March 25, 2018

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord B Isaiah 50: 4-7; Philippians 2: 6-11; Mark 14: 1 15: 47 Today we have Mark’s drama introducing us to the holiest of weeks. Mark’s gospel only covers close to three years of Jesus life. He starts with the preaching of John the Baptist and follows with the baptism of Jesus. Mark uses the first ten chapters to cover the three years of the public teaching and ministry of Jesus. Then he devotes the last six chapters to the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. Thus we can see this week is was very, very special to Mark. In looking at Mark’s narrative today there are a number of questions he proposes from Jesus and from the other participants of Holy Week. What do they tell us? How would I respond to these questions? Would these questions lead me in my faith journey? Listen to the dialogue…Jesus’ words are in bold. - Not during the festival for fear that there may be a riot among the people. - Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages and the money given to the poor. - Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anticipated anointing my body for burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her. - Where do you want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover? - Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, The Teacher says, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples.Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there. - Amen I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. - Surely it is not I? - One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish. For the Son of Man indeed goes, as is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born. - Take it; this is my body. - This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. - All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed. But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee. - Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be. - Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times. - Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you. - Sit here while I pray. - My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch. - Abba, Father, all things are possible to You. Father take this cup away from Me. But not what I will but what You will. - Simon are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. - Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough the hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners. Get up, let us go. See my betrayer is at hand. - The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest Him and lead Him away securely. Rabbi. - Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs, to seize me? Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest Me; but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled. - We heard Him say’I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another not made with hands. - Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you? Are you the Christ, the son of the Blessed One. - I am and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven. - What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? - Prophesy. - You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus. - I know neither know nor understand what you are talking about. - This man is one of them - Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean. - I do not know this man about whom you are talking. - Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times. - Are you the king of the Jews? - You say so. - Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse You of. - Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews? - Crucify Him. - Why? What evil has He done? Crucify Him. - Hail, King of the Jews! Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross. - He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believer. Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? - Look He is calling Elijah. Wait let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down. - Truly this man was the Son of God! What do I see and feel in Mark’s account: there is a wealth of emotions : envy, fear, trust, sorrow, courage, pride coupled with some interesting human responses: threats, mockery, false accusations, compassion, denial, crying, discovery, strength, faith. More importantly where do I most likely find myself in the passion story: • Would I be Jesus’ friend who quickly leaves when it gets really hot and heavy? • Would I be part of the crowd that swings its vote with the loudness of the crowd? • Would I stand along the way and wonder why the Romans are so cruel in punishing their prisoners? Would I seek a corner to hide in, away from the passion procession, frightened that I might be connected to Jesus? • Would I be like Peter, quick to promise and quicker to run away? • Would I be like the soldiers who relished the task of inflicting punishment on those they don’t like? • Would I carry the cross for Jesus feeling sorry that I couldn’t do more? • Would I be like the criminal refusing to repent? • Would I just wonder why Jesus was crucified? • Would I wonder what happened to His family and friends? • Where would I be…who would I be? Sacred Space 2018 states: “Lord, help me walk with You on this dark journey. Teach me how to share in Your pain but also in Your faith.”

