{"id":10158,"date":"2024-03-02T07:37:33","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T12:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=10158"},"modified":"2024-03-03T12:03:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T17:03:24","slug":"3rd-sunday-of-lent-year-b-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/3rd-sunday-of-lent-year-b-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B<\/a>
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 12 (John 6:68c)
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25
March 3, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times, Paul tells us that as Christians we are not under the Law.  Rather, we are under the Spirit.  This does not mean that we get rid of the Law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Law was given by God.  Thus, as Psalm 19 says, \u201cthe ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul tells us that \u201cJews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified<\/u><\/strong>, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.<\/em>\u201d  Jesus loving act of giving his life for us on the Cross reveals God\u2019s absolute love for us.  Because of his love for us, we can count on his wisdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus himself observed the Law as demonstrated by his going to Jerusalem for the Passover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Psalm 19 also says, \u201cThe law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ten Commandments are not just a bunch of rules.\u00a0 They are a way of life (see my presentation, Are They Rules or a Way of Life?<\/em><\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can use the Ten Commandments<\/a> to examine our conscience<\/a>.\u00a0 Are we living as God asks of us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Commandment to have no other gods calls us to ask if God is our greatest priority or is there something else that is more important to us.  Sports?  Money?  Career?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Third Commandment to keep holy the sabbath day<\/em> calls us to ask if Sunday a day for the Lord for us or do we spend the day doing something else?  Do our actions make other people work without real need on the Sabbath?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Seventh Commandment says, \u201cYou shall not steal.<\/em>\u201d  Do we use pirated software or illegally download music or videos without paying for it, robbing the composer of their rightful pay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eighth Commandment calls us to tell the truth?  Do we gossip?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as we are called to individually examine our consciences<\/a>, we need to collectively look at how society is doing.\u00a0 I am not encouraged by what I see.\u00a0 When we are so fortunate to have a secular court declare that \u201cembryos are children,\u201d many fail to see the significance of this decision (see my blog article, \u201cThere is Hope in Alabama\u201d<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are we doing as a church?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s gospel, Jesus goes to the temple for the Passover.  What does He find there?  He finds people selling oxen, sheep, and doves as well as finding money changers there.  What are they doing in the temple area?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People went to the temple to offer sacrifice.  Theoretically, the money changers are there to exchange currency for those who come with coins of other nations.  The oxen, sheep, doves are there to be purchased to offer as sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface, this might seem convenient.  We may think what is \u201cconvenient\u201d is \u201cgood\u201d but the problem is they have made our Father\u2019s house a marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This should lead us to think about how our two parishes are doing.  We have been surviving for a long time but is just \u201csurviving\u201d enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus did not tell us disciples to maintain what He had started.\u00a0 It is not enough just to maintain.\u00a0 Jesus told them, \u201cGo therefore,\u00a0and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 28:19<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus has given us a mission<\/em><\/strong> to share the gospel.  Our mission as a parish starts with us allowing ourselves to be transformed by the gospel. As, not after, we are transformed, we<\/u><\/em><\/strong> must take the gospel out to those who don\u2019t come to church.  It\u2019s what Jesus asks of us<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It starts with seeing ourselves as temples of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said to the people in the temple area, \u201cDestroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They thought He meant the temple building.  In that thinking, it would seem impossible to rebuild it in three days.  \u201cBut he was speaking about the temple of his body.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we see our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, then we will observe all that the Lord has commanded us (see Matthew 28:20<\/a>) and teach those we see outside the church to do the same.\u00a0 We need to do it as individuals and together as a community of believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we make the effort, remember Jesus\u2019 words, \u201cI am with you always, until the end of the age<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 28:20<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year BExodus 20:1-17Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 12 (John 6:68c)1 Corinthians 1:22-25John 2:13-25March 3, 2024 At times, Paul tells us that as Christians we are not under the Law.  Rather, we are under the Spirit.  This does not mean that we get rid of the Law.  The Law was given by God.  …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,260],"tags":[415,695],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-2DQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10159,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10158\/revisions\/10159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}