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Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 03-08-15, Third Sunday of Lent
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 03-08-15 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 03/07/2015 7:24:02 PM PST by Salvation

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To: annalex


Christ and the Samaritan Woman

Duccio di Buoninsegna

from 1310 until 1311
tempera and gold on panel
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

41 posted on 03/08/2015 3:36:19 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


Christ and the Samaritan woman

Pietro Perugino

1506-1507
Art Institute of Chicago

42 posted on 03/08/2015 3:36:55 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex
The Word Among Us

Meditation: John 2:13-25

3rd Sunday of Lent

Zeal for your house will consume me. (John 2:17)

If you remember just one thing from today’s Gospel, remember this: you are God’s temple. Just as Jesus cleared the Temple of all corrupting influences, he wants to cleanse us. Just as he was zealous for his Father’s house, he is zealous for each of us—for we are all temples of his Holy Spirit.

But let’s put this story in perspective. Remember how encouraging and supportive Jesus is throughout the Gospels. Remember how much he loves you. Remember, also, that he intercedes for you day after day. Jesus is zealous for us in his passionate love, and there are times when his passion is directed against the sin in us. That’s where we get the phrase the “wrath of God.”

We mar this beautiful temple of our lives when we allow sin to overtake us. Whenever sin rules us in this way, our temple gets a little more darkened, and that upsets the Lord. Of course, his anger is directed against our behavior, not against our hearts. But it is a passionate anger nonetheless.

So let’s choose never to cause the Lord to be angry with us. Let’s make sure that Jesus is first in our lives. Let’s make sure that we do not let any sin enter our lives and defile the temple of our hearts or our bodies. And if we should fall, let’s have the courage and the humility to confess our sins and be reconciled with the Lord. In short, let’s do everything we can to make the temple of our hearts as pure and holy as possible.

Let’s also pray for the courage to evangelize. There are many people in the world who are corrupting their temples. It’s up to us to reach out to them, beginning with our families and friends. We can help them to get right with God so that they can experience the passion of his love and not his wrath.

“Lord, let zeal for your house consume me. Send me into the world with the message of your passionate, all-encompassing love.”

Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19:8-11
1 Corinthians 1:22-25

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

Mass Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19:8-11; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25

1. In today's first reading we find the story of God's covenant with his people getting clearer and more specific in the now familiar story of the Ten Commandments? Unfortunately, the commandments and laws were so clear and specific that his people began to rely almost solely on their legal observance of these laws for salvation, rather than their faith in God. We can also fall into the danger of relying solely on our own strength to observe God's commandments and Church laws, rather than from the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. How can you make your faithfulness to God and Church teachings to be more in the spirit rather than just in the letter of the law? What steps can you take to increase your reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit as you try to live out each day as a Christian?

2. In the responsorial psalm, the psalmist says that the law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing, trustworthy, right, clear, pure, true, more precious than gold, and sweeter than syrup. What role do you believe that spiritual exercises such as prayer and Scripture reading played in forming such a positive view of God’s laws and commandments? How about you? In what ways do regular times of prayer and Scripture reading, and frequent reception of the Sacraments, affect your view of Church laws and teachings? Why is it dangerous to our walk of faith to substitute our own judgments and preferences for God's laws and truths, especially if they are at odds with certain areas of our lives?

3. In the second reading. St. Paul reminds us how easy it is to just seek signs and miracles, rather than trusting in the love and faithfulness of God and his promises to us. Why are signs and miracles insufficient in and of themselves to bring about and sustain a living faith and hope in the Lord?

4. St. Paul also reminds us that for “those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God,” but he challenges us with these words: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God stronger than human strength.” What do you believe these words mean? What steps can you take to increase your reliance on Jesus Christ and decrease your reliance on just your own strength?

5. In the Gospel reading, the words of Psalm 69:10 are applied to Jesus, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” What can you do, especially during the grace-filled Lenten and Easter seasons, to increase your own zeal for the things of God, and for God’s people and his Church?

6. The meditation begins with these words: “If you remember just one thing from today’s Gospel, remember this: you are God’s temple. Just as Jesus cleared the Temple of all corrupting influences, he wants to cleanse us. Just as he was zealous for his Father’s house, he is zealous for each of us—for we are all temples of his Holy Spirit.” What steps can you take during the remaining weeks of Lent to open yourself more to the Lord’s love and his desire to purify and cleanse you as a temple of his Holy Spirit? How can you implement the following Scripture from 1 John1:9? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

7. Take some time now to pray and ask the Lord to increase your zeal for him and his Church, and for all God’s people. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.