March 18, 2018

5th Sunday of Lent B Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Hebrews 5: 7-9; John 12: 20-33 When we were young, we thought we would go on forever. Sometimes we still feel the same way. When we feel this way, often we are shocked back into reality when someone close is struggling with death. This past year I have experienced the sufferings and death of four of my friends. I also have been deeply involved with five families as they witnessed the passing of a loved one. One is never ready for death, whether it is sudden or expected. I had the privilege to be with these families as they planned the funeral services. They shared what was special about their loved one and what they will miss most of all. We’ve laughed and cried, supported each other and hugged. Somehow the awareness of love lost and love experienced brought us through. The need for companions during paralyzing grief lifted us to know that love is still present and love is still sharing and caring.Somehow this translates to the experience of God’s presence and His caring. We have just heard three readings from Jeremiah, Paul writing to the Hebrews and John’s gospel sharing that life will have times of trials, but in Christ we are assured that the trial is not our final future. God has a plan for each person, the plan of forever in heaven with Him. And how does God tell this story…by sharing the final days and hours of Jesus’ time with us. Today’s gospel from John tells what happened immediately after Jesus’ Palm Sunday procession into Jerusalem. Some Greeks had come to the Holy City for the celebration of Passover. They wanted to see Jesus and find out more about Him. And Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Jesus is reflecting on His upcoming sufferings, passion and the meaning of His death. He is saying this while no one around Him wants to believe this or listen to a person who says ‘I’m dying.’ Jesus continues by explaining what it means to ‘be glorified’. He uses the common example of a seed of wheat needing to die before it produces much fruit. The people who grew their owns crops in their family gardens knew all about this. Jesus is telling us that ‘glorification’ refers to His death which will produce much life in the community of faith. People will finally realize how much God loves them. They will realize that God cares and is totally present. They will realize that Jesus continually spoke of God’s love and how He wants each person to be with Him forever. The way to go there is the way of love: following the teaching and total example of Jesus. This is eternal life. So Jesus is very concerned now, there is an urgency of the ‘hour’ not because He is afraid but that everything from all time has hinged on this hour. This is the time of the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan. Jesus does not want to avoid these final hours but to embrace them fully for it is the purpose for which He came. Do I let GOD DIE FOR ME? Or do I wish He wouldn’t die like this? Jesus then prays to the Father. “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. ‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven. ‘I have glorified it and will glorify it again.’” This brings it all together: all that Jesus has been preaching, the divine presence in all the miracles, the love and care and persuasive gentle leading of all of us to the Father and Eternal Life. And the people misunderstood this. Jesus clarified what was going on. “This voice did not come for My sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.” How will the people respond? How do I respond? Are they going to accept and believe in God revealing Himself in the person of Jesus? Do I then accept Jesus as my Lord and God? Is my life changed because of my new found faith? Or do I continue on in my same way of living accepting what Jesus said only when it is convenient? And Jesus continued, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” But do I want to be lifted up to be with the Lord…or do I expect to ‘sneak in the back door when God isn’t looking?’ Jesus is the one who is leading us and bringing us to heaven. Do I allow God to lead me and change my living to one of loving and forgiving? Can we learn from our own mistakes and misadventures? Can we learn from our ancestors in faith? Jeremiah today is looking forward to a bright future. God had made a covenant with the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. God remained loyal, the people did not. The conditions of the covenant were intended to help the people remain consistent and loyal partners. But they ignored these conditions being totally disloyal to God. They forgot the great gift when God delivered them from Pharaoh’s Egypt. They liked their freedoms but remained slaves to their own sins. They consistently failed to observe the covenant and this led to the collapse of the kingdom. They had to learn the hard way that God was their only master. God is God, I am not. The people failed to be faithful, God did not. They became prosperous and forgot the poor and forgot God. They placed their faith in other gods in idols (like the ‘world, the flesh and the devil’). These led to their own self-destruction. God sent prophets to remind them, but they rejected them. But when they found themselves in deep trouble, they came running back to God. God restored them. THE LESSON: God continues always to stand ready to restore us, to bring us closer to Himself. Do we allow Him to do this? Connections ,the newsletter of ideas and images for preaching the Sunday Gospel states, “Jesus holds up the grain of wheat in today’s Gospel as a symbol of hope in the wake of our own catastrophic experiences and traumatic transitions. Christ-like love demands change, risk and a certain amount of ‘dying,’ but if we are willing to risk loving and allowing ourselves to be loved, Christ promises us the harvest of the Gospel wheat: in our willingness to nurture the ‘grain’ with our oneness to God’s grace and the compassion of others, there will always be second chances, opportunities too begin again, and new plantings and endless harvests. Only by loving is love returned, only by reaching out beyond ourselves do we learn and grow, only by giving to others do we receive, only by dying do we rise to new life.” So I reflect on: • How have I experienced God’s intimacy in my life? Have I ever shared this? When I do, I open up the opportunity for another to share how God touches them. • When has God’s mercy freed me to be more merciful with myself and others? • I can learn from the example of Jesus’ sufferings so that my own losses, grief experiences and sacrifices open up my heart so God can do something new in my life. Do I allow this? • Am I allowing God to do something new with me these remaining Lenten days? Sacred Space 2018 states: “The humble wish of the Greeks is to see Jesus. Lord, that is my wish also. That is why I give this time to prayer. May I see You more clearly, love You more dearly, and follow You more nearly, as the ancient prayer puts it. Jesus, in this time of prayer I imagine You putting a grain of wheat into my hand. You and I talk about what it can mean. When I next eat bread, it will have a deeper significance for me. When I share in the Eucharist, I will try to be aware that it means Your own life, which is blessed, broken, shared, and consumed for the life of the world.”

