Mother Church invites us to celebrate March 3, 2013 as the third Sunday of Lent in the Church’s year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “My eyes are always on the Lord, for he rescues my feet from the snare. Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor. Amen.”
In the first reading, from the book of Exodus, we read the story of Moses and the burning bush, one of the best-known stories of the Old Testament. It tells of the call of Moses and the revelation of God’s name. Moses, who has been driven out of Egypt for defending the cause of his own people against the Egyptians, is reduced from the position of royal prince to that of a wandering nomad. But God has other plans for him. He sends him back to Egypt to rescue his people in his name. God reveals himself to him as “Yahweh”, the One who stands by his people and extends his helping hand to them.
In the Gospel, Saint Luke shows how Jesus on his way to Jerusalem continues to give warning of the consequences of not siding with him. By rejecting his message of salvation, the people are heading for destruction. Some of them are cruelly treated by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and others are crushed by a falling tower. He uses these two tragedies as a warning of what people deliberately bring upon themselves by persisting in their rejection of God’s will.
In the course of
this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace of conversion so we can turn away
from our evil ways that can only lead to death.
First Reading: Exodus 3: 1-8. 13-15.
Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the shape of a flame of fire, coming from the middle of the bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but it was not being burnt up. ‘I must go and look at this strange sight,’ Moses said ‘and see why the bush is not burnt.’ Now the Lord saw him go forward to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush. ‘Moses, Moses!’ he said. ‘Here I am’, he answered. ‘Come no nearer,’ he said. ‘Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father,’ he said, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this Moses covered his face, afraid to look at God. And the Lord said, ‘I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt. I have their appeal to be free of the slave drivers. Yes, I am well aware of their sufferings. I mean to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land to a land rich and broad, a land where milk and honey flow. Then Moses said to God, ‘I am to go, then, to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is the name for all time; by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come.”
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Exodus is the second of the first five books of the Bible. It recounts the Israelites’ escape from Egypt with the help of Moses. Genesis is the first these books and it deals with the origin of the world, of mankind and of the people of Israel; the third is Leviticus, which gives the lists of the laws of the priests of the tribe of Levi; the fourth is Numbers, which gives the list of those who came out of Egypt and wandered about in the desert, and the fifth is Deuteronomy, which recounts the main events at the end of the forty years the Jewish people spent wandering in the desert under Moses. These five books form a unit known collectively as the Pentateuch (from the Greek word for five books), or as the Torah (the Hebrew word for the Law).
Exodus means “leaving” or “going out”. It tells of how the Israelites managed to escape from slavery and gained their freedom, ceasing to be subject to Egypt and accepting the Covenant established by God with Moses on the Sinai. The laws assembled in this book cover the religious, moral and social life of Israel.
In the passage of our meditation, we read the very well known story of Moses and the burning bush. It is the story of how Moses is called and sent to free his people from slavery in Egypt. In the dialogue between God and Moses, the Lord endows Moses with all the gifts he needs to carry out his mission. He promises him help and protection, makes known his name and gives Moses the power to work wonders.
We see how God brings about the salvation of his people by calling and using a docile mediator, Moses. The initiative to call us always comes from God himself. He speaks to Moses from the fire that does not consume the grass. It is an ordinary scene of a shepherd tending his flock on the hills but then extraordinary things happen (the angel of the Lord appears, there is a flame that does not burn, and a voice comes out of the flame).
That is when the dialogue between God and Moses begins. God starts by calling him by name, then he introduces himself as the God of Moses’ ancestors, he then makes his plan of deliverance known before giving Moses his mission: that of liberating Israel from slavery in Egypt. Moses is stunned by the sheer immensity of the mission God is assigning to him but God assures him, as he assures all to whom he assigns any mission, that he will be with him to support him and see him successfully accomplish his mission.
That is one of the lessons to draw from this reading. God does not give you a mission without properly equipping you for it. “Be not afraid for I am with you to deliver you,” he tells Jeremiah (1:8). So, whenever we receive a mission from God, he always stands by us until we accomplish it. Let us therefore follow the example of Moses, who puts his trust in God’s promise and successfully carries out his mission. We pray for the grace to put all our trust in God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God . Amen.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6. 10-12.I want to remind you, brothers, how our fathers were all guided by a cloud above them and how they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in this cloud and in this sea; all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they all drank from the same spiritual rock that followed them as they went, and that rock was Christ. In spite of this, most of them failed to please God and their corpses littered the desert. These things all happened as warnings for us, not to have the wicked lusts of forbidden things that they had. You must never complain: some of them did, and they were killed by the Destroyer. All this happened to them as a warning and it was written down to be a lesson for us who are living at the end of the age. The man who thinks he is safe must be careful that he does not fall.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
The exodus of God’s people from Egypt, as we see in the first reading of this day, was marked by many events. God led the way in a form of a pillar of cloud (Ex 13: 21-22); the people had to cross the Red Sea, they were fed in the desert with manna from heaven and drank water which Moses caused to flow from the rock.