43 posted on 03/08/2015 3:50:01 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
A Christian Pilgrim

CHRIST CONTINUES TO CALL US TO REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION

07 Mar

CHRIST CONTINUES TO CALL US TO REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION

(A biblical refection on THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT [Year B], 8 March 2015)

Gospel Reading: John 2:13-25

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17 [Ex 20:1-3,7-9,12-17]; Psalms: Psalm 19:8-11; Second Reading: 1Corinthians 1:22-25

YESUS MEMBERSIHKAN BAIT ALLAH

The Scripture Text

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.  And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make My Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Thy house will consume me.” The Jews then said to Him, “What sign have You to show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He spoke of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did; but Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for He Himself knew what was in man. (Jn 2:13-25 RSV)

In most stories of the Gospel, Jesus Christ is depicted as gentle, kind, compassionate. However, in once scene at the temple, Lord Jesus is seen fuming mad (see John 2:15). Making a kind of whip of cords, He drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And He told those who sold the pigeon, “Take these things away; you shall not make My Father’s house a house of trade” (John 2:16).

Jesus was acting out of compassion for the poor people who were being exploited. Many of these had travelled from afar. The men were carrying their sacrificial lambs on their shoulders, the women carrying their sacrificial doves in little cages. When they got to the temple they were told by the religious authorities that their offerings would not be acceptable. Animals for sacrifice would have to be purchased from them. The religious authorities had created a captive market and were charging exorbitant prices, thus exploiting the people, ripping them off.

PEMBERSIHAN BAIT ALLAH - 101

In addition, the people who had come to worship were told that their money offerings were unacceptable and that they would have to go to the money changers’ tables and exchange their coins. But the exchange rate was unfair. Again the exploitation. Jesus seeing the situation waded into it. He recognized the need to protest against such injustice.

Jesus’ kind of anger was undoubtedly positive and wholesome, one that was directed to a just cause. Sometimes we Christians, have to have this kind of anger. Like the Lord, sometimes we have to speak out when we are confronted by obvious injustices and exploitations in our midst.

In this today’s Gospel, Jesus condemned the worship which had become commercialized and largely hypocritical but He did not stop there. He fully intended to replace it with the perfect form of worship, the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. When the temple officials demanded the sign for His authority, Jesus responded: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). The statement was admittedly obscure to the officials, but St. John, the evangelist explains to us that Jesus was referring to the temple of His body. It was a figure of speech. The inadequate worship with the temple would find perfection in the sacrifice of Jesus, the true temple of God. The animal offerings of Judaism would be replaced by the self-oblation of the Son of God in His death and resurrection.

Have we (you and I) ever “turned our Father’s house into a market place”? We have if we have considered them as just some kind of centers of mechanical worship, offering of masses without real communities of love and true spirit of caring.

We are now in the third week of Lent. Christ continues to call us to repentance and conversion but how many of us have been contented with merely window-dressing our hearts instead of changing them from within as to our motives, attitudes and desires. While there is still time left to Lent and to our life, let us listen to our Lord’s words with our hearts and not with our ears, lest we miss the meaning He intends for us.

Short Prayer: Heavenly Father, we invite You to come into our hearts and free us from anything that distracts us from our commitment to You. We love You, Father; our lives belong to You. Give us the power to follow Your commands and to serve You in gratitude and love. Amen. 


44 posted on 03/08/2015 4:02:41 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for March 8, 2015:

“Honor your father and your mother.” (Ex 20:12) For those with good relationships with their parents, this commandment can be easy to follow. For others, this can be difficult. Pray today for your parents, and ask God for reconciliation where needed.

45 posted on 03/08/2015 4:12:00 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Sunday Scripture Study

Third Sunday of Lent - Cycle  B

March 8, 2015

Click here for USCCB readings

Opening Prayer  

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17

Psalm: 19:8-11

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

Gospel Reading: John 2:13-25

 

QUESTIONS:

Closing Prayer

Catechism of the Catholic Church:  §§ 575, 583-586, 593, 994

 

Ask for me inward and outward strength, that I may not merely enjoy the reputation of being a Christian, but the reality.   –St. Ignatius of Antioch

46 posted on 03/08/2015 5:35:43 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Reflections from Scott Hahn

Spiritual Sacrifices: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Third Sunday of Lent

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 03.06.15 |

Jesus Driving Money Changers

Readings:
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19:8-11
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25

Jesus does not come to destroy the temple, but to fulfill it (see Matthew 5:17) - to reveal its true purpose in God’s saving plan.

He is the Lord the prophets said would come - to purify the temple, banish the merchants, and make it a house of prayer for all peoples (see Zechariah 14:21; Malachi 3:1-5; Isaiah 56:7).

The God who made the heavens and the earth, who brought Israel out of slavery, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands (see Acts 7:48; 2 Samuel 7:5).

Nor does He need offerings of oxen, sheep, or doves (see Psalm 50:7-13).

