3rd Sunday of Lent
March 19, 2022
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
Not a moment to lose
Our Lenten journey is well underway, soon approaching the half way mark. We are guided in that journey by the light of God’s Word which today warns us against the twin dangers of idolatry and complacency. I realize that these are not particularly cheery topics (!), but we need to reflect on them lest we lose the precious opportunity of Lent to be renewed in our relationship with the Lord, with the Church, and one another.
The Temptation to Idolatry
So first, a moment’s reflection on the temptation to idolatry. I don’t imagine that many of you a golden calf in your homes, to which you bow down morning, noon, and night. Today, temptations to idolatry are more subtle if no less real than in the days of yore. Idolatry happens when something else takes the place of God in our lives and absorbs all our attention and our affection, be it money, pleasure, or power.
This is why the story of Moses and the burning bush is important to our Lenten journey. Moses’ encounter with the living God, the God named “I AM” – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob –impresses upon us the truth that there really is only one true and living God, and that he is worthy of all our love. And just as through the leadership of Moses God delivered his people from the slavery of Egypt, so too we are reminded that only God in his mercy can deliver us from our sins and from all that besets us in our busy, complicated lives.
Idolatry in Corinth
Reading between the lines of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, we learn that the Apostle encountered a subtle form of idolatry in his flock at Corinth. It wasn’t that those early Christians went down to the temple to worship Zeus and his companions; but they did take part in meals that entailed the worship of idols. They did this because they didn’t want to offend their neighbors, or to be persecuted for their newfound Christian religion. Worse still, those idolatrous meals had even begun to contaminate the celebration of the Eucharist, which in those days, was done in their homes.
Just as Moses warned the Israelites against all forms of idolatry, so too Paul challenged the Corinthians to stop engaging in “soft” idolatry. In terms that evoke both Baptism and the Eucharist, Paul reminded them of how the only true and living God delivered the Israelites from slavery to freedom. Passing through the Red Sea stands for Baptism; manna in the desert for the Eucharist, and water from the Christ, the Rock, connotes the Holy Spirit. Using such sacramental language, St. Paul emphasized for the Corinthians that God really did accompany the Israelites in their journey through the desert; but many of them ended up grumbling against God and worshipping other gods. He warns the Corinthians lest they end up in the same way.
Those warnings apply to us as well. As a rule, we don’t attend gatherings where idolatry is practiced or condoned, but we may find ourselves in social situations where religious faith in general and our Catholic faith in particular are in the crosshairs. Like the Corinthians, we may be unwilling to risk giving offence to others, and so we fall silent, or dissimulate, or even join in the criticism. Thus, we risk partaking in the godlessness that surrounds us and also risk contaminating ourselves and our worship. As those who are baptized into Christ, as those who receive him in Holy Communion, we are called, respectfully and patiently, to bear witness to the hope that is ours in Christ, just as the Apostle Peter urges us (cf. 1 Pet. 3:15).
Lent is a time to ask ourselves this question: If, in a discussion or a social setting among our peers, anyone or anything near and dear to us were up for grabs would we be content to remain silent, as if to imply that we agree? Would we not want to speak lovingly and compellingly about a person or a value that is important to us? Is not the God who appeared to Moses, and his Son who came as our Savior, and our membership in the Body of Christ, truly nearest and dearest to us?
The Temptation to Complacency
If the idolatry to which we may be tempted is of the soft and subtle variety, so too the temptation to complacency is soft and subtle. By complacency, I mean an almost unreflective sense that, because God is merciful, there is no real need to repent, no urgency to renew our lives of faith, no urgency about becoming holy, sharing the Gospel with others, and serving the poor. In today’s Gospel, Jesus aims to shake us out of such complacency, and he does so by reflecting on stories of contemporaries who died suddenly and tragically. In Jesus’ day, those who died tragically were thought to be more sinful than others. Jesus explicitly rejects that interpretation. What he does teach his audience (and us) is that our hold on life is fragile. There’s not a moment to lose; now is the time for you and me to repent. For us, this means a thorough examination of our consciences and the worthy reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Jesus makes similar point in his parable of the fig tree. Unlike the burning bush that was alive with the Presence of God, the fig tree – which looked perfectly healthy – was in fact barren. The landowner wanted to cut down that tree, but his gardener counseled patience and promised to fertilize in the hope that the tree would bear good fruit in the future. If it still failed to bear good fruit, the tree would be indeed cut down and burnt. The moral is this: God is good and patient and loving – he never gives up on us – but that does not mean that our opportunities for repentance are endless. Our span of years is short, time passes quickly, and like that tree, we have a limited window in which to bear the good fruit of holiness, charity, virtue, and evangelization.
Lent is that time for our faith in God to come alive; it’s a time when we sense anew the urgency of our faith; a time when our faith must bear the good fruit of holiness. May the only true and living God and his Son Jesus Christ, guide us in the Spirit through the penances of Lent to the joys of Easter. And may God bless you and keep you always in his love!