A Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year C).
Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 – 1Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 – Luke 13:1-9.
Whenever we turn on the television these days, we see lots of horrific and inhuman things happening in different parts of the world. We see wars, with the mighty trampling on the weak. Such awful things make us stop and ask ourselves where we are headed. In what can humanity place our hope in times like these? How come evil is allowed to thrive while we, the masses of ordinary people, cower in fear? Most of the time, we just articulate our worries and moan about them while not actually doing very much to oppose the evil that is running rampant.
In today’s Gospel reading, we see a similar scenario. Some people came to Jesus and told Him of the murder of some Galileans by Pilate. The passage doesn’t tell us what act or crime those Galileans committed, or if they were indeed guilty of committing an offence. What it does tell us is that the Galileans were in Jerusalem to offer sacrifice when they met their end at the hands of Pilate, the Roman governor, whois shown in the passage as both brutal and merciless. The scenario is a prelude to Jesus’ own execution, which was carried out at Pilate’s orders. Pilate’s actions induced horror in the hearts of those who were putting their memories on record. What recent events can you think of that cause you to feel horrified? Well, all of us can picture the horrors of war in Ukraine, besides the ongoing wars in Yemen, Mexico, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Congo, Sudan, Nigeria, Iraq and Afghanistan which don’t receive wall-to-wall media coverage.
One of the teachings of Jesus is that in every situation – whether good, bad or indifferent – there is an invitation to each one of us to cultivate a right relationship with God. Since none of us knows the day or the hour when we will be leaving this world, it’s not a good idea to leave acceptance of the invitation until tomorrow. We need to forge a right relationship with God right now, rather than putting off mending our broken relationship with God “until Easter” or “until Christmas”, or even letting the years go by because we’d rather do our own thing. While we pull long faces as we chat about the war with our nearest and dearest, and while we empathise with the agonies and grief of our brothers and sisters in Northern Europe, Jesus reminds us that unless we ourselves are in a right relationship with God this side of eternity, we risk incurring far greater suffering and loss at-and-after physical death, namely that of our souls. This reminder fromGodtheSon Himself serves as a warning to each one of us to safeguard our soul at all times because an adverse event can happen to us at any time.
In the 1st reading, when God called Moses (via the supernatural phenomenon of the burning bush that was not consumed by fire) to go and deliver the people of Israel from Pharaoh in Egypt, He toldMosesthatHehadheard the Israelites’ cries of sorrow and was aware of their yearning for freedom. God always answers prayer. Sometimes He sends aid to those in need through other people. Moses was the instrument of divine aid to the people of God. Think about Moses’ call by God to help His people, and then listen out for what Godiscallingyou personally to do for the needy. Like Moses, we have been blessed with the awesome sight of God’sglory, and as he did for Moses, He has assigned a mission to each of us. Furthermore, as a Christian community, our communal mission is (a) to deliver people from captivity to various manifestations of evil, and(b) to give to the needy, including those suffering the ravages of war, terrorism and disaster. It is incumbent upon each of us to play an active part in showing material and spiritual charity towards our neighbour.
St Paul’s teaching in the 2nd reading clarifies the above. What he teaches here is that you must avoid repeating the mistake that the Israelites made in losing their confidence in God to deliver them, even thoughGodwasleadingthem step by step through the wilderness and accomplishing miracles for them. Many of the Israelitesperishedintheir wanderings because they abandoned their faith in Him to deliver them to the Promised Land. Insteadofgoingdirectly to the Promised Land, which wouldn’t have taken them very long, they wandered aimlessly round and round in the desert for forty years. Instead of placing their trust in God and giving Himpermissiontoleadthemwhere He wanted them to go, they gave up trusting in God and went off and did their own thing. Whenweplaceour trust in ourselves instead of in God – when we think we know better than God (it’s called the sin of Pride)–we give evil the upper hand in the battle for the soul. The fate of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness is both a warning to us of what we lose when we stop placing our trust in God, and also an encouragement to us that when we appeal to God in all sincerity, He hears and answers our prayers. He may say “Yes” or “Noor “Wait” to each appeal, but He will always reveal what the next step towards fulfilling our hope of salvation should be.
God is love. God is full of merciful love for us. The Responsorial Psalm assures us that the Lord is compassion and love. God shows us mercy, forgives our sins, listens to our prayers and guides us in the ways of truth and right. As we heed His guidance and His warnings, and as we take encouragement from His Word, I pray that we will make the most of every opportunity given to us in this world to grow in holiness and to live in justiceandpeacewithGod and our neighbour. Amen. God bless you.