Homily
Third Sunday of Lent Year B: Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
·
Exod
20:1-17; · Ps 19:8-11;
· 1 Cor 1:22-25
· John 2: 13-25
Our
Relationship with Christ, Son of the Law Giver!
The readings of last Sunday stressed
the offering of ourselves and beings, personal feelings, our freedom,
what we love, our ears and hands, our bodies, our families, jobs, our opinions,
our illnesses, sufferings, fears, joys, faith, hope, and treasures to the Lord!
This Sunday, there is a theme, a sense of what we must do in order to continuously
be in good relationship with God and our neighbors. It involves, among other things, obedience of
faith, holiness of life, of our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. It involves abiding in God’s laws of love that he has loved and taught
us through the ages, cultures and times( Heb 1:1-5). Acknowledging his presence; worshipping him through Christ,
the New temple, new law giver, and by cherishing the wisdom of the cross in our day-to-day Christian
journeys, as witnessed in today’s scriptures.
In
the first reading we are reminded of the importance of the sinaitic covenant. We are
reminded of the importance of the 10 commandments, the apodictic laws, a sense
of monotheism, worshiping God alone, respecting and honoring not only our
parents but others in our Christian journeys and in our covenanted journeys. Of course we are equally reminded
of the role of Moses, leadership that is lacking in some communities today, the place of the ancient mount Sinai, God
dwelling place (Exod 20:1-17cf. Deut 5:6-21) in ancient times. In addition to
this reminder, it is worth noting that these laws (case or apodictic laws) and
norms of life, through his prophet, Moses, on Mount Sinai were not meant to
make life difficult for anyone, but to highlight God’s loving covenant relationship,
and biding presence with his people. It is an invitation to obedience,
contemplation, action and loving, responsible relationship.
As
Psalm 19 would put it, these laws of the Lord are perfect, refreshing the soul,
more precious than gold, sweeter than syrup and honey (Ps 19). It shows us how
to live and love one another. It underlines the worship and respect we owe our
one true God, and our neighbors, and families in all circumstances of life,
recognizing what God has done for us, continued in Christ events, the wisdom
and power of God the Father, that Saint Paul stresses in today’s 2nd
reading.
Paul
says, “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” (1 Cor 1:22-25).
Christ,
the power of God, the wisdom of God, the “new Moses” sticks to the Wisdom
of his Father in his ministry of love to all, the new law of Jesus, the
forgiveness, the beatitude, obedience, liberating, healing, orderliness and
cleansing of the Temple, the mountain, the dwelling place of God.
Christ
is the fulfilment of the law. He is the new temple. No wonder in the today’s Gospel (John 2:13-25),
he invites us to keep this temple pure. This temple must remain not only as a
universal place of prayer, opened for all, but must be kept clean (Mk 11:17,
Isa 56:7 and Jer 7:11), not restricted to the aristocratic ruling groups. It
must not be turned into a market place for gambling and exchanging money of the
ruling elites for profits. The love of Christ is not for sell nor the conditions for relationship laid down for us in scriptures and in the teachings of the Church. No wonder in the Gospel Christ drives the idolaters, money changers away from the Temple and assures us that even though the physical ancient temple was destroyed he would rebuilt in three days.
By this, and in his spiritual wisdom, Christ is referring to his body, his death and the resurrection. This is what we celebrate in every liturgical season, including Lent. We celebrate today Christ,the new Temple who gathers the poor and the rich alike, and unites everyone in the sacrament of his body and blood. He is the new Temple of humanity for those who strives and lives the spirit of Lent.
He
is the new temple that teaches us to love God by how we nicely treat one
another with dignity, cherishing the image of the temple of the Holy Spirit, respecting the dignity of every human person and God's given nature, the earth, the planet as emphasized in the Laudato Si' of Pope Francis. This is also in line with what Jean-Batiste Chautard has said in his book The Soul of the Apostolate.
He says, “In the soul of anyone called by God to high sanctity the life is
always essentially a mixture of contemplation (love of God) and action (love of
neighbor).”
In the spirit of lent, may be we inspired by today’s scripture passages, to
reexamine our obedience of faith to divine precepts, as taught by Christ, the new Moses, the divine law giver and law keeper, the new temple who died for us ,and raised by God his father. And as taught by the Church, and
by Saint Paul in most of his letters. May we also reexamine how we worship devoutly and how we wisely, lawfully, faithfully
embrace and care for God’s temple manifested in his creation.
Reflection
Questions:
1.
Which
of the 10 commandments, apodictic laws is most important to us?
2.
How
do we respond to these laws as fulfilled in Christ’s teachings and taught by Saint Paul "goodnews'( euangelion) to Jews and Gentiles?
3.
In
what ways do we assist others, especially members of our faith communities to faithfully care for one another, the temples of the Holy Spirit.
