THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT - MARCH 3, 2024

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

God is not demanding of us, but rather commands us to follow the Natural Law for His delight and for our own flourishing. On the other hand, humans are unjustly demanding of God, despite the fact that we so often break those same commandments He shared with us as our Creator. At the heart of all human suffering is a disordered approach to our relationship with God. We believe that we can be entirely disobedient and hurtful to Him while expecting mercy from Him, but when we suffer the consequences of our actions, we are quick to blame Him for not protecting us. The Law of God is supremely loving and merciful, but we can only grow to appreciate it once we develop a healthy approach to our relationship with God - we must acknowledge that we are meant to serve and obey Him as His creation.

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READ THIS SUNDAY'S MESSAGE

Even among those in the Catholic Church, we might find significant misunderstandings of our relationship with God. For example, take into consideration God’s mercy, especially as it is embodied in the person of Christ. If we inappropriately consider mercy to be an excusing of all evils or an acceptance of continued sin, we will immediately grow uncomfortable with images of Christ in the Gospel like we hear about this Sunday, when Christ goes around the Temple overturning tables that consisted of people’s businesses and livelihoods. This was an expression of pure anger by Christ, which could not be considered possible if we conflate true mercy with docility and timidity instead of correction. To see Christ act out of anger only appears out of character if we have a disordered view on how we are commanded to serve God. Those who had their tables overturned in the Temple were certainly only there to make a living, but by doing so in the court of the Temple, they were profaning that which was sacred by injecting worldly things into a place for the divine. We are capable of doing the same thing today. We can very easily turn the Church into a non-profit charitable organization whose sole purpose is to provide aid to others. This is important work that has a place within the Church, but there are also plenty of other organizations just like this in the world; what sets our Church apart, and is far more important than anything else we may do, is the celebration of rituals and liturgies that are exclusively meant to serve, honor, and glorify God. The basis of all charity and service to our neighbors is to first serve, love, and honor God. The most basic way for us to do this is by following those Ten Commandments He laid out for us when first establishing His relationship with humanity.

To worship an invisible God before going out to serve our fellow human beings might seem irrational on its surface; in this Sunday’s Epistle, Paul says this can be a stumbling block or foolishness for those who do not share our faith. Despite not having to do so, God made Himself visible in the person of Christ so that we are serving a fellow human being, and so that we can see the face of Christ in those we serve when we go out into the world. Even in his day, those around Christ could not understand the logic of his actions, just as many may not understand our priority to worship God in the Sacraments first and foremost. However, there is an underlying theme in the wisdom of God that is seen as “foolish” in the modern age - it is obedience. Christ was obedient to His Father. We are obedient to Christ. We obey His commandments, which prevent us from placing unjust demands on God. If we want to serve the world, make it a better place, and establish a way in which all humans may thrive, we are incapable of doing it on our own. We must first be obedient to the commands of our Creator.