The Clock is Ticking
March 24, 2019 3rd Sunday in Lent - C
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
There’s an ominous tone in both St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and in St. Luke’s Gospel today: repent, or else: “(W)hoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.” “I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” These scriptures make for great fire and brimstone preaching. Makes me want to go and stand on a street corner with a bible in one hand and a bullhorn in the other, shouting “REPENT, YE SINNERS! YOU’RE GOING TO HELL!”
But are these scriptures particularly harsh? Not really – in fact, I would say that these passages should inspire hope. Throughout his ministry, Jesus frequently talked about the urgency of turning away from sin and orienting oneself toward God. We hear it in many of his parables, like the one of the ten virgins with oil lamps – 5 are wise and 5 are foolish. We see it in his parable of the rich fool who builds bigger barns to store his harvest but dies before he can enjoy it. We see it in the story of the head of the household who is prepared before the thief can break in.
Being ready to die is a foundational theme throughout all of the Old and New Testament – God calls us to Himself; we wander from Him to follow our own pursuits; God warns of the consequences of our actions and then calls us once more to His Love. Again and again, God gives us a choice. Through our free will, we can choose to accept God’s Love, or not. And sooner or later, we will have to choose. We just don’t get an unlimited amount of time for making that choice.
The Bible is, in one sense, a collection of love stories of God for us. These stories necessarily contain warnings, reminding us that our time on Earth is limited, not because Earth IS heaven and there’s only so much time to enjoy it, but rather because it is NOT heaven and we risk missing out on what is ours by our birthright as children of God. God WANTS us to receive what has been prepared for us from the beginning of time, for as scripture says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Today’s Gospel, though, is often misunderstood, especially the second portion, the parable of the gardener and the fig tree. It sounds as if God the Father is the owner of the orchard, God the Son is the gardener, and we are the fig tree – at first glance, it seems like a reasonable assumption. But the dialogue between the two – Father and Son, owner and gardener – makes it look like God is of two minds in conflict with each other. The owner: “cut it down”. The gardener: “give it more time.” The owner demands justice: “why should it exhaust the land?” The gardener begs for mercy: “give it another year.”
But Jesus is making a point: the owner isn’t God the Father, but rather the owner represents the earthly mentality of the people who say “Produce or else.” It's the gardener who is God, showing His mercy. He’s saying, “As long as you can hear My voice, you still have a chance.” And, if you listen to God and allow His love and mercy to work in you, you will be saved – not in your earthly existence, but in your heavenly reward for all eternity.
It is from this perspective that we can then look at the first part of today’s Gospel. The people bring news of a shocking current event to Jesus – a senseless and disgusting act of violence by Pilate which outraged them, just like our reaction to the report of 50 people murdered in the recent New Zealand Mosque shootings. The people then, like us today, struggled to understand why God would allow something like that to happen. But instead of explaining, Jesus compares it to another tragic event that the people would be familiar with in which people died, not at the hands of another person, but from a violent act of nature – the collapse of a tower in Siloam. Their reaction was probably just like our reaction to the news of those killed as a result of the Cyclone in Mozambique last week.
We want to blame someone when something bad happens, and it’s easy to blame someone when it is a senseless act of violence. We can clamor for justice in our earthly kingdoms to satisfy our personal sense of righteousness. But, an Act of Nature? An Act of God? Should we blame God?
Jesus’ reply to the people seems harsh, for he is in effect saying, “It is not important about WHY it happened as it is that it DID happen.” From God’s perspective, there will always be tragic events which may unexpectedly cut short our lives or those who are closest to us. But whether death is sudden and tragic, or at the end of a long life, we will one day have to move on to our next destination, and Jesus is more concerned about that – and we should be too. He wants us prepared, and his entire ministry up to and including his Passion – his death and resurrection – nurtures us and gives us everything we need in order to find and keep the treasure of His kingdom. God wants us with him.
Ultimately, today’s readings are readings of hope, of promise. As long as we can hear His voice, we still have the chance to repent and bear good fruit. We can still accept His Love, just as the good thief did on the cross beside Jesus. There is still time.
But, the clock is ticking.
Sunday, March 24, 2019
The Quest for Faith
The Quest for Faith
March 24, 2019 3rd Sunday in Lent - The 1st Scrutiny
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
Zork. There are some of you out there who might remember this iconic adventure game in which you explored an immense underground empire by typing in commands on a computer keyboard. This was long before joysticks, paddles and the fancy graphics of modern computer gaming systems. The original game predated personal computers by a few years and at one time was one of the most popular adventure games available.
The thing about Zork, however, was that you weren’t inundated with visual special effects and dependent upon violent action to “win” the game, but instead you had to explore the world with your mind in order to learn about the treasures it held. There were limited clues at first for the average beginner. Most learned the world’s secrets by the sharing by other gamers those hints and clues that they uncovered in their own journeys, and those who uncovered the most treasures of the hidden world were those who journeyed it together.
In a way, the people of Samaria in today’s Gospel are like those early gamers, and it is the story of our faith journey, too. Often we seem to get lost in trying to discover God in our lives, and we depend on those who may have journeyed farther than we have to aid us in our quest. And today is a good time to reflect on our journey along with the Elect, who will be receiving Baptism at Easter, as they will shortly participate in the rite of the 1st Scrutiny.
As a refresher for those of us who are cradle Catholics or otherwise don’t remember, those who will be entering the Church at Easter by receiving Baptism are known as catechumens, or the Elect, and they will be participating in the rites known as the Scrutinies, preparing them for the Easter Vigil.