March 11, 2018

4th Sunday of Lent B 2 Chronicles 36: 14-16, 19-23; Ephesians 2: 4-10; John 3: 14-21 Three weeks from today is Easter. Do I feel that I am ready to celebrate this most important feast of my faith? Since I’ve started my Lenten journey, has the presence of God in my life become more obvious? Have people in my daily life been aware that I am living the Christ life? Has my image of God and how immense and tremendous His gifts are made me more inclusive, more positive and richer in being His disciple of love? Today is a great day in our Lenten journey to go and to look at what has happened in our history. The readings help us revisit the faith stories of our ancestors, to see how they became aware of God’s great love for them and to hear from Jesus as He fills us with the correct vision of this God who loves us each and every moment…who is ‘crazy in love with me just as I am now!’ Sunday Homily Helps summarizes the readings in this way, “God’s offer of salvation is a gift that sinful humanity does not deserve and has not, in any way, earned. But this gift does require a response and a commitment to turn away from darkness and live in the light of Christ.” So we examine these readings to see God’s love and with His grace to let His love be clearly seen in us and shine on others through us. The book of Chronicles reviews the history of the kingdom of Judah from a positive perspective recognizing the spiritual achievements of their kings and leaders. Yet reality set in…they had ‘given up’ on God, turned to their own selfish ways. The prophets warned them repeatedly of their commitment to the Lord, but they ignored these pleas and failed to put God first in their lives. As always, God remained loyal to the covenant. So their story would not end with the destruction of God’s people. In this final chapter of Chronicles, King Cyrus issues a decreed allowing the people of Israel to return from their captive slavery in Persia to their homeland and rebuild the Temple and their own lives We listen to Cyrus’ timeless words, “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: ‘All the kingdom of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me and He has also charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of His people, let him go up ,and may His God be with him.” Hopefully the people would get a good image of their God. Too often people feel that God is not on their side…or God is punishing them…or God is a distant God….or God doesn’t care. We all have to daily learn and grow to an awareness of the God who is. Paul helps our vision by plainly telling the Ephesians that “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love He had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions brought us to life with Christ…For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you, it is the gift of God.” Paul is telling us about God and God’s plan of salvation for every one. It is God’s mercy, His compassion, His kindness in spite of our human transgressions, our sins that speaks volumes of God’s love for everyone and the promise of eternal life through Jesus. Paul’s language of dead in our transgressions…raised up…and seated in the heavens closely parallel Jesus’ own passion and Easter Resurrection. All this is a total gift from God. I do not have anything to boast about. I’m the sinner, redeemed and loved by God. It is total gift. What has become the most quoted phrase from John’s gospel comes next, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” John 3:14 I am saved, each person is saved by what God has done for us in Jesus. He completely emptied Himself…He gave His total all in His death on the cross for me and every person of all time. I am…we all are saved. There is no saving that doesn’t involve a cross, Jesus taught us this and showed us this. Being saved isn’t an easy going process, it isn’t nice. Dietrich Bonhoeffer exposes this comfortable attitude: “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” The definitive aspect of discipleship is that I have to do something…I have to change myself…I have to be a disciple of love…all the time…I need to be a constant, consistent, committed follower of Jesus. Am I doing this? And I feel that it is most important that I become absorbed with the description of God that Jesus presents to Nicodemus. God is not a judge who wants to condemn us. God is not looking from afar at every little indiscretion I accidentally or on purpose do. But God reaches out constantly to help me. God doesn’t want to humiliate me or embarrass me but God wants to heal and reconcile me to Himself. So if I re-image myself as being loved by God and special to God I am more than my mistakes. I am gifted and have been given the grace, the help to share my uniqueness in love. I have been created and gifted and graced to be an extension of Jesus. This is where Lent’s journey helps me in discovering the God who is in love with me. Jesus is sharing with Nicodemus and me that God did not come to judge me but to love me and save me from myself. He brings me His light of love. Now there is this light in me and there is also darkness. But I need to let the light shine through whatever darkness exists. Perhaps the greatest danger I face is in being wishy washy…never totally choosing light or darkness. This results in me neither being a great saint nor a great sinner, a person incapable of either courage or cowardice. Lent is my time to see the light that God has placed in me…the light of His love. Then with His love and His grace, to let this light shine. As the kids sing so well, ‘This little light of mine…let it shine…let it shine…let it shine.’ So I reflect on: • Do I find it easier to condemn or praise? • Am I merciful to myself? To others? • Does my attitude and teaching reflect a saving God or a condemning God? • Do I find it difficult to admit my sinfulness? No real healing occurs unless a wound is discovered and cleansed. • Do I see in the Gospel that Jesus takes the approach of love, not power…that He acts not for His own sake, but for our sake…that God is not happy until all His wandering children have come home. Is this the God I believe in and show others? Sacred Space 2018 shares: “God so loved the world. This is my faith, Lord. Sometimes it seems to go against the evidence, when floods, earthquakes, droughts, and tsunamis devastate poor people. Central to my faith is the figure of Jesus, lifted on the Cross, knowing what it was to be devastated and a ‘failure,’ yet offering Himself in love for us. God of all light, you continue to send light into the world and into my life. May I recognize it, thank You for it, and participated in its work.”

