C - Third Sunday in Lent

Today is the third Sunday of Lent and so we draw near to the midpoint of our Lenten journey. Before we know it, Holy week will be upon us. Having made the effort to keep to our disciplines, to pray, fast and to be more charitable, we may have changed - even if only a little. We may have learned a little about ourselves. Do we have the stick-to-itiveness to remain disciplined? Are we able to be resilient in the face of many and varied forces, both spiritual and other, that pull us away from encountering the graces that appear to be abundant at this time? If not, the simple solution is always to start again.

By means of the disciplines we may experience two things: a desire to know God in a deeper way while interestingly, we recognize ourselves to be only less perfect, less worthy. For example, we want to pray more and to experience God more intimately, but prayer becomes difficult, distracted, or not how we thought it would go for us. We can draw comfort that perhaps this may be the expected experience. We begin to see ourselves for who we are, as we begin to recognize God as Holy God. Our readings today confront our modern-day idea that God is, but a friendly face and I don't have to worry so much, since God will forgive me, right? That is not wrong, we are loved, but the reality and impact of mortal sin is very real, and it can destine us for hell. In our first reading Moses encounters God and God tells him to remove his shoes for he is standing upon holy ground. God is holy, and nothing dirty will trespass on holy ground. Just as nothing unclean will enter the New Jerusalem or heaven, as we read in Revelation (21:26). God is Holy and we are his creatures. Because God is the great I AM we must acknowledge his holiness, and respect the holy places, such as this very sanctuary.

Our second reading from Corinthians warns us, not to be complacent, satisfied with ourselves, or to feel secure just because we are part of the church. The reading notes that the blessings of God were on all the ancestors, all were baptized, and all ate the spiritual food, and all drank the spiritual drink, just as we are and just as we do. Yet God was not pleased with many of them and so many were struck down. The reading goes on to say that this was an example for all and for us. God requires us to leave sin and evil behind. To believe we are somehow preserved due to just being catholic, would be the same mistake the Pharisees and Sadducees made by assuming that because they were descendance of Abraham, their salvation was assured. John the Baptist calls them to repentance and to show the fruit that corresponds to it. Just as we are called to repentance and to show the fruit of being a true disciple of Christ.

The Gospel reading reinforces this point. “Those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them, do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?” “No, they weren’t.” Jesus tells us, and goes on to warn us, that if we do not repent, we too will perish as those who died in Siloam. Bible scholars, reading the Gospel of Luke in Greek, tell us that the two uses of the term, “if you do not repent”, use two different verb tenses, with one noting a need to repent once and for all, and the second referring to a continuing repentance.

God is perfectly Holy; God demands repentance if we are not to be lost. Being simply a declared catholic is not enough. These are stark truths. Our Lenten practice can make us more sensitive to them. But the Lord is Kind and Merciful as we all just declared in the psalms. He pardons our inequities and heals our ills. He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. And so, He holds back the hand of the gardener who is ready to cut down the fruitless tree. Graces will abound to help each of us become trees that bear fruit.

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”, we read in Philippians 2:12. Repent and believe in the Gospel, we heard spoken to us on Ash Wednesday. So, we return to the sacrament of reconciliation often, we eschew complacency and make of our catholic life one that bears much good fruit. Our continued Lenten practices, despite the challenges, help us to do just that.

Deacon Peter Bujwid
St. Agnes Church, Arlington, Massachusetts
Sunday 23rd March 2025