Contributed by Father Frank Reitzel, C.R.
Father Frank was ordained in June of 1949. His Resurrectionist ministries have included teaching at St.
Jerome’s High School in Kitchener, Scollard Hall, North Bay, Resurrection College, Kitchener, St.
Mary’s College in Kentucky and University of Calgary. Father Frank also participated in Teaching and
Pastoral Work at University of Calgary and the University of Western, Ontario. After serving as pastor
at St. Francis Parish in Kitchener and St. Patrick’s Parish in Bermuda, Father Frank retired to the Manor
in Waterloo in 2001. He continues to do ministry when he receives requests from parishes.
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
March 8th, 2015
GATHERING TIME (10-15 minutes)
Introduction to the Word:
The Ten Commandments are not mere suggestions. They are still to be considered “The Word” of God.
And their meaning still illumines our contemporary understanding of God’s call to holiness of life. For
example, the commandment to serve no other gods needs to be clearly seen in our day where “other
gods” needs to be seen not as Baal or Astarte (pagan gods of the Canaanites) but as scientism,
materialism, and selfism. And the admonition against adultery today exists neither to protect our
property (i.e. our wives and family) nor to guarantee our immortality in our children. It relates to a
profound implication of mutual fidelity identified in the theology of Marriage.
The God eventually revealed in Jesus, the God Who originally spoke the Ten Words, calls us in these
Words to a covenant of love, not just prescribed by laws carved on stone; He is the God who writes His
covenant on our hearts.
Moral character is formed by living with others with similar moral character. It is a process of
assimilation not an acquiring of mere information. The Ten Commandments do not force our
obedience; they measure the depth of our personal relationship with God and His people.
Our scripture readings for the current Sunday place the commandments where they belong, within the
context of “The Great Unfolding Story of Israel’s People.” These commandments must be understood
as having their completion in Jesus. As Sister Dianne Bergant says, God’s power is not revealed in lofty
laws or precepts nor in resplendent structures but rather in the broken and crucified body of Jesus Christ
(Preaching the New Lectionary, 1998).
Warm-up Activity (about 8-10 minutes): The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue (i.e.
the Ten Words) sum up and proclaim God’s law. You are invited to recall your own experiences of
“law” as you remember them from your home and family. You are invited to share your personal stories
as they relate to the following:
i.
Who laid down the law in your growing-up household?
ii.
Who or what was the source of warmth and comfort in your home?
iii. What was your typical punishment when you “broke the law?”
1
The Table of the Word
THEME
“It is both terrible and comforting
to dwell in the inconceivable
nearness of God.”
(Karl Rahner, Prayers of a Lifetime)
This was the treasured gift and truth of a great theologian and man of God, Fr. Karl Rahner, S.J. It
implies a radical and constant awareness of the nearness of God and God’s Spirit–a sense of God’s
immanent presence in every movement of the day, in every human encounter, in every dimension of life.
It is viewed by Rahner as the ultimate and most prized gift of a lifetime (ibid). This awareness is at the
heart of the “covenant relationship” that is ours as struggling believers and one which we continue to
explore in today’s readings. Our search, therefore, is a worthy pursuit of all who gather in His name
around His Word during this time of Lent. It is so comforting and reassuring to know that Grace always
abounds for those who seek the Lord with mind and heart.
In today’s readings we will reflect and discuss our perceptions of Jesus as “the Wisdom of God.”
These sacred passages will prompt us to believe that Jesus is the Wisdom of God; that through Jesus,
God’s Wisdom is made known. In other words, Jesus’ whole life’s meaning was meant to be a pointing
to God. Jesus, then, is the perfect witness and fulfillment of the Ten Commandments and he has given
us these commandments not as a warrant officer but as a helpful gift to show us the way home. “Who,
after all,” says Kathleen Norris, (Amazing Grace, 1998), would trust a God, a parent, a spouse, or lover,
who said “I really love you, but I really don’t care what you do with your life or what you become.”
Leader: Jesus is Lord. All power on earth is subject to him.
Lord Jesus, sign of hope and wisdom of God, Lord, have mercy.
Christ Jesus, crucified and raised to power, Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath and Royal Host of the Kingdom, Lord, have mercy.
Let us pray (together):
Lord, your foolishness
is wiser than our wisdom and your weakness
is stronger than our strength. As we prepare your Word today,
we pray for the wisdom and strength of your Spirit, so that your Word may become our
Word; and that your work may become our work as we help fashion your Kingdom.
