On Our Journey With Christ, a reflection for the third Sunday of Lent

On Our Journey With Christ
A Reflection on the third Sunday of Lent
Readings: Ephesians 5:1-9, Luke 11: 14-28
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus

www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry


For the remaining 28 days of lent until the glorious feast celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I thought I would reflect on what this period of the church season means and what we, as followers of Jesus Christ, should be concentrating on to prepare ourselves for the Pascal Mystery we celebrate on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday the eve of the Easter Celebration.
Just what exactly, is the message of the all the gospels used by the universal church during Lent, beyond the story of the events leading up to Christ’s passion, death and resurrection?
The first one is of acceptance, accepting Jesus Christ as the promised messiah , the redeemer, the son of God who became man to bring us a new covenant or way of life.
As we have heard in the gospels, not all were ready to accept that and many who did, did so only after witnessing a major miracle like the one described in the Gospel of today where Christ cast out the evil spirit from the man who was mute. (Luke 11:14-28)
Our challenge is to believe and accept Jesus Christ as the son of God and the one sent to save us and open up the gates of heaven to us because of our faith and trust and love of Almighty God, the Creator and Father of us all.

This is a difficult thing for many to do, especially since today we have so many secular distractions. The truth of the Gospels seems to be always challenged and brought into question. Just this last week a major television network and all the news papers and tV stations told the story of the supposed remains of Jesus being found and those supposedly of His child and wife. The evidence presented was sparse and highly questionable and not conclusive but it still seemed to convince some that it was factual and therefore opened them to question all that our religion teaches.

In today’s world, many question the will of God, question why, if God is a God of mercy there is so much suffering in the world. I do not have an answer that will satisfy most but I believe that just as God had a reason for creating everything and that everything that he created was good; I have to believe that He has a reason for the suffering. Some theologians will tell you that it is to allow us to experience a small portion of the suffering that Jesus endured and that may be true but, I believe that it is to give us an opportunity to take action to ease that suffering and bring comfort to those who are suffering, just as Jesus brought comfort to those who believed and followed Him and taught us in the Sermon on The Mount.

The one message that is as clear as crystal is we need to have total and complete trust in God and to practice what Christ called THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and body and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Another message is, Christ came for ALL people not just the Jews but for all of the children of God. Just as Christ did not discriminate or abide by all the rules of Jewish tradition and laws which it prescribed when He spoke with women who were not relatives, an ate with those who were considered unclean by the priests of His time.
If we truly accept Christ and want to follow Him we must not discriminate against anyone because of their marital status or sexual orientation and since Christ even spoke with those who were not followers of Judaism, we also need to be open to discussion with those who follow other religions beliefs and traditions.

God sent His only son to us to clarify the message of salvation. To let us know that the promise of eternal salvation is for every living person on the face of the earth. That message is one of hope, peace, love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness.

In the time of Christ, just as today, there were those who felt threatened by this message of hope. If people believed this message of Christ, those in positions of power would not be able to yield the control over them through threats and intimidation. Today we still see threats and intimidation being used to enforce rules that have been put in place by infallible humans, for no other purpose but to maintain power and prestige.

These rules hurt and cause people pain and to become disenfranchised and question religious teachings because what they see the preachers of Christ’s message doing are contradictory to what Jesus taught by His words and actions.
Our lesson is to listen to your heart, listen to what Jesus taught and labor hard to put Christ’s teachings into action in our every day life.

Make Lent a time of doing, not a time of giving up something but a time to put into practice the Corporal Works of Mercy; To feed the hungry; To give drink to the thirsty; To clothe the naked; To harbor the homeless; To visit the sick; To ransom the captive; To bury the dead.” And the spiritual works of mercy; “To instruct the uninformed; To counsel the uncertain; To caution sinners; To bear wrongs patiently; To forgive offences willingly; To comfort the afflicted; To pray for the living and the dead.”
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave us an indication of how people will react if we live by His teachings.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The Sermon on the Mount closes with this statement, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” That to me indicates that we have to become more trusting, more faithful, more merciful and less judgmental and narrow minded that those who profess to be the anointed ones of discerning God’s will.
In today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we are told “ Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children of God, live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”.

The Holy Spirit is alive and well, the Spirit is attempting to open the hearts and a mind of all believers to God’s will and direct us to the promised kingdom. We need to open ourselves to listening to the Spirit as it talks to us.
These are some of the thoughts I have as I enter the final days of preparation for the Paschal Banquet and the celebration of our salvation in Christ Jesus. AMEN