3rd Sunday of Lent
Exodus 20:1-17 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 John 2:13-25
Lent is a time for review, renewal and repentance. In so many ways it is the Christian’s season of self-examination before we renew our commitment to the Lord at Easter. It seems that examination of conscience in light of the Commandments and the sincerity and quality of our Worship of the Lord will lead us to an authentic expression of our Faith and religion. Our scripture readings of today’s Mass focus on the ‘Law of God’ and the ‘House of God’.
God called Moses to Mount Sinai in order to make a covenant for God’s people that would make them for God “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation”(Ex 19:6). The commandments and exhortations of the covenant were given at a sacred place – on a holy mountain. In their search for God the people had gone to images of false gods and worshipped them. God asserted “I am the Lord your God …. You shall have no other gods before me”. It was on this premise that God gave the Law to Moses. This Law is sacred and each detail of it will form the people of God to be Holy and be able to discern what is false and contrary to the Will of God.
‘The House of God’ is where God dwells. The old Temple system was a great idea at the time. It added a new dignity to worship. It was a sacred place where people could mentally associate with God. It became the special place for offering sacrifice. Sacrifice was the way people could make a tangible return to their God. But, as we see in the gospel reading today, the simple, quiet atmosphere of the temple gradually grew into a noisy, busy, worldly market place.
It can happen so easily. Familiarity can breed contempt. Our relaxed and careless practices can lose sight of the sacred and symbols or images can overshadow the reality. Jesus made a little whip of cord as a gesture to indicate the need to clear out the practices that grown up. He identified his own person with the Temple and promised that the renewed, ‘resurrected’ temple would be realised in three days. The Temple system had been destroyed by those who insisted on finicky regulations and legalistic details. It had lost the sense of sacred and the promise of God’s constant presence. We, today, can learn so much from this event in the life of Jesus. Now is the time for us to examine how authentic is our worship, how sacred are our churches, how dignified are our liturgies! Bishops, priests and those responsible for managing churches and parishes can be so occupied with administration that they have no energy to give to the preaching of the Good News and making it come alive. I believe that we need to carefully examine how we revere the Real Presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. So often the Tabernacle is treated as a kitchen cupboard and the ciboria as earthen vessels. We need to remind ourselves that here God dwells.
‘This IS My Body’. There is nothing more sacred in our lives or in our world. Our churches are indeed, as Jesus described them, ‘Houses of Prayer’ but they are also where Jesus is REALLY present. Let us pray that the word of God from today’s liturgy will encourage a renewed effort to give dignity and reverence to the Body of Christ.