A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the Third Sunday in Lent – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Exodus 20:1-17, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25, John 2:13-25.
The Liturgy of the Mass is the Answer to our Deepest Prayers
Sometimes, we might oversimplify Christianity to the point that it sounds like foolishness to people who are perishing. We might say, “Christ died for your sins, so just believe in Him, and He will heal you and give you peace.” While that proposal of our faith would be accurate and enough for some people to believe, for others, it might ring so simplistic that it sounds too good to be true. We cannot dismiss that some people are very well aware of their sins and how many people they have harmed. Because of that, they internally feel they need a rigorous type of penance or faith that punishes them while it redeems them.
On the other hand, when God gives us standards to live up to and boundaries, not the cross, as He spoke in the Ten Commandments we hear in today’s First Reading from Exodus 20:1-17, the perishing feel as if their freedom is being taken away. Then, when the Lord comes to correct our errors as He did in today’s Gospel Reading from John 2:13-25, where He cleanses the temple of thieves with His whip made out of cords, we call Him harsh, question His love for us, and beg for His mercy. Ultimately, the perishing just want to be their own god and craft their own a la carte religion that they believe leads to someplace other than the Hell that it does.
In today’s Second Reading from 1 Corinthians 1:22-25, the Apostle Paul alludes to the human inclination to search for God on their own terms. He writes, “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.” However, not only do we search for God on our own terms and through our finite understanding, but we also consistently miss God’s merciful response to our yearning. Everything we search for, and whenever we think we have found something greater than Him, the Lord responds by giving us Himself. We search for love, and He tells us that He is love. We search for truth, and He tells us He is the truth. We demand to be ruled by a king like our neighbors, and He comes as the King of Kings. We knock on doors, and He tells us He is the door. We pray to the universe and hope in the stars, and He tells us that He created everything we are praying to and hoping for. Every time we ask for a sign, the answer is Himself. Try as we might, we cannot outgreat or outglory the greatness and glory of God.
Lent is a marvelous opportunity to renew our relationship with God and strive for holiness. During Lent, we acknowledge the limits God has established for our good and the high calling He has given us to be His adopted children. We examine our conscience and repent of our sins, especially those that lead us away from God and His grace. Lent is also a perfect time to appreciate how the Mass, by allowing us to listen to God’s word and to receive His body and blood in the Holy Eucharist, fulfills the deepest longing of our soul, which is to be near to God and to be known by Him.
This is just one way the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us in how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
