Third Sunday in Lent 'B'

Sunday March 15, 2009

A Command Performance

For the average believer, faith is multi-dimensional and incorporates a variety of expressions. The line between authentic religious devotion and superstition is very thin indeed. We may laugh at pagan good luck charms such as the rabbit’s foot but take very seriously the security provided by a St. Christopher medal, no matter what the speed of the motor vehicle.

But the Scripture lessons today are more than a diatribe against religious superstition. The gospel message was intended by the liturgical editors to be understood within the context of the reading from the description of the law given to the Israelites through Moses.

The commandments are not harsh rules and regulations to make life difficult for our Jewish ancestors and for us but expressions of concern for their wellbeing and the assurance of God’s providential care.

In his book “The Sinai Myth” Andrew Greeley elaborates on the religious nature of the Ten Commandments describing them more than an ethical formula. They are “a religious event,” he said, an encounter of man (sic) with God.” In essence, they were intended to be signs of God’s embrace of humanity. In other words, the God of the universe is the same God who activated life on this planet and who continues to be in relationship with us on a daily basis.

The Commandments are a guide for healthy living. Healthy living is what salvation is all about. The words health and salvation come from the same Latin root word, ‘salus’ which means health or care. If you want to be healthy and/or saved, then live the commandments. Don’t just abide by the rules but live them in spirit and in truth.

But the Israelites engaged in moral casuistry and found ways to circumvent the commandments with interpretations that in fact exempted them from the law and in effect alienated them from God. It was their manipulation and rationalization of God’s directives rather than the directives themselves that became the occasion for Jesus’ confrontations with religious authorities. Church law and moral theology have also engaged in similar rationalizing to circumvent the Church’s obligation to internal justice even on moral issues that pertain to the rights of the faithful. This was particularly evident in the handling of the sexual abuse issue. Church law favors the rights and privileges of the clergy over those of the faithful in the pew.

At the conclusion of the Gospel story, Jesus was challenged by the officers of the Temple to explain on what authority he acted. Jesus’ response seemed at first disproportionate to the challenge. However, it was John’s intent to use the temple as the symbol of the old law and Jesus as the prototype of the new law summed up in his sacrificial commitment to life unto death.

Jesus is the new Temple; his body his faithful followers—the New Jerusalem. But Jesus continues to insist that he did not come to do away with the old law but to re-institute it in spirit and in truth.

Though many of his words and deeds seemed revolutionary, Jesus was into reform, not revolution.

Jesus demonstrated in his life how to live the commandments, which he said were summed up in the love of God and neighbor. This was not an abrogation of the commandments but a formula guaranteed to fulfill them.

This is how they might sound in a more contemporary idiom:

I am your God — the God who has loved you from all eternity and in fact the God who loved you into existence. I see myself in you — I created you in my image and likeness.

Use my name in prayer but don’t use it lightly or disrespectfully. I treasure your uniqueness and I reverence your name. So I ask you to reverence me in return and know that I will always be there for you.

Because I am there for you every day, take time to acknowledge my presence in your life not only as the unique individual you are but also as a community bonded in my love. Keep my day holy! And let your entire life be an act of worship.

Honor those who have been life-giving to you — your parents and grandparents; your aunts and uncles; your teachers and mentors; everyone who has loved you and cared for you despite their human inadequacies and failures.

Don’t kill anyone—neither the body nor the spirit. But more than this, be life-giving yourself. Be a conduit of God’s life and grace for others even though it cost you your life. Let your love be sacrificial.

Don’t commit adultery. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived by the attraction of false love and don’t prostitute yourself by succumbing to the glamour of status, wealth and money.

Don’t steal or rob others of their rightful possessions or their reputation or exploit their interest and their talents. Don’t give in to greed and consumerism for the sake personal or political gain. Don’t allow yourself to slip into ‘me first’ thinking.

Tell the truth at all times and don’t envy the good that exists in your neighbors or covet their possessions.

This is the protocol for true religion. This is the formula for life, the path to eternal life – sort of ‘command performance.’

______

And in honor of the feast:

May soft be the grass you walk on.

May fair be the skies above you.

May true be the joys that surround you.

Ma dear be the hearts that love you.

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