Third Sunday of Lent (B – Violet)
ANTIPHON (cf. Psalm 25 (24):15-17)
My eyes are always on the Lord, for he rescues my feet from the snare. Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor.
INTRODUCTION:
The Decalogue, in the first reading, declares that the appropriate response to God’s liberation is for the people to obey God’s commandments as a charter of their freedom. In his zeal for God’s house, Jesus cleanses the temple, reacting against a kind of worship without a soul, against a religion motivated mainly by the pursuit of material gain. He is the living temple through which we who believe have access to the father. We serve God with a loving heart.
FIRST READING (Exodus 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17)
The Lord gave the Ten Commandments to Moses so that people might know that true worship consists in serving God with loving hearts.
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 (Psalm 19:8-11; Response: John 6:68c)
R – Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
1. The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple. (R)
2. The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye. (R)
3. The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just. (R)
4. They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb. (R)
SECOND READING (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)
Paul proclaims that it is in Jesus’ cross that we learn the sublime wisdom of God. In his infinite knowledge and love, God gives us his Son to redeem us by his suffering.
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 (John 3:16)
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son; so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
GOSPEL: (John 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.
REFLECTION:
The picture of Jesus in today’s Gospel (shown below) is a far cry from the “Sweet Jesus” we find printed in stampitas and holy pictures. “Cleansing” the Temple of sellers of sacrificial animals and of moneychangers, the image is closer to the ”Angry Christ” — the expressionist artist Alfonso Ossorio’s mural ”Angry Christ,” found in St. Joseph the Worker Chapel in Victorias, Negros Occidental. This chapel is popularly known as the ”Angry Christ Church.”
The action of Jesus in the Temple is not simply driving away those who make noise and disturbance in the house of God. Otherwise, it would have pleased even the Temple authorities, just as many priests would be if barangay tanods (barrio police officer) would clear the church precincts of vendors during Sunday Masses. But to drive out the animals required for sacrifice and to shut down the exchange of foreign coinage are in effect to shut down the function of the Temple as a place of worship. For this reason, the ”Jews” (read: ”Temple authorities”) are indignant and they demand by what authority Jesus does this offense. They ask, ”What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus’ answer is enigmatic: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The evangelist says that Jesus is speaking of his own body, which will be ”destroyed” when he is put to death, but then be raised up” when he rises from the dead. Jesus is pointing to the time when his glorified body will replace the material Temple of Jerusalem. The reconciling function of the Temple sacrifices will be replaced, once and for all, by the saving effects of his death on the cross. And as the glorified Lord, he will be the place” of encounter between God and his people, through the action of the Spirit who raised him from the dead. Thus, fulfilled are his words to the Samaritan woman by Jacob’s well-a time is coming when those who truly worship the Father will do so, not in material temples or shrines, whether in Jerusalem or elsewhere, but ”in Spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:23-24).
Zeal for God’s house drives Jesus’ action. He is driven by an intense desire for ”true worship” that will soon be realized. And he knows that this will be accomplished when the ”hour” arrives — the time of his return to the Father through his passion, death, and resurrection. At this time, the Spirit will be given to the believers.
Because of his zeal for the honor of God and for his mission, Jesus becomes a person of contradiction. This zeal determines and seals his fate-but it also tells us what kind of person he is. Jesus is not being ”violent” to people. He drives away the merchants, but does not strike them. Jesus is ”violent” only to himself. His relatives take him as crazy because he has no more time for himself (Mk 3:21). He causes his mother pain and anxiety because he must be about his heavenly Father’s business (Lk 2:49). He takes no food because his food is to do the will of the heavenly Father (Jn 4:34). Indeed, Jesus is being ”foolish” for God. But it is this foolishness that makes possible our salvation.
—oOo—
CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PERSONS: Renewed Servant-Leaders for the New Evangelization by Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM
Topic: Church: Community of Rehabilitated Sinners
The Vatican II document on the Church, Lumen Gentium, notes that ”the Church, embracing in its bosom sinners, [is] at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal” (LG 8). This same perspective (the dual condition of holiness and sinfulness in the Church) is expressed in the CBCP Pastoral Letter for the year 2018.
Our Bishops speak of ”some dismal shadows, brought about by some of our Clergy and Consecrated Persons themselves. There were occasions of frailty and scandals that sadden us. Such misconducts call for sincere reflection and humble repentance and reparation… May our Priests and Consecrated Persons, in their weakness and woundedness, continue to serve and guide fellow sinners with the joy of the Gospel that leads to the fullness of life.”
The Bishops accurately note that ”renewal of the Church requires the renewal of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons.” We agree, and, at the same time, personally accept that this same conversion is asked personally of each of us. We sincerely strive to become ”rehabilitated sinners”!
NEXT SUNDAY: Maintaining a Close Relationship to God
COMMUNION ANTIPHON (Psalm 84 (83):4-5):
The sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for her young; by your altars, Lord of hosts, my King and my God, Blessed are they who dwell in your house, for ever singing your praise.
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The Mass Readings are from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org/bible/readings), Reflections by Fr. Gil A. Alinsangan, SSP is taken from the 4th March, 2018 edition of Sambuhay Missalette, printed in the Philippines by St. Paul’s Media Pastoral Ministry, and Angry Christ image courtesy of http://iloilocityboy.blogspot.com/2006/06/church-of-angry-christ_02.html. The views and opinions in this post are those of the authors and does not necessarily reflect those of the blog site.
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