February 25, 2018

2nd Sunday of Lent B Genesis 22: 1-32, 9, 10-13,15-18; Romans 8: 31-34; Mark 9: 2-10 We have some powerful readings today on this Second week of our Lenten journey. We start out with Abraham who is presented with a most difficult situation by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. The penetrating question that comes to each of us would be: How far would I go to express my love for God? I always wondered if I would have enough faith to live in the early Church and admit that I was a Christian when faced with the prospect of death? In my high school years I was fascinated with the North American martyrs, Frs. Jean de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues. They faced cruel deaths at the hands of the Hurons and Iroquois, could I do the same? I’m not faced with these situations, but I am faced in admitting and living as a follower and a believer in Jesus. Do I live this? How can I live these remaining Lenten days to build up my faith and my love for the Lord? The readings help me today. It is very important to take time and read Abraham’s whole story. It is not long, it takes up part of 14 chapters and 15 pages. It can be read in about thirty minutes. He is the father of our faith, wouldn’t this be a valuable exercise? The whole story of Abraham including the sacrificing of his son, Isaac is set within the context of God’s promise. God has promised Abraham that he will take possession of a great land, be blessed with countless descendants and become a very great nation. A number of times Abraham wonders if this will ever happen, yet he never wavers. In fact when God calls on Abraham today he responds, “Here I am!” At first sight we can just pass over this phrase and continue on. Yet when God called to Moses from the burning bush, Moses responded in the same way, “Here I am!” (Exodus 3: 4) Also God called out to the young apprentice Samuel three times before he responded, ‘Here I am!” (Samuel 3: 4-11) Finally realizing that it was God calling he responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Centuries later, Isaiah responded to God’s appeal, “ Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? ‘Here I am, send me!’” (Isaiah 6: 8-9) In Hebrew the word is Hineni which means ‘Here I am’. But you have to watch out how you say it, because it is a way of expressing absolute total readiness to give of oneself. I am making myself totally available. Am I ready for this commitment? I remember in my youth Mom asking me to do something…I’m not sure that I jumped up and responded immediately more than a handful of times and probably only when Dad was present. Abraham today is responding appropriately to God’s call…His wish should be our command. Is it? When God asks, He tells what He is going to do. He did this continually in the covenants we read about in the Old Testament. The beautiful and powerful Psalm 46, David shares how God is totally available to us. He includes in verse 11 these words, “…Who says: ‘Be still and confess that I am God!’” This is a statement from God of all that He does. It can so easily be turned into a question, Do I confess and live that God is my God? This calls for love, my total attention, devotion and response. This is my call this week of Lent. God is totally devoted to me. Do I give my unconditional devotion to God? Am I available to people He places in my life? Do I respond all the time…or only when it is convenient? Do I wait to hear God’s specific call or am I ready to do His will as a matter of habit? Here I am, Lord! Send me! We come to Paul’s greatest chapter on what it means to be a Christian in Romans 8. He explains that like Abraham, God “…did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for us all…” God did this for us so that we do not have any reason to fear. Jesus has conquered fear and death. As a result there is absolutely nothing that can separate me or anyone from God’s love. Do I spend too much time in feeling sorry for myself or do I let God’s love totally permeate me, as He intends it? Do I turn to God for the help I need daily or do I feel that God is too busy for me? Do I feel that I have to do something special in my Lenten ‘doing’s to merit God’s love? God is love, do I let Him be ‘love’ to me? Do I say, like Peter, that it is good that I am on this Lenten journey so I can be with the Lord and know that the Lord is with me? And God says, This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.” The chosen apostles looked around and no longer saw anyone but Jesus …”alone with them.” This says volumes to me, God is always with me. Jesus is with me in His life examples and teaching. The Spirit is with me helping me, urging me on to respond with the love and gifts the Spirit has blessed and provided me with so that I can ‘be Jesus.’ How can we sum up these readings today? Like Samuel who finally listened to God…and God is telling us to listen to His Son, a response is asked, really demanded. Am I listening? God desires our total trust and willingness to follow Him. God provides all that I need, and what each person needs. ‘The will of God will never take me where the grace of God will not protect me.’ I am asked to trust God, believing that God knows best, even when I suffer my aches and pains…my disappointments and crises, or whatever comes. God is with me. Am I ever going to understand the why’s of my life? It will all make sense when we come before the Lord. Am I ever going to be totally prepared for all that happens in my life? On my own, No. With God and trusting in His total presence, love and care, Always. All we have to do is to look at our lives. How often have those ‘special people’ in my life transformed despair into hope, sadness into joy, anguish into healing, estrangement into loving relationships? This is not a hopeless dreams, this has happened, repeatedly. Love that calls us beyond ourselves is transforming. The challenge of our call as disciples is to ‘allow that love to ‘transfigure’ our lives and our world into God’s love. In the Transfiguration, the disciples were told to keep this event quiet until Jesus had risen from the dead. They didn’t know He would die. They certainly didn’t know about the cross and His excruciating suffering. They didn’t compare this to ‘carrying their own crosses daily’. So I reflect on: • What am I willing to stand up for? • What values and beliefs are important enough to me, not just to die for, but to live for? • What crosses am I willing to take up? • Do these include ridicule, isolation and rejection? Connections a newsletter on the Gospels sums up, “God is not an abstract concept but a reality to be lived. Easter calls us to trust in the reality of God’s compassion and mercy that is vindicated in the crosses we refuse to lay down, but take up in the sure and certain hope that they can be the means to peace and reconciliation in our homes and hearts.” Sacred Space 2018 states: “In our journey to God, we have peak moments, when the ground is holy. Like Peter, we want them to last forever. But Jesus brings us down the mountain and prepares us for the hard times ahead, during which we live on the memory of brief transfigurations. Can I recall any of my peak moments? There was glory in this experience, but also fear. I want God’s presence and revelation, but am I willing to stand in places that are unfamiliar to me?

March 4, 2018

3rd Sunday of Lent B Exodus 20: 1-17; 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25; John 2: 13-25 The readings today remind us that God is the center of our lives. Is God the center of my life today? What are my priorities? Where does God fall on this list? Do I consider my ministry as most important…your spouse…your children and family…your job…your church…your community… yourself as most important? Just where do I fit Jesus in? Is He a part of each of these relationships and commitments? Am I consistently turning my life over to Jesus? Sunday Homily Helps shares this summary of today’s readings: “God’s work of creation is never finished. We read in Genesis that God looked on creation ‘as very good.’ Yet through humans turning away from God, this goodness is threatened. The commandments and Jesus’ witness are God’s direct actions to turn people back toward Him and the path of life. God brought the people ‘out of the land of Egypt’ and continues to try to bring people out of sin and death and return them toward life in Him.” We look to the readings to help us in this lenten task. It is very interesting that today’s account of Jesus cleansing of the Temple takes place at the very beginning of John’s Gospel. The Synoptic writers , Matthew, Mark and Luke place this ‘cleansing’ in conjunction of Jesus’ passion, right after His Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem. Why would this discrepancy happen? Scripture scholars tell us that historically the synoptics are probably more accurate. The purpose of John is theological combining two events that are found separately in the synoptics: the cleansing and the prediction of the temple’s destruction. So why would John shift this cleansing from Holy Week to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry? What does Jesus mean by destroying the temple? The Apostles just didn’t understand this nor did the Jews. The key is found in the verse, “His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, ‘Zeal for Your house will consume me.’” This passage refers to Psalm 69:9 which is a powerful and beautiful psalm, totally meant to be reflected on during our Lenten journey. Here ‘consume me’ refers to Jesus’ crucifixion. The scriptural scholar Reginald Fuller explains it this way: “ John wants to make Jesus lay out all His cards on the table right at the outset. The destruction of the temple, that is, the end of the Jewish dispensation and its worship, is the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ whole ministry. The way that the Jewish people worshiped, their entire ritual and order of worship is to be replaced by a new one. They had focused on the old temple…now there is the new temple—the body of Christ. This is the glorified humanity of Christ, the promised Messiah. The Jews couldn’t understand why Jesus had driven out the merchants and they challenged His authority by requesting a sign. John uses a method he employs frequently to move the reader below the surface of the story to the deeper meaning. The Jews take Jesus’ words literally whereas Jesus is talking about ‘the temple of His body.’ How could the apostles understand this until they experienced Jesus’ death and resurrection? When they did they were able to look back and grasp what Jesus meant. They were then able to believe Jesus and what He said. Isn’t it interesting that John follows this scene with people who came to believe in Jesus after they had a relationship with Him: the Pharisee Nicodemus who came to believe in Jesus, then John’s the Baptist’s disciples sent to see if Jesus was the promised Messiah and finally the Samaritan woman who was the first nonJew, Gentile and woman who believed in Jesus and became His follower. We go shopping and for months have noticed Easter bunnies all over. Society is reminding us that Easter is a commercial enterprise. Does it have any relationship with ‘Jesus is the reason for the season.’? We are constantly being distracted. The Israelites were distracted. They needed help to keep their focus straight. God, as always, comes helping in a totally loving, caring way. He showed them how God loves them and needs them to love. The Ten Commandments address issues that had spoiled human relationships with God and neighbor since the beginning of time. If they followed these commandments, the relationship will heal and dramatically be stronger and filled with life and love. These ‘Ten Ways’ begin with a clear reminder of Israel’s origins. They were slaves, even slaves to themselves and their own ways of doing things. Idols and all sorts of earthly distractions have enticed them away from God. God never gave up on them. God never gives up on me. God never gives up on anyone. God is always lifting me and directing me toward love and life. When I make myself the center of my own world rather than God, I turn away from God and really can’t love. I am consumed with a ‘love’ of myself which really isn’t love at all. God is constantly leading me. Do I want to be led by God? Can I see that His mantra, ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel.’ is the way to life? Repent, change my direction…believe, trust in God and His ways…in the Gospel that God loves me first…God loves each person first…God does this so that I can experience that above all God is a God of love and lives this love every moment in my life. Reflecting on the Word from Living the Word ,”Zeal for the temple to be a house of prayer consumed Jesus. So did zeal for helping us know God’s zeal, God’s passion, for us. That zeal took Him to the cross. There days later He was raised up. The Ten Commandments reveal God’s zeal for us. They show us how to deepen our relationship with God and express our zeal for God by how we treat our neighbor. They and their deeper meanings are countercultural: do not kill in body or spirit, be faithful in heart and body, speak truth no matter the cost; be satisfied with what you have. The deep meanings do not reflect the wisdom of a world that can kill with words, looks’ and attitudes; or that seeks more, not less; or that used people and creation often for self-gain. God’s wisdom seems foolish to many. But if zeal for God consumes us, that ‘foolish’ wisdom becomes our strength. Lent invites us to re-evaluate our priorities. What needs to change so that my zeal for God is clear? What needs to die within me so God can raise me up? Seek God’s wisdom. Pray with the psalmist: ‘Lord , You have the words of everlasting life.’” So I reflect on: • Fill in the blank: Zeal for ________ consumes me. • I name one change that can make me show that zeal for God consumes me. • Am I satisfied with my relationship with God? Am I allowing God to help me grow into His person of love, kindness, forgives, peace? Sacred Space 2018 shares: “I imagine myself visiting the temple when Jesus enters. I am accustomed to the money changers and to the hucksters who convenience worshippers by selling cattle, sheep, and doves for the ritual sacrifices. The fury of Jesus startles and upsets me, makes me think. Surely these guys are making honest money? But this is the house of God. When money creeps in, it tends to take over. Is there any of the Christian sacraments untouched by commercialism? Christening parties, first communion money, confirmation dances and wedding feasts—they are meant to be the touch of God at key moments in our lives; but can God get a hearing amid the clatter of coins?”