Third Sunday in Lent
Posted by Bob Kenward on March 8, 2009
Prepare for Mass – March 15, 2009 – (3/15/2009)
Catholic Readings Schedule
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Sunday March 15 2009 is the Third Sunday in Lent. The Gospel account is from John 2 13-25. Holy Zeal.
In the first reading, we hear the account from Exodus when Moses received the ten commandments.
The Law, recorded by hand of God, on stone tablets long ago was given to Moses (Ex 20:1-17).
These are the words of eternal life. The Responsorial Psalm today has us saying “Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.” Psalm 19:9 says “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye.”
The second reading is 1 Cor 1:22-25.
Brothers and sisters:
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.
In the Gospel – Jn 2:13-25 – we see how the Jewish people demanded a sign and how the weakness of human nature lacks wisdom. In Christ, we have true wisdom and true strength. The people who follow Christ know a thing or two about true zeal. We are all called to be great saints. We rejoice with all the saints and sing I love Him…
False zeal often drives us to do things that build us up but these things don’t build up the kingdom of God. I suppose the Jewish money changers at the temple thought that they had a good thing going. They found a way to make a good profit in their economy. The guy who started it must have looked pretty smart and others followed. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Jesus put these people in their place. “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace”. He made a whip and drove them out and caused them to think that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all.
The disciples who watched all this called to mind “zeal for his house shall consume him”. The Jewish people who created a marketplace in the temple did this out of zeal. But it wasn’t true zeal. It was a false zeal.
Jesus, for the love of his Father’s house, out of true zeal, drove the Jews away. But, failing to understand, they asked for a sign. Jesus responded “Destroy this temple and in three days it will be raised”. Jesus was talking about his own body – The New Temple.
All these years later, the law has not passed. The law has been fulfilled by Jesus. The law cannot be destroyed. The temple cannot be destroyed. Jesus’ body is the new temple.