Notice in today’s First Reading that God did not originally command animal sacrifices - only that Israel heed His commandments (see Jeremiah 7:21-23; Amos 5:25).

His law was a gift of divine wisdom, as we sing in today’s Psalm. It was a law of love (see Matthew 22:36-40), perfectly expressed in Christ’s self-offering on the cross (see John 15:13)

This is the “sign” Jesus offers in the Gospel today - the sign that caused Jewish leaders to stumble, as Paul tells us in the Epistle.

Jesus’ body - destroyed on the cross and raised up three days later - is the new and true sanctuary. From the temple of His body, rivers of living water flow, the Spirit of grace that makes each of us a temple (see 1 Corinthians 3:16), and together builds us into a dwelling place of God (see Ephesians 2:22).

In the Eucharist we participate in His offering of His body and blood. This is the worship in Spirit and in truth that the Father desires (see John 4:23-24).

We are to offer praise as our sacrifice (see Psalm 50:14,23). This means imitating Christ - offering our bodies - all our intentions and actions in every circumstance, for the love of God and the love of others (see Hebrews 10:5-7; Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5).


47 posted on 03/08/2015 5:49:50 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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3rd Sunday of Lent, Sacred Space

 

The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/030815-third-sunday-lent.cfm

 

What really pushes your buttons?  What makes you angry?  What do I feel passionate about that I would defend with all my might? 

 

Maybe these are questions that we don’t often consciously think about until that moment comes when we’re pushed over the edge or when we can’t help but go into a defensive posture.  It might be a certain political or religious opinion. Such passion is good but when it leads to marked hostility and division, it’s simply gone too far.  We will fight tooth and nail over our entrenched sense of being right.  Or it certainly could be your children.  If one of your children is harmed or put in danger any good parent would immediately come to their defense.  Don’t stand between a baby bear and mother bear!

 

In our Gospel for this third Sunday of Lent we see Jesus in a rare display of anger. It’s not the picture of Jesus we often see.  His display of attack against the Pharisees aside, a kind of war of words, the Jesus of the Gospels is far more a man of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, healing, and a preacher of God’s word – a prophet of the good news of God’s mercy. Yet, the anger Jesus displays in this Gospel is not simply unfocused rage.  It is anger in the mode of the prophets of old who railed against injustice, blasphemy, and idolatry.

 

Yet, being as thoroughly Jewish as he was Jesus well knew the centrality of the Temple to the ancient Jewish people.  Temple worship was at the heart of their religious identity and a physical sign of their preeminent honor for Yahweh. All roads lead to Jerusalem and the Temple mount was where God dwelled among his people.  It was sacred ground and the rituals and laws protecting it were absolute.

 

Our first reading taken from the Book of Exodus 20 in the familiar Law of Sinai, the Ten Commandments, we hear of that absolute Law given by God to a people who were called to live in communion with one another.  Here God offers these unique chosen people a new and personal relationship with the true living God.  Unlike the gods of the pagans who only demanded worship, this living God invites and promises a new and unbroken Covenant. These commands became a kind of blueprint for a new life with God and our neighbor.

 

Within the sacred ritual of the Temple, that covenant was forever remembered and it became the place where the assembly would offer sacrifice on behalf of their sins in a constant reminder of this eternal relationship with God. So what was Jesus so fired-up about?  The selling of animals for sacrifice and the exchange of coins by travelers seeking to use appropriate coins in the Temple was in and of itself benign. But the faith had gone from a relational covenant with God to a crass and secular business operation – the selling of animals and exchange of money within the Temple itself. The sacredness and singular focus upon God had transformed to a financial opportunity for the few who thought nothing of using the veneer of religion for their gain.

 

Such duplicity, moved from outside the Temple area right into the Temple itself

 

in the court yard area, was a scandal and a sacrilege of Temple worship where anything unclean was forbidden. 

 

So, Jesus rails against hypocrisy, dishonesty, and the mixing of pagan and sacred practices.  Like the prophets of old Jesus “cleanses” the Temple of such filth:  “He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the Temple area . . . and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables . . . Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”  If that didn’t get the attention of the Temple authorities nothing could.

 

At this the Jews . . . said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?” A question not out of line actually.  What gives you the authority to throw these changers and animals out of here?

 

In the prophetic mode Jesus makes a statement that at least on the surface was a bit strange: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 

 

When they heard Jesus make such a claim the authorities no doubt were either shocked or laughed sarcastically, likely both. But what about his inner circle?  They knew the statement must have a deeper spiritual meaning and John adds that Jesus was referring to his own body, an illusion to the resurrection.

