Third Sunday of Lent
Year C
Lectionary: 30
Reading I
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law
Jethro,
the priest of Midian.
Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb,
the mountain of God.
There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in fire
flaming out of a bush.
As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush,
though on fire, was not consumed.
So Moses decided,
“I must go over to look at this remarkable sight,
and see why the bush is not burned.”
When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely,
God called out to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!”
He answered, “Here I am.”
God said, “Come no nearer!
Remove the sandals from your feet,
for the place where you stand is holy ground.
I am the God of your fathers, “ he continued,
“the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
But the LORD said,
“I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt
and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers,
so I know well what they are suffering.
Therefore I have come down to rescue them
from the hands of the Egyptians
and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land,
a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites
and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’
if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
God replied, “I am who am.”
Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites:
I AM sent me to you.”
God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites:
The LORD, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.
“This is my name forever;
thus am I to be remembered through all generations.”
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11.
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my
being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget
not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all
your ills,
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you
with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice
and the
rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his
deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to
anger and abounding in kindness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so
surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Reading II
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
that our ancestors were all under the cloud
and all passed through the sea,
and all of them were baptized into Moses
in the cloud and in the sea.
All ate the same spiritual food,
and all drank the same spiritual drink,
for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them,
and the rock was the Christ.
Yet God was not pleased with most of them,
for they were struck down in the desert.
These things happened as examples for us,
so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.
Do not grumble as some of them did,
and suffered death by the destroyer.
These things happened to them as an example,
and they have been written down as a warning to us,
upon whom the end of the ages has come.
Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure
should take care not to fall.
Verse Before the Gospel
Repent, says the Lord;
the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Gospel
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
We will all face challenges in our lives. Sometimes these can become overwhelming, and a feeling of hopelessness can set in. Hope is defined as, “The expectation of things to come.” It is central to our Christian faith. As the Apostle Paul said,
“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
These are known as the Theological Virtues, a high moral standard, which we should be following if we are to live our lives correctly and improve our relationship with God. If one of these things is removed, then our relationship collapses. Hopelessness, by its definition, means a lack of hope, further defined as a lack of expectation. As Christians, we are taught to expect God to influence our lives and to be present with us. This acknowledgement brings about a certain contentment and understanding that, regardless of what we are facing, we will be alright in the end. In fact, we will be stronger and better as a result. All our experiences should involve God. The only time we are separated from Him, is through our own decision to do so.
In the Scripture Reading today, God tells Moses that He is aware of the suffering of the Israelites. He is also aware of our sufferings, our needs, and what we want. He will relieve that suffering and comfort us just as He did the Israelites. He knows what we need more than what we know what we need, because our minds are continuously conflicted between what we need and what we want. These are two very different things that often confuse us, making us ask for the wrong things. Our focus then becomes blurred, causing disordered thoughts and unnecessary anxiety. The Season of Lent gives us an opportunity to examine this further. During these forty days, it is common for many of us to participate in a Lenten Fast, which involves eating only one meal a day at sunset. Throughout the day, experiencing hunger pains is very common. This can result in an awareness of the sacrifice that is being made and a deepening of prayer. It can also cause an examination of the self: “Do I want to eat, or do I need to eat?”
The human body is a beautiful creation. It is a machine that, if taken care of, functions properly and efficiently. Whatever calories, or fuel, is not used throughout the day, it is stored as fat for a time later when possibly less sustenance is available. Because of this, it is possible for the human body to survive for 30 days or more without food, depending on body fat. So, when the pangs of hunger come after only a mere 12 hours, the question is presented: “Do I want to eat or do I need to eat.” Once we begin to understand the difference, we can more deeply discern what is needed and what is wanted.
Through social engineering, we can easily be programmed to focus on what we want instead of what is needed for a joyous life. Going back to what Paul wrote in his Letter to the Corinthians, he indicated that nothing else truly matters except for Faith, Hope, and Love. Earthly desires tend to get in the way of these things. Often, even the supposed challenges that we face are centered around overcoming some sort of obstacle that prevents us from getting what we want instead of what we need. The needs are usually basic and, when fulfilled, is when we can then focus on what is more important: God. It is through God that true joy is realized.
No challenge that we face is too great to be overcome, for God is with us. It then becomes how we approach and react to these problems that make the difference: with God or without Him. With God, we are cultivated and cared for, bearing much fruit in our lives as a result. This fruit is described as Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” With these fruits, the earthly things will dissipate with spiritual things taking their place. Everything that we experience will take on a different perspective, including pain and suffering. Pain and suffering are no longer viewed as things to avoid, but to embrace. These things come from this world, while we should be overcoming them in favor of things that are spiritual in nature, thus conquering all things from this world, even death.
Jesus tells the people a parable about a tree bearing no fruit. Seen as useless and barren, the owner ordered it to be cut down. The gardener then asked the owner to give him one more year to nurture it and foster its growth. We have all been given that opportunity to bear fruit and grow. Jesus is the gardener who has given and continues to give us all the things necessary to live a joyous life. We just need to accept these things and let ourselves be taken care of. There can be no resistance in this area. Resistance means that we are preventing the Spirit from doing what is necessary for us to grow. This usually comes hand-in-hand with embracing the material aspects of this earth over that which is eternal. Materialism leads to an end that involves all that is physical, rot and decay, while the Fruit of the Spirit are forever.
No challenge is greater than God. No solution is beyond His reach. Having Hope in Him will bring about that solution and the joy that comes with it.
Deacon Tom
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