20180304
ENCOUNTERING GOD AND HIS LOVE IN THE CRUCIFIED
CHRIST
04 MARCH, 2018, Sunday, 3rd Week of Lent
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First
reading
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Exodus 20:1-17 ©
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The
Law given at Sinai
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God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am the Lord your God who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
‘You shall have no gods except me.
‘You shall not make yourself a carved image or any
likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the
earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God,
am a jealous God and I punish the father’s fault in the sons, the grandsons,
and the great-grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness to thousands
of those who love me and keep my commandments.
‘You shall not utter the name of the Lord your God to
misuse it, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name
to misuse it.
‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six
days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath
for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son
nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the
stranger who lives with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the
earth and the sea and all that these hold, but on the seventh day he rested;
that is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred.
‘Honour your father and your mother so that you may
have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given to you.
‘You shall not kill.
‘You shall not commit adultery.
‘You shall not steal.
‘You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbour.
‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall
not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or
his donkey, or anything that is his.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 18(19):8-11 ©
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You have the message of eternal life, O Lord.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
You have the message of eternal life, O Lord.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
You have the message of eternal life, O Lord.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
You have the message of eternal life, O Lord.
They are more to be desired than gold,
than the purest of gold
and sweeter are they than honey,
than honey from the comb.
You have the message of eternal life, O Lord.
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Second reading
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1 Corinthians 1:22-25 ©
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The crucified Christ, the power and wisdom of God
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While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom,
here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they
cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called,
whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of
God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is
stronger than human strength.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn11:25, 26
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Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Or
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Jn3:16
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Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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John 2:13-25 ©
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Destroy this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up
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Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in
the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the
money-changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord,
he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the
money-changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the
pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house
into a market.’ Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for
your house will devour me. The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you
show us to justify what you have done?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this
sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has
taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary: are you going to raise it up in
three days?’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when
Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and
they believed the scripture and the words he had said.
During his
stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when they saw the
signs that he gave, but Jesus knew them all and did not trust himself to them;
he never needed evidence about any man; he could tell what a man had in him.
ENCOUNTERING GOD AND HIS LOVE IN THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EX 20:1-17; 1 COR 1:22-25; JN 2:13-25]
Where do we
encounter God today? Today, the liturgy speaks of encountering God through
the daily events in our lives, especially in our relationships with
our fellowmen. This is certainly important today because in the light of
secularization and materialism, many people are feeling the absence of God in
their daily life, which leads them to live a life not only without a belief in
God but a life without morals and ethics as well.
In the first
reading, the command to observe the Ten Commandments is to
remind us that God is found in daily living. The Commandments given
by God through Moses are of course helpful guidelines to build our relationship
with God and with our neighbours. However, observance of these
commandments alone cannot help us to encounter God when these are observed in a
legalistic manner. It does not help us to become more loving
people. Instead, we can either become self-righteous and proud if we are
able to fulfil the laws, thinking that we deserve special treatment from God;
or disheartened, if we break the laws, leading to self-condemnation. At
any rate, just following the Ten Commandments, which incidentally are negative
in proposition, would only lead to a minimalist behaviour where we are more
concerned with what we should not do than what we should do. Not having
done anything wrong does not mean that we have done anything good. Thus,
a legalistic consideration of these commandments can lead to complacency and
the sin of omission, which can at times be even more harmful than the sin of
commission. Furthermore, a law-based Christianity will ultimately make us
hate God, since we have to earn His love or else He will punish us. We
feel that God is our policeman and therefore to be truly free, we must be
emancipated from Him.
If God is not
found in the mere observance of the Laws, then where is God to be found? Perhaps God
is found in the Temple and at worship. That is what most
people think, and they are not wrong. The Temple, for the Jews, was the
place where they could meet God. In the Old Testament, God dwelt in the
Temple at Jerusalem, especially in the Ark of the Covenant kept in the Holy of
Holies. It was the place where worshippers expressed their devotion to
God by offering sacrifices. It was here that they experienced the grace,
mercy and love of God and were assured of their prayers being heard.
Unfortunately,
during the time of Christ and even before Him, the Temple was
no longer a place to encounter God. Because in the Temple, the
priests were making a good profit out of their worshippers by charging exorbitant
fees for the animals they sold for sacrifices in the temple, or short-changing
their secular money for the temple money. Indeed, it became a place where
people, especially the poor, were cheated of their money. Furthermore, we
know that the Temple was divided into a few courts, beginning with the
innermost court, the Holy of Holies, then the court of the priests, then the
Israelites, then the women and finally the Gentiles, which was the outermost
court. It was simply impossible to have any real contact with God at the
outer court as it was a market place. At any rate, religion became
reduced to a mere offering of sacrifices without any relationship with God or
with their fellowmen, since there was no justice in the way they lived their lives.