 

But that claim became the focus of this event.  In the risen Lord, a new age has begun and the ancient Temple worship was abolished.  It is the person of Christ Jesus we look to and in his Church, his Body, we are formed into the very image of Christ himself.  In the new way which Jesus came to bring, in his singular sacrifice on the cross which now replaced forever all the bloody sacrifices that had been offered at the Temple, a new Covenant is established between God and humanity.  While the original Covenant we hear of in the first reading continues to be the heart of the Jewish faith and continues to have direct relevance for our moral life, it is the new Covenant of love and service towards all that is now established. God is Lord alone and love of neighbor, Jew and Gentile alike, is the concrete expression of God’s mercy to us.

 

Of course, those who witnessed this bold action by Jesus had no comprehension of such theology.  They saw this as a rash action which scholars have debated as the likely cause which pushed the Jewish authorities over the edge and targeted Jesus for arrest.  The Temple was the heart and soul of Jewish worship and identity and Jesus was directly violating this in a brash public display and threat. 

 

As we come into the midst of our Lenten journey we are invited to recognize not only the reverence of persons as “temples” of the Spirit but also the Body of the Church itself as a sign of the new Covenant which expands and fulfills the old.  The gathering of the people of God week after week, the charitable works of the Church, the individual members, the moral code of uncompromising fidelity to God’s law of love and mercy, all become the new temple based in the life of the risen Lord no longer held fixed in one geographical location. 

 

No longer is the blood of animals sacrificed to appease a God of vengeance but now a new Covenant from the blood of Jesus shed once for all is our hope.  At each Eucharist we remember this new relationship with God, signed, sealed and delivered for all. 

 

As we hear at each Mass when the wine is consecrated by the priest: “For this is the chalice of my blood. The blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.  Do this in memory of me.”


48 posted on 03/08/2015 6:14:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Insight Scoop

True Worship and the Cleansing of the Temple

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Content/Site140/Blog/3737rembrandtcl_00000003088.jpg

"Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple" (1635) by Rembrandt [WikiArt.org]

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, March 8, 2015, the Third Sunday of Lent | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Ex 20:1-17
• Psa 19:8, 9, 10, 11
• 1 Cor 1:22-25
• Jn. 2:13-25

Benedict XVI, in Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (2007), explained that Jesus Christ is the new Torah and the new Temple. “Jesus understands himself as the Torah—as the word of God in person”, wrote Benedict. And then, a bit later: “The issue of Jesus’ claim to be Temple and Torah in person also has implications for the question of Israel—the issue of the living community of the people in whom God’s word is actualized.”

This understanding is not unique to Benedict. For example, Dr. Matthew Levering developed it in his book, Christ’s Fulfillment of Torah and Temple (University of Notre Dame Press, 2002), emphasizing the insights of St. Thomas Aquinas. But, you ask, what does such high-minded theology have to do with living a Christian life, especially during Lent? Today’s readings, which focus on the Torah and the Temple, provide an opportunity to reflect on that question.

Let’s begin by asking: what was the purpose of the Torah? The Ten Commandments (and 603 other commandments) were given within the context of two key events: the Exodus from Egypt and the covenant at Mount Sinai. The Exodus was aimed at two things, the first obvious, the second less so: land and worship. We all know of the promised land flowing with milk and honey, but we often overlook God’s words to Pharaoh, given by Moses: “Let my people go to serve me in the wilderness” and “We must go a three days’ journey in the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord, our God, as he commands us” (Ex 7:16; 8:23). Freedom from slavery meant freedom to openly worship God.

Finally free, the people went to the base of Mount Sinai, where Moses eventually received the Torah. As Joseph Ratzinger notes in The Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2000), the covenant established there united “the three aspects of worship, law, and ethics”—that is, how to relate to God and to others, in public and private relationships. The Torah was meant to lead to the fullness of life, which included entering the promised land. Rather than giving blind submission to an unknown, capricious deity, the people were to respond with love to the mercy and goodness of the Lord (see CCC 2062).

The Torah, then, was not legalistic or based in anger, but came from a rather stunning expression of divine, personal love. Just as God had created everything out of love, he also created a people of his own out of love and with a distinct purpose. Jewish scholar Maurice Samuel, in his introduction to Solomon Goldman’s commentary, The Ten Commandments (University of Chicago, 1963), wrote, “Just as Genesis is an explosive denial of the randomness of the physical universe, so the Revelation at Sinai is a repudiation of the meaninglessness of history.”

That repudiation culminated in the Incarnation. And Jesus Christ, by his life, death, and resurrection established a new and everlasting covenant that perfectly fulfilled the Torah (cf., CCC 2052-2055). Through him, we have life and purpose, for in him we share in the very life of God.

The Temple in Jerusalem was, of course, a place of worship; it was God’s dwelling place among his chosen people. Sacrifices were offered there for the atonement of sins, but it had increasingly become the home for a lucrative system of money changing and price gauging. The house of God had become, in many ways, a supermarket and a “den of robbers” (Jer 7:11). Rather than a sacred place where man be reconciled to God, the Temple was becoming a place of corrupt commodity.

