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Third Sunday of Lent Year C
March 23, 2025
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,the priest of Midian.
Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush.
As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.”
When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely,
God called out to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!”
He answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Come no nearer!
Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers, “ he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But the LORD said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering.
Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians
and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.”
God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.
“This is my name forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations.”
Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11.
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills,
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
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.
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.
All ate the same spiritual food,
and all drank the same spiritual drink,
for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them,
and the rock was the Christ.
Yet God was not pleased with most of them,
for they were struck down in the desert.
These things happened as examples for us,
so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.
Do not grumble as some of them did,
and suffered death by the destroyer.
These things happened to them as an example,
and they have been written down as a warning to us,
upon whom the end of the ages has come.
Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure
should take care not to fall.
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them— do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent,you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”
1.
It is widely rumoured that Albert Einstein once wrote: [i]"I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’ This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves."[/i]
If we decide it is not friendly to us we will build walls to protect ourselves from it, he explained, and we are nearing the stage when we'd be capable of shutting ouselves off compeletely, or destroying ourselves!
If we decide it is freindly we will use our technology for understanding the universe. For power and safety will come through understanding its workings and motives.
"God does not play dice with the universe."
https://www.awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=797
In today's readings we are invited to reflect on this issue. Every time I have persevered to the end in my search for meaning whether in religion or in atheisim, I have found that this is the basic and the ultimate question,
2.
The gospel reading cites two examples of dreadful tragedies, the like of which are all too familiar to us. Think of a synagogue in Pittsburgh USA, 2018, [11 dead and 6 wounded]. Or Christchurch NZ, 2019, shootings in two separate mosques [51 dead, 40 wounded], or the Indonesian Tsunami of Boxng Day, 2004, [est. 270,000 dead].
Events such as these cause sensible people to conclude there is no purposeful order in the universe - just chance or blind fate. Certainly, for some, there is no room for a God who is believed to guide all things wisely, and that with a particular love for us, his prized 'rational' children, who may choose to love him in gratitude for the gift of life - or not. It argued that Jeshua himself in this instance shows a heartless indifference to the victims of thos disasters.
According to Luke's gospel, these events should bring us to our knees: 'Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.' (Repent is a poor translation of [i]metanoete[/i] for it sets us thinking: 'Well I went to confession on Saturday so i'm okay.' It's much bigger than that: not just a change of mind but a change of heart which will take us in a new direction. And just as tragedies seem to go on forever, so there is no end to the process of metanoia. If we are attentive, resisting the tidal pull that draws all things towards a state of entropy - for us, complacency, we will find each day contains a new opportunity to focus more sharply and move with more energy towards the objects of our love, our life-partner, our children or just the meaning of life itself.
There is perishment ahead for those who resist any sense of spiritual responsibility but choose to go with the flow because 'She'll be right, mate!'
3.
The humanists (which includes many 'atheists') are shy of any personal god, if for no other reason, then because it is not rational to believe where there is no evidence, and much to show to the contrary. The religious or spiritual person on the other hand believes that there is evidence that a personal and loving Creator has revealed love to us. Indeed, has filled the universe with love, for love is the energy of existence itself.
The first revelation is recorded in the reading from Exodus. A chain of subsequent revelations in a great variety of forms reached their high point in the person of Jeshua of Nazareth.
4.
Christians stand out among other religions because they follow a man who revealed the Father's love, was condemned for his 'insolence' and died as a criminal in the torture of crucifixion. While Jews respect God as the Holy One whose name can not be said, and Muslims worship Allah as the Spirit who must never be portrayed in human likeness, Christians follow the One who said: 'He who sees me sees the Father. As we see God in the Christ, so also in every human being, indeed in every being. And we learn from him how to love.
5.
Humanists are very strong in thier commitment to the golden rule: 'As you would want done to you, so do to others.' This is the basic rule among all peoples that respect the dignity of each person. The love that Jeshua teaches, however, goes further. It is positively a self-sacrificing love. '[i]As I have loved you[/i], so love one another.' How was that? 'He gave himself up to death for our sake.' Not just for the sake of a family member, a child or a partner or for a good cause, but for his 'friends' - and in his mind that embraces everyone - 'enemies' included, for we are all children of the one Father. Love your enemies.
6.
What kind of metanoia (change of heart) would it take for me to begin at last to give adequate witness to the Father's love for all his children? The kind of witness Jeshua gave when he prayed on the cross: 'Father forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.' I wonder am I just frightened of consequences if I speak out? Will I be laughed at, ridiculed, ostracised? I prefer to fit in, to go along with the general direction and keep silent for the rest. You don't want to stand out from the crowd.
But if you don't stand out you won't be noticed. It is not giving witness to the truth when we stay silent in the face of lies that are meant to do harm or hurt someone. Common sense will guide you towards an effective approach when the time comes. Confrontation is not likely to be the best way.
Many are speaking out in the media to uncover the lies being used by the current crop of autocratic manipulators who seem intent on destroying the freedoms we enjoy in democratic societies and enslaving the populations of the countries. We are fortunate, and grateful, that we can keep abreast of this counter-movement here on [i]Catholica[/i], thanks to the steady work of one or two members.