This Sunday’s gospel put Jesus' knowledge of our human
nature so clearly: He really knew what was going on in men's hearts. He knew
what they thought. He saw what they did to the Temple. The Temple was a place
of worship. It was a place of
celebrating the spiritual presence of God in the world. And they transformed
it. They changed the Temple into a
marketplace. They utilized a system of money changing that robbed the poor
people, forcing them to spend extra money for the prescribed practices. He knew men's hearts. He knows our hearts! He knew that our
celebration of his birth at Christmas would be transformed from a day to
celebrate the Spiritual Becoming One with us to a celebration of materialism. He
knew that we would hide the celebration of the Resurrection behind the Easter
Bunny. He even knew that some people would begin their Easter celebrations two
days early and have a party on Good Friday (That, to me, is the height of paganism,
by the way)[1].
He knew that people would see the signs that he
worked, the miracles he performed, but would refuse to see the messages behind
the signs and the miracles.
Instead they would see him as a wonder worker, a super man, a good show.
He knew that they would not recognize whom he really was. Nor were they ready
to listen to his message. Those who followed the way of the world could never
accept sacrificial love, a death on a cross, as the way to salvation. He would show us what real love
was. He would die on a cross for
us.
For God had entrusted creation to man from the very
beginning. He would not take this gift back. If mankind had broken the
relationship with God, then mankind would have to make the decision to once
more seek this relationship. One who is a man would have to restore the
relationship. The man, the Son of God become flesh, would give himself up
completely for the sake of others. His death would make God's life real to the
world.
During Lent we celebrate our ability to live Christ's
life. We are called upon to consider how
well we are following Christ's way, the way of sacrificial love. Our houses
may be destroyed in a natural disaster, but nothing can remove the love of
Christ from our homes, wherever we may be. The
one thing that will last forever is the sacrificial love of the Lord we have
been enjoined to perpetuate in the world.
My brother, my sister, we must be willing to sacrifice
ourselves for others, our families and our friends. We must be willing to demonstrate with our own lives that
Jesus' wisdom and strength, the wisdom and strength of the cross, proves the
lie of the materialistic mind set of the World. The wisdom of the cross reveals
all else to be folly and weakness ■
[1]
3rd Sunday of Lent B, March 8, 2015. Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19:8, 9,
10, 11; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25.
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