesday.
Bermuda
Families fly kites made with wooden sticks on Good Friday to represent both the cross that Jesus died on and his Ascension into heaven.
In the Past
Rigorous fasting and abstinence during Lent was common in the past. In some areas, only one meal a day was taken during the entire 40 days. Other fasting practices included eating only bread and water; not eating until 3 p.m.; and eliminating all meat, eggs, dairy and fruit.
Interestingly, in some areas of Ireland, Wales, Germany and the Arctic, beaver tail was considered “fish” and could be consumed during the fast.
Even today, in parts of Michigan, muskrat is among the food items approved to consume on days of abstinence, including the Fridays of Lent, because the mammal lives in the water.
Counting the Days
If you count the days from Ash Wednesday until Easter, you will realize there are more than 40. The reason for this is that Sundays are not included because they are always celebrations of the Resurrection and, since the Second Vatican Council, Good Friday and Holy Saturday are considered part of the Easter Triduum instead of the last two days of Lent.
This is not true for Eastern Orthodox and Eastern-rite Catholics. They begin Lent on Clean Monday, the Monday before Ash Wednesday, and include Sundays. Lent therefore ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday and Holy Week are considered separate from Lent itself.
Matthew Bunson, editor of The Catholic Answer and the Catholic Almanac, contributed to this story.
A Different Perspective on Lent: Ramadan Similarities
For many Catholics, the approaching of Lent means discerning what pleasurable good they will be giving up from Ash Wednesday until the Resurrection of Our Lord on Easter Sunday. Whether it be a favorite dessert or hobby, this act of penance, along with giving up meat on Fridays, is an integral part of how many Catholics observe Lent. The Muslim fast of Ramadan, necessarily, seems more arduous than giving up chocolate bars for 40 days.
During the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, all Muslims, barring those with a chronic illness or in old age, fast from sunrise until sunset. This month of fasting involves abstinence from food, drink, and sinful behavior, placing, instead, a special emphasis on charitable deeds and prayer.
Where would Muslims get such an extreme idea of fasting from?
Some scholars speculate that the early leaders of Islam took over medieval Catholic Lenten practices. The medieval Lent, for many today, would seem onerous, much too difficult for the modern world. For our Latin ancestors, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday were “black fasts,” meaning days with only one meal after sunset without meats, eggs, or dairy products. Throughout the rest of Lent, our medieval forbearers would go without food until 3 p.m., the hour of Our Lord’s death, and would continue to abstain from meat, eggs, and dairy products. The faithful were also encouraged to refrain from fish, though they were allowed to drink water, as well as watered down beer (due to sanitary concerns). This Lenten fast would climax during the Holy Triduum, for the “Paschal Fast,”a black fast beginning sundown on Maundy Thursday lasting until the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday.
As time progressed the Catholic Church continuously modified the Lenten practice, reducing it to abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, such that the faithful are limited to only one full meal and two smaller meals that do not equal one full meal. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops also encourages the fast on Good Friday to extend until Easter Vigil, to “honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily His Resurrection.” This mindset of preparation for Christ’s resurrection can be extended to the entirety of Lent.
While reverting to thirteenth century fasting practices may seem extreme, Catholics can alternatively use the ancient traditions to shape how they approach their current Lenten fast. What may be seen as intense practices, in medieval Lent and Ramadan fasting, can also be regarded as a reminder of the beauty of fasting and penance. St. Augustine says, “Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity.” Despite the differences behind why Catholics and Muslims fast, at the heart of both religions is a desire to purify oneself. For Catholics, Ramadan can serve as a reminder of the devotional intensity with which our forebears once approached Lent and try to apply such importance and intentionality to a modern fast.
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