For this we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION TIME (45 minutes)
(As Christians we believe that the WORD of God we hear proclaimed each Sunday is an empowering Word, and that God is
present in the Word proclaimed. This is the Word that God wants us to hear today. The dynamic of the Small Christian
Community, namely, reflecting on our life-story within the context of this Word, and sharing the insights of these reflections,
is such that God’s Spirit becomes present, and the gifts of the Spirit are experienced as empowering and life-giving. Because
it is a privileged time it is incumbent on us in the small group to proclaim God’s Word with due reverence, to be attentive to
this proclamation, and respectful of the communal interaction
2
FIRST READING (Exodus 20:1-17)
God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents,
to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the
thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make
wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his
name. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.
Six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God;
you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock,
or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is
giving you.
You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your
neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
SECOND READING (1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25)
Brothers and sisters: the message about the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block
to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God.
For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human
strength.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL (John 2:13-25)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John. Glory to you, O Lord.
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people
selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords,
he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the
money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these
things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”
His disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They then said, “This temple has been under
construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking of the
temple of his body.
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the
Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
3
When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the
signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all
people and needed no one to testify about human nature, for he himself knew what was within the
human person.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
COMMENTARY:
The ten Commandments–ever old, ever new! Today’s readings remind us that the giving of the
commandments by the Lord to Moses on Mt. Sinai was the birth of Israel as a nation. For the Jewish
people, obeying the commandments in daily living was considered not so much as fulfilling a duty as it
was living out a relationship with a real personal God. To keep the commandments for the Jews,
ideally, was to respond in love to the wisdom of God who had bound himself to his people. They
viewed the commandments as the very wisdom of God shared with them as a gift–an invitation to
experience the eternal in the now (ibid).
As we learn from the second reading, many years later Paul tried his best to present Jesus as this wisdom
of God, but the Jesus he presented was not the kind of Jesus his faith community in the city of Corinth
had anticipated. For the Jews who expected signs and miracles, and the Greeks who expected great
wisdom, a crucified Jesus made no sense. For the Jews, Jesus was a stumbling block–they had
anticipated a Messiah of power and might. The Gentile world also had problems with Jesus. Admiring
human achievement and expecting this quality in their leader they ridiculed the apparent failure of the
cross. And so when Paul preached Christ crucified, the face of God which Paul tried to present to his
community was not even recognized. Paul, however, was persistent in his unpopular message, insisting
that for him God’s apparent weakness becomes power, while conventional wisdom becomes foolishness.
The Gospel passage: while all four evangelists describe the temple cleansing incident, John places the
happening near the beginning of the Gospel rather than at the end as did the other three. John wanted it
understood that this was a theological event of major significance. For John, no one took Jesus’ life.
Rather, Jesus laid it down and took it up again. So Jesus’ cleansing of the temple was much more than
what appears. It was a prophetic action demonstrating that the eagerly anticipated reign of God was
“now.” Henceforth it is no longer business as usual. “Here is a new message and a new plan; from now
on no one is excluded from the Kingdom or the Plan,” says Dennis Hamm, S.J., (1999). In John’s
Gospel which is proclaimed today, Jesus incarnates and fulfils all of the major Israelite institutions: the
temple, the various feasts, the Torah (Book of Laws). All achieve their deepest fulfilment in Jesus’ own
life, death and resurrection. Jesus is now acting out of the fullness of Easter’s meaning: he legitimately
drives out the animals designated for sacrifice because his own self-offering on the cross will now and
forever fulfill the purpose of temple sacrifice. Jesus is the definitive revelation of God. Temple worship
is now rendered unnecessary. There remains only one sacrifice–Jesus own passion, death and
resurrection (we call it the Paschal Mystery). We celebrate this incredible mystery at every Sunday
Eucharist. How unfortunate that the majority of the worshiping community has such difficulty
understanding and appreciating this celebration, this mystery.
Lent is our time for repentance, a time for returning to the One who has loved us into life and who
sustains us every moment of this life. The commandments which are encompassed in the one new
commandment of love of God and neighbor, may seem folly, says John Kavanaugh (1998). Probably
we will always struggle with this false notion. But it is so comforting to know that Jesus himself has
4
promised to always remain in our midst; we can always look to him as healing our guilt and disposing us
for wellness and holiness.
