23 March 2025

23 March 2025 - Third Sunday of Lent

Transcript

Reading:  

1 Corinthians 10:1-2

Write:  

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea,
 and all of them were baptized into Moses
 in the cloud and in the sea.

Reflect:   

So we hear about that cloud again this weekend. The Shekinah of God was the experience of the Israelites. But as St. Paul notes, God was not pleased with most of them and most of them died in the desert.

This is a warning against presuming we have it made. The Israelites saw the glory of God through all the miracles he worked in getting them out of Egypt. They even had this longing for God that was indicated by the Shekinah. They wanted more of God.

But it did not last very long. As St. Paul said, they grumbled, and so they died in the desert. They “suffered death by the destroyer.”

Apply:   

One of the dangers of the forty days of Lent is that it can seem… too long. We may begin with great hopes and promises to God that this Lent will be the best Lent possible. But when we have had weather like this past week, or any other big disruption, all of a sudden we find ourselves distracted and doubting our resolve. I couldn’t help but ask myself if this was the first day of winter or the first day of spring this past Thursday as I sat in my office and looked out on snow-covered bushes and trees and grass. Bah humbug! Oh, that is the wrong season! I did feel sorry for the migrating robins, though.

But back to the main point. St. Paul warns us not to grumble as some of the Israelites did. Some of them wanted to return to Egypt. Some of them built the golden calf. Some of them were afraid to go forward to the promised land.

All three of these deserve some comments. Here during our Lenten season we may want to return to what we thought was the comfortable nature of being able to ignore God. I know none of us would speak that way – that boldly – that we wanted to abandon our faith, but there are so many who are just… walking away because they feel it doesn’t matter anymore. I believe this is a terrible risk! We probably all know some people who have chosen to take this kind of a path, who have chosen to reject the practice of their faith. They are returning to Egypt. They are buying into a secular life that rejects God, even though they may not be saying that! The terrible phrase “I am spiritual, not religious” is in reality walking away from God. This is the first of the three points that I mentioned: this is wanting to return to Egypt and ignore the blessings that God has given.

The second one was the building of the golden calf. It is a rejection of God again, only this time it is putting something else in God’s place. This can happen in all kinds of ways and none of them are good. Whether it is an exultation of self, a love money, or status, or gaining a “trophy wife” – the list could go on looking at the things of society that count as “success” – it is a searching for happiness when the only source of true happiness resides in God. It is far too easy to substitute something for who God is meant to be in our lives. Saint Augustine is quoted as having said something like: inside of every heart there is a void that can only be filled by God. And yet people try to fill that void with the things of this world – building stupid golden calves in their lives that cannot answer their needs.

The third one: some of them were afraid to go forward to the promised land. The Israelites were forced to stay in the desert for forty years because they would not trust that God would give them the promised land. It was too hard of a task. Most of the scouts who went into the promised land came back talking about giants in the land and that the land was somehow too harsh for them to be able to control it. Caleb and Joshua were the only two who said: “we can do this because God is with us!” Here, in our day, do we trust that God is with us? I am not talking about “God being with the United States of America,” I am talking about our traveling through Lent! St. Paul issues us a warning right at the end of our reading today: “Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.”

We have seen in our souls, and with our eyes, the glory of God made visible to us. Jesus’ death on the cross – and the power of the cross in our lives (have you been making use of the sign of the cross as I suggested a couple weeks ago?) – and the Presence of the Eucharistic Christ – and all the wonders of our faith (this past week we had the solemnity of St. Joseph, and this week we celebrate nine months until Christmas – better known as the solemnity of the Annunciation.).

Jesus gives us a simple warning in the gospel today: “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” Repent: it does not simply mean stop sinning. It means to turn around – to change the direction of your life – to conform yourself to the Gospel – to recommit yourself to the endeavors you started at the beginning of Lent. Our Responsorial Psalm this weekend reminds us of who God really is:

Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
             slow to anger and abounding in 
                    kindness.
 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
             so surpassing is his kindness toward 
                   those who fear him.

Lent should be for us like the season of reprieve given to the fig tree in the gospel story. It is a grace period in which we let “the gardener,” Jesus, cultivate our hearts uprooting what chokes the divine life in us and strengthens us to bear fruits that will last into eternity.

Please, don’t let the example of the Israelites as they left Egypt form your life now. We are not yet halfway through Lent. Renew today your commitment to live a good Lent and prepare well for Easter. It is the goal all our lives.

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