Just as the covenant at Sinai established man’s right relationship with God, the cleansing of the Temple drew a line in the sand—not to repress, but to redeem. If God is not given proper honor and worship, love begins to die and relationships are perverted. We begin by loving God and accepting Christ’s mercy, grace, and life. All else follows.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the March 11, 2012, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)


49 posted on 03/08/2015 6:40:11 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Regnum Christi

Purify Us, Lord!
U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
March 8, 2015. Third Sunday of Lent



By Father David Daly, LC

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 moneychangers 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 moneychangers 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.


Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe in your Incarnation: that you came to teach us, suffer for us and show us the way home to heaven. I trust in your utter goodness and mercy and am confident that you are leading me always. I love you and wish to make you known to many others, so they can be filled with the peace and joy that only you can give. Here I am now, ready and longing to encounter you through this meditation.


Petition: Lord, purify me!


1. “Zeal for Your House Will Consume Me.” When they witnessed Jesus cleansing the Temple, the apostles remembered the words from Psalm 69: “It is zeal for your house that has consumed me” (Psalm 69:9). Through his zeal — his passionate love for God’s house — Jesus fulfills the words from the Old Testament. He takes possession of his own house, the Temple, and he evicts all of those who are making it a place of commerce. In doing so Christ teaches us that our faith must also be pure from all selfish, pragmatic concerns. We must be purified to grow in our friendship with Christ.


2. Destroy This Temple: Jesus’ teachings about the Temple also show us the path to interior purification: the Paschal Mystery. He refers to his death and resurrection when he says, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Not only does he fulfill the Old Testament in this Gospel passage, but he also gives us the example and the key to our own purification: We must die to ourselves in order to have life! We must cast out the concerns and “commerce” that dominate our hearts and minds even during times of prayer. Only through purification can we can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.


3
. Jesus Knows: Jesus does not need anyone to tell him about human nature. He knows it well. He knows how hard it is to break away from what is merely human and to elevate all we do to a spiritual level. When he was on earth, he experienced the struggle and the temptations we face. Through his unfailing example he taught us how to live. He taught us to be radical in choosing God in our lives and courageous in putting him first. We need to put him first in our work, family and personal lives. When we can put God first, then we can truly be temples of the Holy Spirit.


Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you know how we become weighed down with mere human concerns; yet you desire much more for us. Help me to follow your example and be radical in my interior life. Give me the strength to put you above all other worries and concerns.


Resolution: Lord, today I will weigh what really is first in my life against what ought to be first in my life, and I will take a specific step to reestablish the proper order.


50 posted on 03/08/2015 6:45:50 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Two Tablets of Thunder

shutterstock_49499743

March 8, 2015
Third Sunday of LentFirst Reading: Exodus 20:1-17
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/030815-third-sunday-lent.cfm

The idea of law often conjures up images of courtrooms and briefs, reams of legislative chicanery and bureaucratic machination, or perhaps even a statue of justice blindfolded holding her perfect scales. Sometimes laws can feel constricting. Rather than the representatives of the beautiful ideal of justice, laws can put limits on our freedom, force us to pay taxes, restrict our business practices, or fine us for driving too fast. If things get bad, we might come face to face with “the Law,” and he might have a car with flashing lights. But law does have a purpose that is for us, not against us. Law shows us how to live.

Thunder Mountain

In this Sunday’s first reading from Exodus 20, we get a front-row seat at Mount Sinai, where God appears in lightening and thunderclaps to deliver the heart of his law to his people Israel: the Ten Commandments. By this point in the story, Moses has encountered the Lord at the burning bush, the plagues have come upon Egypt and he has led the people through the Red Sea. They come to Mount Sinai to worship God and there, he comes to encounter his people in a highly dramatic scene. The Lord even asks the people to prepare themselves for this encounter for several days before he comes to speak with them. When he does, his voice sounds like a trumpet; smoke rises from the top of the mountain, which quakes amidst thunder, while the Lord’s presence descends like fire (Exod 19:16-19). All of these divine special effects are no mere show, but they are God’s way of revealing his power to his people, his divine right to prescribe the law.

Two Tablets

The Ten Commandments teach us about two aims: what is due to God and what is due to man. According to one tradition, the laws pertaining to our relationship with God were on one tablet of stone, while the human-directed laws were on the second tablet. If you read Exodus 20 and try to count up the number of commandments, you might have trouble coming up with the number ten. In fact, Protestants and Catholics count the Ten Commandments differently. Generally, the Catholic catechists divide the command against coveting into two laws—one against coveting you neighbor’s wife and one against coveting his goods. But the Protestants divide the first commandment into two—one regarding not having other gods and one against making graven images. However they are counted, everyone agrees that there are ten. And sometimes the Ten Commandments are referred to as the Decalogue (deka meaning “ten” and logos meaning “word”).