(Allow about 5 – 10 minutes for the participants to react to the Commentary – identify a newly
discovered insight or idea.)
Questions For Reflection and Discussion:
1. “You shall not have other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1)
The first commandment forbids the carving of idols, and it is the first commandment we learn to break.
When we have set our hearts on anything other than the reign of God, we have already chosen the
material for our false God. Respond as best you can to the following:
a) If you had to identify a few of the popular “gods” in today’s culture, you are more than likely to
choose them from among the current popular entertainers, musicians, movie actors and sports
heroes.
Take a few moments to identify a few of these pseudo-gods as you perceive them.
To what extent do these “pseudo-gods” impact society’s values?
To what extent do these “pseudo-gods” impact your personal values?
b) What are some examples of power and/or greed that you think seriously effected our basic values, and
our way of life?
2. (1 Corinthians 1:22) “We proclaim Christ crucified.”
I think the apostle Paul would have some of the same problems with us that he had with his Greek
community in Corinth. The Jesus he presents is not the kind of God most of us are looking for.
a) Share in your group some of the issues and questions, even some of the anger you may have
expressed at one time or other towards your Church and/or your God.
b) Do you personally find the image of the cross helpful for your prayer and meditation? What
quality or characteristic of Jesus do you find represented in his crucified image?
c) What religious icon (cross, picture, image, etc.) do you find especially helpful for your prayer
life?
3 (John 2:24) “…and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”
Exercise your imagination for this activity:
Jesus, disappointed with the church attendance, decides to come to your parish to see if He can find out
why people stay away from Sunday mass. He has a few questions for you:
What is it you are looking for in this worship service that you feel you need but are not
receiving?
What particular questions are you looking to me for answers about?
What hopes do you want realized?
In your judgment what changes need to be made in the church if we hope to get more people to commit
their lives to parish ministry? Share your thoughts.
CARING-PRAYING TIME: (15-20 minutes)
Word for the Week:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling with us. (John 1:14)
Some thoughts for reflection this week:
How have you responded to God’s ardent love this week?
Set aside a few minutes each day during this coming week to “waste time” with your loving God.
5
Intercessions: (Response: Lord, hear our prayer)
For the Church
That the temple of God’s church may ever be cleansed from within and fashioned more perfectly as the
living image of the Risen Christ, we pray…
For the World
That those who control worldly power may, with God’s guidance, bring about true and lasting peace for
the world, we pray…
For those oppressed, afflicted and in need
That the innocent victims of greed and violence may find, in Christ crucified, new strength in their
suffering and, in Christ’s disciples, wise allies in their struggle, we pray…
For the needs of the local community
That those among us whose work is in the marketplace may witness to the truth of the commandments
and the wisdom of the Gospel, we pray …
For the Christian assembly
That our Lenten observance may increase our zeal for God’s house and deepen our dedication to the
word Jesus has spoken, we pray…
For the dead
That those who in life were fashioned as living stones into the temple of Christ’s body may be raised up
from death to eternal joy with Christ, we pray…
That Jews, Muslims and Christians all over the world, mindful of a common God and a common
ancestor in faith, Abraham, not give up on their quest for justice and peace, but find ways to live life
together with mutual acceptance, forgiveness and love, we pray…
How can we help you in prayer this week?
Let us pray (together):
O God, whose foolishness is wisdom,
and whose weakness is strength, by the working of your grace
in the disciplines of Lent cleanse the temple of your church and purify
the sanctuary of our hearts. Let zeal for your house consume us and obedience to your
Commandments absorb us, so that we may come to the Easter festival mindful of your immanent
presence and nurturing Spirit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
With hands and hearts united in gratitude for God’s favors on us today, we pray that all those in
our influence be moved to be open to your Word and your Spirit, while we say OUR FATHER…
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: theword@resurrectionists.ca
Celebrating the Word, Resurrection Ministries of the Congregation of the Resurrection Ontario-Kentucky
Province (including the former Resurrection Centre), 265 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
N2L 3G7. (Celebrating the Word was founded by Father Frank Ruetz, C.R., deceased 2012). For information:
Toll Free: 1-877-242-7935. website: www.resurrectionists.ca
The Scripture version used in this commentary is the New Revised Standard Version (copyrighted by the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA)
6