If God is not
found in the Temple, where else can we find Him? Perhaps in miracles and
blessings! Today,
there are Christians that preach a prosperity gospel. They seek miracles,
just like the Jews in today’s second reading, or knowledge, which is power, like
the Greeks. They say that if you become a Christian, God will give you
all the material blessings in this life. For example, if you give money
to the Church, you will be given tenfold back in return. If you pray for
a physical or psychological healing or whatever sickness, you will definitely
recover. Miracles will happen. There is no need to see a
doctor. Just have faith. And if your prayers are not granted, it is
because you have no faith. So, come to Jesus and there will be no more
sufferings, you will have prosperity, wealth, power and health.
But this kind of prosperity
gospel is so unlike Jesus in the gospel. As St Paul says, we preach
the crucified Christ. Last Sunday, Mark wrote that upon coming down from
the Mountain, Jesus prophesied about His imminent passion and death.
Indeed, Jesus never sought publicity and sensation in His work and
miracles. He healed the poor and the sick simply out of compassion and
love and not to put up a spectacular show to impress people. It had
nothing to do with a show of power. Notably, St John mentions that,
“during his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when
they saw the signs that he gave, but Jesus knew them all and did not trust
himself to them.” Clearly, Jesus did not want to win us over by power and
might but only by love. For this reason, Jesus carried our infirmities upon
Himself. He endured sufferings for and with us. He never promised
us that if we follow Him, there will be no more sufferings. On the
contrary, He says that whoever wishes to follow Him must pick up his cross and
follow after Him.
So, if God is
not found in the observance of the Commandments or in the Temple or in material
blessings, then where can we find God? He is found in Jesus
the Crucified and Risen Christ who is the presence of God in
person. This is the privileged place of our encounter with God. This is
the central message of today’s liturgy. St Paul urges us to contemplate
on the face of the Crucified Christ. For in the Crucified Christ, we see
the “power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human
wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” St
John says He is the New Temple of God in His resurrection.
How is the
power and wisdom of God shown in the crucified Christ? Precisely, when we
contemplate on Christ Jesus crucified, we will understand the depth of God’s
love and mercy for us. Christ did not die for us because we are saints
and law abiding people, but He died for us weaklings and sinners. In His
death on the cross, He shows us that real power is love, not the power of the
world. Such is the incomprehensible wisdom of God. For in His
weakness and death, Jesus reveals the power of God which is the power of
love. Only those capable of making themselves vulnerable are able to love
and feel with others. The paradox of life is that those who are truly
strong are those who can accept weaknesses in life. Those who cannot
accept failures are those who are truly weak.
And so, as we
enter into the Third Sunday of Lent, the liturgy invites us to recognize that Jesus
is the New Law, the New Moses replacing the Old Law. As the new law,
it fulfills all the Old Testament laws, for in the final analysis, there is
only one law, which is the law of love. He is the New Temple replacing
the Old Temple. He is the embodiment of God’s unconditional mercy and love.
This is what St John wants to teach us. In Jesus, who is the New Temple
of God, we encounter God in Him. And because He is the new Temple of God,
the Church becomes the embodiment of His presence. As the crucified
and resurrected Christ, He lives in the Church, not simply as a building, but
in His body, the new people of God. Thus, we see Jesus truly as the
Wisdom and Power of God in human lowliness, especially in human sufferings and
vulnerable love.
So what is
needed?
Simply faith! Faith in Jesus as the revelation of God’s love and mercy!
We must surrender in faith. Twice in today’s gospel, we
read, “when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said
this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said” and “during
his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when they saw
the signs that he gave.” This is what is asked of us at Lent.
Truly, we experience the power and mercy of God not so much through rituals and
observances of commandments but through a personal encounter with the crucified
and risen Lord. Yes, this is what we are called to do so that we can
truly encounter God, not only in the Transfiguration but in the crucified
Christ. It is in and through our sufferings with Christ that we will encounter
Him.
Certainly, the
Lord in His mercy also graces us with a strong experience of Him similar to the
Transfiguration experience, but such experiences are brief. At
any rate, it is given in order to prepare us to meet the harsh trials of life,
especially in our sufferings. Indeed, Pope Benedict said that no one
lives “on Tabor” while on earth. That is why we have to walk by faith,
not by sight; through sufferings, by carrying our cross with Jesus to
find eternal life. It is our confidence in Christ Jesus, crucified and
risen, and through our contemplation of Him that will give us the strength to
love and overcome all trials and to find Him in our daily lives, especially in
times of suffering as we struggle against sins, temptations and our human frailties.
For by suffering and dying with Jesus, we share in the New Life of the
Resurrection.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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