What is Due to God

Nobody likes to owe, yet we do not find ourselves as independent, autonomous beings with power to make whatever universe we want. We are creatures, contingent beings, born not of our own choice into a universe not of our making. We were welcomed here, but we did not make ourselves and we certainly don’t own the place, so we do owe our very being to someone else. Yet some of us run from this reality, trying to re-invent the world in our image. But our very embeddedness is a clue that our life’s meaning lies not in whatever creative career path we come up with, but in something beyond ourselves, outside of our own doing. When the Lord’s voice thunders out “You shall have no other gods before me,” he is not being demanding or selfish.

Rather, his law against idolatry reveals to us how we were designed from the beginning. We were made for communion with our Creator, the one true God. For us to worship anyone or anything else—the “creature rather than the Creator”—is to fall into a trap, to jump onto the existential hamster-wheel of meaninglessness. By chasing the Creator out of our lives or running away from him, we cut ourselves off from the maker of the universe where we actually are. Rather than restricting our freedom, the command against idolatry invites us to embrace reality as it is.

The command to honor our parents is often lumped in with the latter commandments, but some Jewish traditions actually include it on the first tablet, under the aegis of our duty to God. Through that grouping, we can see that our parents are not merely random individuals, but our creators. Yes, God is our Creator ultimately, but he chose to let human couples share in his creative power as “co-creators” (see Catechism §372). So when we honor our parents, we pay due respect to our “creators” and our Creator.

What is Due to Man

The man-related commandments can feel obvious. Other ancient law codes forbid murder, adultery, and stealing, so why are these so important as to include in the Big Ten? Essentially, they define all man-directed sins as a deconstruction of creation. If you kill, you undo God’s creation of a person made in the image of God (Gen 1:27). If you commit adultery, you interfere with God’s plan for procreation (Gen 1:28). If you steal, you rob a person of his very life—the hours or days of work that went into acquiring whatever you steal. Work itself is a kind of co-creation with God (see JPII, §6). Bearing false witness disrupts the man-to-man harmony that existed in the Garden of Eden, bringing discord into the world like the serpent did. Coveting, which is an internal sin, disrupts one’s own harmony with creation by introducing desires opposed to the order of creation. All of the human-directed laws flow from the laws about our relationship with God. If we get our relationship with God in order, our relationships with others should start to come into line. Likewise, if we are failing at our relationships with others, we are likely failing in our relationship with God.

True Freedom

As I said before, we often think of law as constricting, but good law, divine law, is not merely about boundaries. Rather, it reveals to us what true freedom really is. “To do whatever I want” is a deceptive definition of freedom, since following this principle, one can actually become enslaved to sin. Yet, if we re-think freedom in light of the Ten Commandments, we can find a freedom for the good, a freedom to live in accord with the creation where we are, according to the wise plan of the Creator who made us. Rather than seeking a freedom from outside influences, we can find a freedom for the purpose for which we were made: communion.


51 posted on 03/08/2015 7:01:23 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Scripture Speaks: The Zeal of Thy House

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Today, Jesus drives out vendors and moneychangers from the Temple. What prompted this rare flash of aggression?

Gospel (Read Jn 2:13-25)

St. John describes a visit Jesus made to the Jerusalem Temple near Passover. To best understand this episode, we need to know something about the physical arrangement of the Temple at this time, as well as some of the customs and business conducted there. The “temple area” refers to the Court of the Gentiles, a space outside the holy inner chambers that was offered to God-fearing Gentiles who, although not converts to Judaism, wished to pray to the God of the Jews. When Solomon built the first Temple, this space was added to the Tabernacle design used in Israel’s wilderness wanderings. It acknowledged their vocation to be a “kingdom of priests” (see Ex 19:6), inviting the whole world into God’s blessing. This was, after all, part of God’s original promise to Abraham: “By you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (Gn 12:3). The Babylonians demolished Solomon’s Temple, with all its great beauty that was so evocative of the Garden of Eden, in 586 B.C. The Temple in Jesus’ day did not have the grandeur of the first one, but it did include the Court of the Gentiles, retaining Israel’s mission to the world.

Over time, the Court of the Gentiles became the place where vendors would sell animals to those coming to offer sacrifices at the Temple. All Jewish males living outside Jerusalem were required by the Law of Moses to make three annual pilgrimages to the Temple to celebrate liturgical festivals. For them, being able to purchase animals there was a convenience; they did not need to bring animals with them on what could be a long trip. Likewise, moneychangers were set up in this area to exchange foreign currency for the appropriate coins needed to pay the annual Temple tax. These services were licensed by those in charge of the Temple. As we know, when services are licensed and taxes are collected, there are always opportunities for corruption and extortion. Such was the case in Jesus’ day.