To Saint Paul, the presence of God with his people, marked by the cloud passing through the sea, his gifts of food (manna from heaven), and drink (water from the rock) anticipate the risen Christ and his sacrament of baptism and the Eucharist. He even sees Christ’s saving power in the Old Testament. He sees the land and the sea as symbolizing two basic elements in Christian Baptism – the Holy Spirit and the water. By following Moses in the cloud through the sea, the Israelites were linked to him in much the same way as the Christian is fully linked to Jesus through Baptism. The manna and water, which Saint Paul calls ‘supernatural’ food and drink, symbolize the Eucharist.
By saying that the Rock was Christ, Saint Paul applies to Christ the prerogatives of Yahweh, thereby showing Christ’s divinity. Elsewhere in the New Testament, our Lord is referred to as the cornerstone (Mt 21: 42). The events in the history of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament foretell things which will happen when Christ comes (1 Cor 10: 1-4).
Saint Paul therefore stresses that even though God may shower benefits on us, no one should think that they have automatically earned eternal life. We must continually implore God’s help and not rely on our own strengths alone.
What lesson do I draw from this reading? There is here a lesson in humility. I must humble myself and pray continually, especially during this Year of Faith, that God should strengthen my faith and help me to follow Christ more closely during this season of Lent. I make my supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gospel
“Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! Repent says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! Let us now rise and receive the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke 13: 1-9.
It was just about this time that some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, ‘Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. He told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, “Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground.” “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it for one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it. It may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
The Gospel of this day challenges us to change our lifestyle. Jesus says “Unless you repent you will all perish”. He uses current events in his teaching. Pilate has just murdered Galileans and a pillar has just collapsed on some poor people. Christ tells his disciples that the fact that these people have died in this way does not mean that they are worse than others. All of us are sinners, who merit eternal punishment, but Christ has come to save us from damnation. He has opened for us the door to eternal life. All we need do is repent of our sins and God will free us from the punishment we deserve.
God always gives us the opportunity to live in a way that is different from the way we live now. We should live as he wants, making him the center of our lives. For this to happen, we need conversion to live according to God’s will. When we repent we open ourselves up to new possibilities with God’s blessings.
The Gospel also recounts the story of the fig tree planted in the vineyard but that does not produce any fruits. Our Lord reminds us that we have to produce plenty of fruits in keeping with the graces we have received. But he also tells us that God waits patiently for us to bear the fruit he wants. He does not take delight in the death of a sinner, rather he wants the sinner to live and to be converted (Ezek 33:11). Saint Peter also tells us that God is “forbearing towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3: 9).
However, God’s clemency should not make us complacent and negligent of our responsibilities towards God and neighbor. Although our God is a merciful God, he will punish anyone who fails to respond to his grace. Sometimes we can do more but fail to do so. We can take God’s message of salvation into our families and society at large but we hesitate and finally fail to do so. We become like the fig tree that has failed to produce any fruit and is only good for the fire.
But Christ is the gardener who gives us a chance of conversion, a chance to come back, like the prodigal son, to the father’s fount of mercy. He tells his Father ‘Leave it for this year, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it’ (Lk 13:8). Instead of rejecting us as a fruitless fig tree, God takes pity on us and gives us a second chance.
God is always ready and willing to give us a second chance. It is now for us to make the best of that second chance. The parable tells us that there is final chance. If we fail to make the best of the second chance by repenting our sins and changing our life style for the better, God will punish us, as he did the Galileans or those on whom the tower collapsed.
In the course of this day, let us give thanks to God, who is always willing to give us another chance to start anew. Lord Jesus, help us to make the most of this second chance. Holy Spirit, give us the courage and the strength to rise whenever we fall and to march with sure steps towards the Risen Christ at Easter. We make our supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hey Brother, great meditation. I like it and pray that God inspiration through St Joseph, to continue feeding us every Sunday.Please can you prepare something for our upcoming Feast day, 19Th march? Let me thank you in advance. Remain blessed.
Posted by: Fidelis Bate Ashu, Njimafor Parish Bamenda. | March 02, 2013 at 09:47 PM
God Bless
Posted by: Anthony Jumbam | March 11, 2013 at 05:04 AM