March 24, 2019

3rd Sunday of Lent C
Exodus Exodus 3: 1-8, 13-15; 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6, 10-12; Luke 13: 1-9
We have arrived at the half-way point of Lent.
Easter is April 21, Palm Sunday and Holy Week begin on April 14. Exodus and Paul’s letter to the
Corinthians show us God’s concern. He cares for the Israelites living a horrible life of servitude in Egypt.
They are not respected and have lost all value as persons to the Egyptians. They are watched, enslaved,
beaten to produce and build whatever the Pharaoh wants. They have no freedoms, they are given no love,
they are just slaves. Paul is putting their rescue by God and the following sojourn in the desert into
perspective. They have received God’s total encompassing love. How are the Corinthians responding to
this? How did the Israelites in the desert respond? Is gratitude to God common place in their lives? Have
they given up on God? Are they turning to evil things which gave temporary satisfaction but actually lead
them away from God’s love? We turn to ourselves: has our Lent been a quiet, joyful even, time of year?
Has it been a time of change in ourselves? Has it been a time of prayerful, self-reflection? Has it been a
time that has brought us closer to our Loving, Forgiving, Merciful God? We turn to the wisdom and
examples of today’s Scripture to continue our preparation for Easter.
Moses’ life is contained so briefly in the second chapter of Exodus, yet it covers a period of over forty years.
According to the Torah, the tribe of Levi is named after one of the twelve sons of Jacob, Levi. A man from
this tribe married a Levite woman and conceived a son. Because Pharaoh had decreed that every male child
should be thrown into the Nile River, the mother hid the baby in a basket, placed it in the river with her own
sister watching to see if anyone came to the rescue. Pharaoh’s daughter was the ‘heroine’. The ‘sister’
asked if a Levite woman could nurse the baby. The daughter said yes and Moses was given back to his
mother. When Moses was older, the Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses as her son. Acts of the Apostles
7:23, states: “When he [Moses] was forty years old he decided to visit his kinsfolk, the Israelites”. He saw an
Egyptian attacking a Hebrew, and jumped in and killed the Egyptian. Moses hid the body. This became
known and Moses fled because he knew the Pharaoh was after him. Moses traveled to the land of Midian,
western Saudi Arabia, and saw seven daughters of Jethro, a priest of Midian, trying to draw water but
shepherds prevented this. Moses rescued them. They brought Moses to their father and he offered Moses a
job and eventually married his daughter Zipporah. They had a son, whom they named Gershon. Then
comes today’s Burning Bush marvelous miracle. This begins the dramatic transformation of Moses. He saw
the bush engulfed in flames yet unharmed. This shows that the relationship between God and people is
totally protected by God’s presence. God is with me, all the time…and He loves me all the time…just the
way that I am…Jesus constantly repeated this in the Gospels. The Israelite people have cried out to God
and God responds. I ask God for help and He responds…always…maybe it’s as I wish it …maybe totally
different…but the response is always with love, respect, gentleness and mercy. God gives His Name to
Moses, “.I am who am”… another way to express this —The One who is—which symbolize God’s eternity in
contrast to our limited existence. God is with us in the challenges that constantly present themselves. They
bring so many heartaches and worries, yet just knowing that God never deserts us is the key.
Paul explains to the Corinthians and us that the bond with God has been restored through Jesus. So the
question is what are we to do? I respond by putting my old ways behind me and follow the way that Jesus
showed me. I must bring this good news of God’s love to all in my world. Paul’s message is always one of
hope. It is definitely not easy to live the Christian life. I am distracted constantly. Other paths seem very
attractive, but the devil is behind these. Paul shares that the Holy Spirit is always with us. We see this in
Paul’s often quoted advice, Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more’ meaning that God’s grace
outmatches the constancy of sin. If I follow the Lord, the Lord does all the rest. His love is eternal…His
grace is always present to those who love Him. Do I ask for God’s help? Or do I think I can get out of my
messes all by myself?
Repentance is one of the major themes throughout Luke’s gospel. He tells us repeatedly that anyone who is
willing to repent and ask for God’s help, forgiveness is a given. Today we have two events that are only in
Luke’s account that adds credence to God’s care. The first has to do with a strange event where Pilate
mingled the Galileans’s blood with their sacrifices. Pilate was known for his vicious violence, even Roman
sources echo this passion. In this passage, Pilate picked out random victims. The warning is that this could
happen at any time, to anyone. The same dynamic is in the account of the tower collapsing at Siloam. Who
died…it wasn’t a penalty for a person’s sin, it just happened. We see the fig tree…can it be saved…
perhaps. What counts is that the owner somewhat agrees to save it. The emphasis here is on compassion.
Sunday Homily Helps puts it this way: “…this tree is in crisis. If it does not produce fruit, it will be cut
down. This characterizes Jesus’ approach to sinners. Jesus clearly manifests compassion when dealing
with sinners. But He also demands accountability and does not deal in cheap grace. Forgiveness requires
repentance.” It continues with this special conclusion:
A. “Who can’t identify with this parable? It calls us to be nonjudgmental, to accept others for where they
are at this time in their lives. Each of us ‘blooms or bears fruit’ in his or her own time, some early,
some later on in life. The fig tree parable inspires us to patience.
B. No one likes to wait. Our culture demands immediate satisfaction.
C. May God help us to take time to stop and examine our own lives before speeding off again into the
journey of life.”
So I reflect on:
• When and where have I recently heard God’s call? How did I know it was from God? How did I
struggle with that call?
• Do I reflect on things that help me realize my time on earth is limited: hurricanes; tornados, earthquakes,
fires, floods, death or illness, biopsies, traffic accidents?
• When has God given me a second chance? What did it tell me about God? God heard the cries of the
suffering Hebrews, does this give me courage to cry out to God?
• God will not abandon anyone…why do I feel that this doesn’t apply to me? Where do I struggle with
knowing God loves me?
Sacred Space 2016 states: (went to year 2016)
• “Jesus comments on the news stories of His time. Just as in our time, narratives of destruction and distress
capture the attention. As always, Jesus is telling us not only to look outward but to look inward as well; He is
concerned with what is going on in our heads and what is happening in our hearts. We can ask ourselves how God
is opening us to compassion, prompting us to repentance and leading us to life.
• Jesus often speaks of the need to repent. This means turning away from anything that is not of God. I ask to be
brought more and more into the world of goodness and love, of light and truth. I want to be a genuine disciple.”