However, Jesus’ action in the Court of the Gentiles was more than simply an angry outburst against corruption. How do we know that? As He cleanses the area, Jesus quotes a phrase from the prophet, Jeremiah: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incenses to Baal, and…then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house… become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (Jer 7:9-11) Here, the judgment against God’s people is not simply doing business where they shouldn’t have; rather, it was their great hypocrisy and presumption in believing that simply by keeping Temple rituals, God would deliver them from the threat of their enemies, even though they lived in great covenant infidelity. In Jeremiah’s day, as in Jesus’ day, God’s charge against His people was their empty religion—maintaining their liturgies with hearts far from Him. The fact that the Court of the Gentiles, which was supposed to be a place of prayer and evangelization, had become a “marketplace” was emblematic of Israel’s terrible spiritual desolation.

In His cleansing of the Temple, Jesus prophetically demonstrates that the Temple was no longer a place of true encounter with God, for Jews or Gentiles. It was destined to be eclipsed and replaced. That is why, when the Jews questioned Jesus’ authority for His action, He enigmatically predicts a destruction—but not of the Temple building. No, He referred to His own Body as “this Temple.” He spoke of His death and resurrection as the “sign” of His authority to bring an end to animal sacrifice (foreshadowed when He drove out the animals) and to open encounter with God to all the nations (restoring the true meaning of the Court of the Gentiles). Unlike a “zealot,” who unleashes violence on others, Jesus’ “zeal” for His Father’s house would consume Him, leading to His own death on the Cross.

Eventually, of course, the physical Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., never to be rebuilt. It didn’t need to be rebuilt; Jesus was the fulfillment of everything to which the Temple pointed. It was never meant to be permanent. There was nothing wrong with the Temple or the Law of Moses—the problem was in human nature, as St. John indicates: “Jesus would not trust Himself to [the many who believed in Him], because He knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He Himself understood it well.” Human nature, not the Temple, needed cleansing. That is precisely what Jesus came to do for us. He is now the true place of encounter between man and God.

Possible response: Lord Jesus, You are the remedy for my human nature. You now trust Yourself to me. Thank You!

First Reading (Read Ex 20:1-17)

Why is this reading of the Ten Commandments coupled with our Gospel reading? It is good for us to remember the heart of the covenant God made with Israel at Mt. Sinai. These laws represented a true release from bondage for God’s people, one that was even greater than their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The Commandments give us a path to life as God designed it to be. When we live them, we are truly happy. When we depart from them, God calls that “sin,” for it means we have forsaken the beauty, truth, and goodness of life in His image and likeness. In our Gospel reading, we understood that by Jesus’ day, the hope of the Old Covenant had grown dark—not because of the Law or any failure on God’s part to keep His promises, but because of human nature. Seeing our weakness, God sent His Son to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. When the light had become darkness in the Old Covenant, it was time for something new, just as God had foretold through the prophets: “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new…do you not perceive it?” (Isa 43:18-19)

Jesus was the “Something New”—the New Covenant, the New Temple, the New Life for God’s people.

[Note: Sometimes we are disturbed to read, in Ex 20:5, that God is “jealous” for our love, vowing to inflict “punishment for their fathers on the children of those who hate Me, down to the third and fourth generation.” Is God’s jealousy bad for us? Not at all! First, He has a right to our love, but beyond that, His jealousy means He is against anything that seduces us away from Him. This “jealousy” is a great good for us. God knows what will make us happy and give us true life—knowing and returning His love. His jealousy does not arise from pride or anger. To warn us against false loves is pure mercy to us.   Speaking of mercy, even God’s vow to punish the wickedness of fathers for several generations of children is a mercy. We must understand that God is not here threatening to punish people for what they haven’t done (“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin”, Deut 24:16). Rather, God promises to punish those sins that keep appearing within a family because of the poor example set by parents. God’s punishment is always a mercy to us, just as a good parent’s is to his child. Parents punish out of love, not hate. God does, too. Through punishment in several generations, He continues to reach out to His wayward children, always looking for an opening into their hearts. Nothing to fear here.]

Possible response: Heavenly Father, help me cherish Your commandments as light on my path to life.

Psalm (Read Ps 19:8-11)

The psalmist here helps us see how good the Law is that God gave to His people on Mt. Sinai. In fact, it is “perfect, refreshing the soul.” This is the true vision of God’s commandments, one that sees them as “enlightening the eye.” When our hearts are transformed by the new life of the New Covenant in Jesus, we can see that all God’s laws are “more precious than gold.” The laws of God no longer seem burdensome. The healing on the inside that comes through Jesus can enable us to say, “Lord, You have the words of everlasting life.”

Possible response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.

