REFLECTIONS on the Sunday readings:

Lent comes around each year and presents us with its usual challenge to take stock of our lives, to see more clearly what is in our hearts, and to discover what might be calling us out of our comfort zones. It is a time for personal as well as group reflection, a time for entering into 'the wilderness' and grappling with the mysteries of life, as well as a time of preparation for Easter when we renew our baptismal vows and celebrate the greatest mysteries of our faith.


Third Sunday in Lent, Year B
Sunday, March 15, 2009

1st Reading: Exodus 20:1-17
This reading presents 10 covenant 'words' that sum up early Israel's way of life.

God's people are to worship only one God, a rather novel idea in the ancient world. Israel's God cannot be manipulated by magical incantations. A day to remember the God who liberates is a welcome change for slaves whose way of life permits no rest. Honouring one's parents involves taking on their values as worshippers of the one God.

Some aspects of God's 10 'words' are situation bound: the prohibition on killing was originally restricted to killing other Israelites; adultery concerned sexual relations with the wife of another Israelite; to steal was to kidnap another male Israelite; to give false witness was to tell lies in a court of law and thus be responsible for the death of another; to covet what belonged to another was to plot and scheme to get it, and wives were then the property of their husbands.

Israel's legislation was intended to protect God's people. It came to be interpreted more broadly and more inclusively through the centuries.

Today Christian churches tend to put Christian morality into the framework of Israel's commandments. The early legislation provided an alternative wisdom in its time. It was revisited and interpreted anew in the light of new realities. It is important not to reject the old out of hand, but rather to seek out the wisdom at the heart of the ancient 'law' code.

Lent invites us to examine our core values and our way of life.

2nd Reading: 1 Cor 1:22-25

Paul's message to the people of Corinth is also about an alternative wisdom. Some of the Corinthians place a higher value on philosophical speculation than on the implications of accepting an executed criminal as their messiah. Paul is scathing in his criticism of these would-be sophisticates. He challenges their view of wisdom.

The Holy Gospel: John 2:13-25

This gospel foreshadows the death of Jesus. As a devout Jew, Jesus goes up to Jerusalem at Passover. His final going-up will be the occasion of his death and resurrection.

The setting is Judaism's most holy site, the Temple. Jesus acts decisively to draw attention to the true purpose of God's 'house': while there is legitimate commercial activity associated with temple worship, the temple is not a marketplace.

The disciples partially understand. The Jews' request for a sign provides Jesus with the opportunity to play on the word 'temple'. The temple is his body, to be destroyed and raised up. 'The Jews' misunderstand. [Note that 'the Jews' refers to those who reject Jesus as messiah, not to the whole people of Judea or all the Jewish people].

The narrator provides an explanation and indicates that the disciples will eventually understand and come to belief. We travel the journey to Jerusalem with those who partially understand. We remain open to a deeper wisdom in the light of resurrection faith.

by Sr. Veronica Lawson RSM (East Ballarat)