SERMON/HOMILY FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B 3RD MARCH 2024

SERMON/HOMILY FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B 3RD MARCH 2024

Exodus 20:1-17; Ps.19; 1Cor.1:22-25; John 2:13-25

“… _you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade_ ” (Jn.2:16b)

 Respect for what is dedicated to God!

At the end of the Lenten season, our adherence to God’s commandments is what should have improved. Our adherence will improve by a deeper understanding of God’s commandments (how they apply to us collectively and individually) and by our ability to wipe off every elements and traces of disobedience in us, not only by going for confession but especially by adopting a new life style that enables us to live better lives henceforth. Do I know/understand the commandments? Am I keeping them? The readings of today help us to answer these fundamental questions.

In the first reading, the Lord gave the people the commandments through Moses. The commandments are basically divided into two: our obligations towards God and our obligation towards one another. The former seem to be the point of emphasis today, which was dramatically demonstrated in the gospel reading. The first three commandments which form the first part of the commandments hinge on man respecting that which essentially belongs to God. The strength of a person or a nation is showcased in its ability to protect that which belongs to it. When a nation’s boundaries are unprotected, the nation is clearly insecure. So, the first part of the commandments speaks of God’s supremacy as indicated in his ability to protect and preserve that which belongs to him.

To begin with, He told the people of Israel that only Him qualifies to be their God; not just because he created them but also because only Him could and did save them from the bondage of Egypt. God does not demand our worship on the basis of what he wants to do for us, but on the ground of what he has done for us. Our worship becomes a logical consequence and a wise response to what God has already done. If we are not worshipping God single-mindedly, we become ingrates and irrational. Like the people of Israel, we too have enjoyed God’s benevolence: generally by the salvation he won for us on the cross and particularly by the various ways God has intervened in our lives’ situations. We can clearly testify to the fact that what God has done is something that neither we ourselves nor any other would or could have done. Since God has shown himself as both the creator and savior of life, we must allow him to be the sustainer of this life. Our lives have been dedicated to God; they cannot be sustained by something else.

Again, the Lord commanded that we shall not take/use his name in vain. This calls us to revere the name of God and respect what it stands for. When we consider the frequency and ease with which people use God’s name as justification for their wrong deeds, you begin to wonder if they have an atom of the fear of God in them. A liar will justify lies as truth on the ground that he is a Christian. A Catholic will cheat in business but show his rosary or scapula as evidence that being a Catholic, he/she is not cheating. Today, a common tactics for cheating a priest is “fada na becos of you o”. Again, we have cases of people swearing with the bible when they are clearly telling lies. People make reference to their positions in Church to blackmail others into believing or accepting their deceptions. What about those who dare to steal Church properties or steal in the Church? What about those who never consider their standing with God but continue to approach the altar for communion as if it is an all-comers’ affair? The fear of God seem to be disappearing fast in the minds and actions of those who tenaciously claim to be Christians.

Going further, the Lord asked that we keep holy the Sabbath day. We keep the Sabbath day holy by going to Church and resting from servile works. Do we still take these seriously? There are Catholics who have sworn an oath never to witness the Mass commence with the entrance procession. If the Mass is slated for 7am, they come to Church 7:30am. If the Mass is shifted to 7:30am, they will come by 8am. The Mass has become for them, a social event where de cream de la cream come in at the middle of the celebration. Often times, these persons are the ones to leave the Church immediately after the post communion prayer. The question is: did such persons come to Church to really worship God? If yes, to what extent is this God valuable to them? Will they afford to go late and leave before time to their places of work? If we will be time conscious for six days in our places of God, and care less about time for only one day appointment with our God, then we can we sure that by our actions, we have loudly spoken of who is our “God”.

However, in the gospel reading, Jesus is found in the temple purifying it by driving away those who came into the temple for other reasons other than to worship God. These persons may be punctual and regular in Church but for some privates purposes. If our minds are not fixed on God, the presence of our bodies in Church becomes inconsequential. The presence of the body and the absence of the mind in the house of God is largely responsible for the low level of conversion amongst many Christians today. For many of us, our faith-level is nothing compared to the many years of being in the Church or the many times we have frequent or celebrated the sacraments. See, we may deceive others with our physical presence, but we cannot deceive God who sees the heart.

So, in the second reading, St. Paul tells us that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. We cannot deceive God with something that looks like conversion but is not conversion. If we are not living by His commandments, no matter how we paint and defend it, God knows and work by the truth. From the gospel, let us learn to respect whatever has been dedicated to God, especially our body and that of others. This lent, let us take the bold step of recommitting ourselves to respecting the dignity of others and shunning every sin against the flesh that clings so closely to us. The energy and zeal with which Jesus cleansed the temple today speaks of the extent to which God hates every sin against the human body. The truth remains that holiness is next to Godliness.