Second Reading (Read 1 Cor 1:22-25)

St. Paul describes here why he is unapologetic about preaching “Christ crucified” as the answer to the longing of all human hearts. The Greeks sought it in their philosophies of wisdom; the Jews sought it in the miraculous manifestations of God in their midst, as His chosen people. Neither the Greeks nor the Jews understood that the answer isn’t “out there.” Rather, the answer is a new heart, a new life—the power of Jesus in us to save us. See that St. Paul says God’s “answer” looks unpromising—like foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block (not the Messiah they expected or wanted!) to the Jews. Yet, “Christ crucified” overcomes the foolishness and weakness of men. It was man’s foolishness and weakness that led to the desolation of the Temple in Jerusalem, long before its destruction—the human failure to keep covenant with God (stretching all the way back to Adam). Only the power and wisdom of God could overcome that.

Who would have thought a Man on a Cross could heal the whole world? “We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.”

Possible response: Lord Jesus, help me to cling to the power of Your Cross this Lent, as I come face-to-face with my foolishness and weakness.


52 posted on 03/08/2015 7:09:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 31, Issue 2

<< Sunday, March 8, 2015 >> Third Sunday of Lent
 
Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:22-25

View Readings
Psalm 19:8-11
John 2:13-25

Similar Reflections
 

JESUS, BINGO, LOTTERY, AND RAFFLES

 
"In the temple precincts He came upon people engaged in selling oxen, sheep and doves, and others seated changing coins." —John 2:14
 

As I write this, on a Sunday morning, we will soon celebrate Mass. The ushers are busily collecting money and lighting candles. Before Mass, there will be announcements. The first announcement will be about the $200 door prize for bingo this afternoon. During Mass, we will not preach because the bishop has a tape on the archdiocesan fund drive. After Mass, there will be two groups at the door. One will sell our monthly church lottery tickets. The other will sell tickets on hams which will be raffled off at our Lenten fund-raiser. (Yes, you read correctly.)

Everything that I have just said is literally true. As I write, all of these appeals are being made in less than one hour to those going to church here this Sunday morning in Lent. Don't get me wrong. I'm not out to criticize the dedicated people of this parish. But is Jesus pleased with this? Can you imagine Jesus calling bingo or raffling off hams to support His ministry?

Jesus said and says: "Get them out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!" (Jn 2:16) "He made a [kind of] whip of cords and drove sheep and oxen alike out of the temple area, and knocked over the money-changers' tables, spilling their coins" (Jn 2:15).

 
Prayer: Lord, have mercy.
Promise: "Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. For God's folly is wiser than men, and His weakness more powerful than men." —1 Cor 1:24-25
Praise: Praise Jesus, Who is the Lion of Judah (Rv 5:5) and turns the tables on all of us.

53 posted on 03/08/2015 7:12:26 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Protect the babies and the mothers and fathers!

Say "NO" to Planned Parenthood!

54 posted on 03/08/2015 7:20:05 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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http://resources.sainteds.com/showmedia.asp?media=../sermons/homily/2015-03-15-Homily%20Deacon%20David%20Trujillo.mp3&ExtraInfo=1&BaseDir=../sermons/homily


55 posted on 03/22/2015 4:23:59 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Take the Lord With You Today

Pastor’s Column

3rd Sunday of Lent

March 8, 2015

 

         The Lord wants to accompany us on our daily journey of Lent, as well as life itself. These are things that all of us can do.  Perhaps one of these would make a good offering for the rest of Lent.

 

OFFER GOD ALL THE WORK YOU WILL DO TODAY

 

         Dear God, this day belongs to you.  Help me to make of this day an act of love for you.  Let the details of my work, my day and my life, be done for the love of you.

 

USE SHORT PRAYERS THROUGHOUT THE DAY

 

         Jesus, I love you.                          Heart of Jesus, get me through this!

         My Lord and my God.                      Lord, let me do this for you.

         Jesus, I trust in you.                     Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.

 

TRY THANKING GOD FOR SOMETHING INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING

 

         Jesus taught us to unite our sufferings to his cross, and that we must carry our cross to be his disciples.  In practice, this means accepting things that irritate us, being kind to others or silent when irritated, and learning to thank God for everything.

 

DO YOUR BEST EVEN IF NO ONE ELSE NOTICES

 

         During our workday, we are actually working for God, no matter what we do for a living.  We strive to do a good job because the Lord always notices.

 

KEEP A VISUAL REMINDER OF GOD AT WORK, HOME AND SCHOOL

 

         This could be almost anything that reminds us of the Lord.  Even if it is not possible to have a religious object like a picture of Christ, a cross or a bible at your desk or workplace (every home should have these things!), we can always use some common object, perhaps even in our pocket, to remind us to work for Christ today.

                                                                                 Father Gary


56 posted on 03/22/2015 4:26:42 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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