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WORD FOR MISSION
Missionary reflection on Sunday Liturgy
Every week CIAM offers
to lay, religious people and priests an itinerary of reflections on the
Sunday Liturgy in a missionary prespective. These are elements for a
missionary meditation, individual or in community, on the Word of God ,
which constantly and surprisingly continues to enlighten, strengthen
and sustain the missionary journey of the Church, for the life of the
World
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The
universal cult of the "sincere heart"
III Lent Sunday
Year B - 19.03.2006
- Exodus
20:1-17
- Psalm 18
- 1Cor.
1:22-25
- John
2:13-25
Reflections
Cult
and ethics, religious belief and moral practice are two
elements
that make up the spiritual portrait of every human person; they spring
out from
today's readings of the Word of God. As regards worship, the coming of
Jesus
brought radical changes to what was done in the Old Testament. Whoever
reflects
realistically on the fact that Jesus used a whip to drive from the
temple the
merchants, money-changers, cattle sheep and pigeons (Gospel), is
amazed
by the energy and courage with which he dared to tackle the kind of
people that
were more interested in their money and profits than in the cult and
religious
worship that took place in the Temple.
The
meaning of such and unusual act (almost verging on the unseemly) of
Jesus,
normally “meek and humble of heart” (Mt.11:29), goes far beyond the
quick
irritation caused by a fact that is outrageous: "turning my Father's
house
into a market" (v.16). The gesture is a sign that
the time
for the cult linked to the sacrifice of animals and the offering of
material
things to please and placate God has come to an end. This sign and the
tearing
of the Temple curtain from top to bottom show that the Jewish religion
is a
thing of the past. From now on the one temple is the Body of Christ --
“he was
speaking of the sanctuary that was his body” (v.21) -- crucified and
risen from
the dead.
Contact
with Him -- the one Saviour! -- no longer takes place only within four
walls,
or through the blood of animals, the mechanical (and magical) carrying
out of
external rites, but in the intimacy of the heart of each one, in the
Faith and
the sacramental signs, in spirit and in truth: “True worshippers will
worship
the Father in spirit and in truth” (Jn.4:23). The only cult that
pleased God
starts from a contrite heart, like that of the publican (Lk.18:13-14),
and one
that is reconciled: “Go first and be reconciled with your brother and
then come
back and offer your gift" (cf. Mt.5:24). So Paul is right in urging
people
"to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable
to
God”; which is the worship of sensible people (cf. Rm.12:1-2). It is a
message
with enormous significance for Mission and for the people who do not
yet know
the Gospel. The ways to Jesus and to salvation through contact with Him
are
many; not reserved to a few people, but open to all peoples: to
whoever
seeks God with a sincere heart. (*)
Besides
faith and worship, we can perceive the commitments of a moral life in
this
missionary landscape. The ten Commandments (1st. Reading) have their foundation
in the natural law, which is older that the revelation of God
in the
Bible and in the Church. This truth has an extraordinary importance of
missionary work in the world. The commandments are the spiritual and
ethical
heritage of the whole of humanity, even though Christian revelation
gives us a
greater sense of certainty and completeness in the understanding of
natural law
itself.
In
the Catechism of the Catholic Church we are told: “The Ten Commandments
belong
to God's revelation. At the same time they teach us the true humanity
of man.
They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly,
the
fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human person. The
Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law: "From
the beginning, God had implanted in the heart of man the precepts of
the
natural law. Then he was content to remind him of them. This was the
Decalogue" (St. Irenaeus). Although they can be grasped by
reason
itself, the precepts of the Decalogue have been revealed. To reach
certain and
complete knowledge of the demands of natural law sinful humanity needed
this
revelation. St. Bonaventure pointed out that the Ten Commandments
became
necessary because the light of reason had dimmed and the will had been
weakened
by sin. Now we recognise the commandments of God through the divine
Revelation
put before us by the Church and through the voice of our moral
conscience. (CCC,
nn. 2070-2071).
Faith
and Commandments; cult an ethics: these are fundamental dimensions of
human
life, that a Christian lives in the light of the mystery of Christ
crucified
and risen (2nd Reading), “to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over,
to the
pagans madness, but for those who have been called ... the power and
the wisdom
of God” (v. 23-24).
Saint Joseph - today
would normally be his Feast day - was given a
particular role to play in the mystery of Jesus, Mary and the Church of
which
he is the Universal Patron. He is an outstanding model of seeking,
listening to
and being faithful to God's plan.
The Pope's
words
(*)
“It is not power that redeems, but love! God, who became the Lamb,
tells us
that the world is saved by the Crucified one, not the crucifiers. The
world is
redeemed by the patience of god and destroyed by the impatience of men”.
Benedict
XVI
Homily
at the start of his
Pontificate, 24 April 2005
In the
footsteps of Missionaries
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20/3 [moved because of the Sunday]: St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed
Virgin
Mary, foster father of Jesus and Patron of the universal Church.
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21/3: Beginning of Spring (in the northern hemisphere): International
Day for
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
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23/3: Fourth Centenary of the death of St. Turibio Alfonso of
Mongrovejo
(1538-1606), Archbishop of Lima (Peru) and Patron Saint of the
Episcopate of
Latin America.
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24/3: Anniversary (26th.) of the killing of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo
Romero
(+1980) of San Salvador (El Salvador). - Day of Fasting and Prayer for
"Missionary Martyrs".
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25/3: Annunciation of the Lord: the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us.
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Edited by Fr. Romeo
Ballan, mcci - Former Director of CIAM, Rome
Website:
www.ciam.org “Word for the Mission”
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