These rites are held on the last three Sundays of Lent. Each scrutiny has, as part of the rite, a particular passage from the Gospel of St. John which reflects on: first, Christ as Living Water in today’s Gospel; next, Christ as the Light of the World in the story of the man born blind next Sunday; and finally Christ as the Resurrection and the Life in the story on the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The Elect will ponder each of these stories during their time of reflection and discussion.
Let’s pretend that today’s Gospel takes place in the Samaritan village called San Pablo. The main characters of the story are us – we are the woman at the well, her past spouses, her current companion, the rest of the townspeople, the disciples of Jesus. Fr. Szatkowski can be Jesus – after all, he is the Persona Christi at the altar. For the rest of us, see if you see yourself in any of these other roles.
First of all, we should note that all of the people of San Pablo – that’s us – are open to the presence of God. They are separated from others in how they worship, but they believe that God will send a Messiah to unite all people with Him. They, like us, are a people of hope.
But they have their issues. The woman at first is distrustful of a man who shouldn’t even be talking with her – by his rules, not hers. She is not bound by the Jewish religious laws and so is open to the conversation, but she is cautious as the Jews wield a lot of power and influence in the country.
She’s also a bit cynical in her comments to Jesus, as she doesn’t know who he is and probably hasn’t heard the stories about him yet. But the more she talks with him, the more she opens herself to him. She’s thirsty for God and is drinking in the living water of Christ without even recognizing that she is.
How many of us are like the woman – wanting God in our lives but distrustful of others who ask for help, cynical in our beliefs about the abilities of others, defiant in our attitudes, self-righteous in our faith?
Then, there are the men in her life. We don’t know why she has had so many of them – some may have died, some may have just left her, maybe she left them. While we might be quick to judge her since she is living with someone who isn’t her husband now, life was tough for women during that time and it may have been the only way she thought she could have any kind of life. Sadly, it is still true today.
How many of us have difficulties in our relationships – with our co-workers, our spouses, our family members? How often have we turned our back toward someone that we couldn’t handle, or isolated ourselves because of our own insecurities or sense of guilt?
How about the disciples? They left Jesus to rest while they sought out food, but upon returning they see Jesus breaking social conventions in talking with a woman, a Samaritan at that. They were uncomfortable enough to avoid asking about it. How often do we assume the worse in others when we see something we don’t understand?
There’s the rest of the townsfolk. Despite the fact that the woman was living as a bit of an outcast, she must have been inspired enough in her conversation with Jesus to be willing to overcome any separation between herself and the rest of the town to share her “faith” with them and draw them to come see for themselves. And they listened.
Are we inspired enough by the presence of Jesus in our lives to cross boundaries that separate us from others, even those closest to us, and encourage them to “come and see” what inspires us?
Finally, the townsfolk have their own personal encounter with Jesus. Not all of them believed, but they were willing to invite Jesus to stay with them so that they could learn more. The more they listened to Him, the more they came to believe.
And so, like the gamers who explored the world of Zork, we too are on a quest to explore our faith and find the treasure that is Christ. Like the Elect, we should seek out those who have already discovered the clues which help us in our journey – and like the woman at the well we should share with the Elect and with others those clues that we have discovered ourselves.
Finally, as we ponder this Gospel passage about the Woman at the Well, we should ask ourselves: Which character am I? As is often the case, we’re a little bit of all of them. But the more we discover about ourselves in the world of our faith, the closer we get to God. And there is no greater world, no greater Kingdom, no greater treasure, than His.
March 24, 2019 3rd Sunday in Lent - The 1st Scrutiny
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
Zork. There are some of you out there who might remember this iconic adventure game in which you explored an immense underground empire by typing in commands on a computer keyboard. This was long before joysticks, paddles and the fancy graphics of modern computer gaming systems. The original game predated personal computers by a few years and at one time was one of the most popular adventure games available.
The thing about Zork, however, was that you weren’t inundated with visual special effects and dependent upon violent action to “win” the game, but instead you had to explore the world with your mind in order to learn about the treasures it held. There were limited clues at first for the average beginner. Most learned the world’s secrets by the sharing by other gamers those hints and clues that they uncovered in their own journeys, and those who uncovered the most treasures of the hidden world were those who journeyed it together.
In a way, the people of Samaria in today’s Gospel are like those early gamers, and it is the story of our faith journey, too. Often we seem to get lost in trying to discover God in our lives, and we depend on those who may have journeyed farther than we have to aid us in our quest. And today is a good time to reflect on our journey along with the Elect, who will be receiving Baptism at Easter, as they will shortly participate in the rite of the 1st Scrutiny.
As a refresher for those of us who are cradle Catholics or otherwise don’t remember, those who will be entering the Church at Easter by receiving Baptism are known as catechumens, or the Elect, and they will be participating in the rites known as the Scrutinies, preparing them for the Easter Vigil.
These rites are held on the last three Sundays of Lent. Each scrutiny has, as part of the rite, a particular passage from the Gospel of St. John which reflects on: first, Christ as Living Water in today’s Gospel; next, Christ as the Light of the World in the story of the man born blind next Sunday; and finally Christ as the Resurrection and the Life in the story on the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The Elect will ponder each of these stories during their time of reflection and discussion.
Let’s pretend that today’s Gospel takes place in the Samaritan village called San Pablo. The main characters of the story are us – we are the woman at the well, her past spouses, her current companion, the rest of the townspeople, the disciples of Jesus. Fr. Szatkowski can be Jesus – after all, he is the Persona Christi at the altar. For the rest of us, see if you see yourself in any of these other roles.
First of all, we should note that all of the people of San Pablo – that’s us – are open to the presence of God. They are separated from others in how they worship, but they believe that God will send a Messiah to unite all people with Him. They, like us, are a people of hope.
But they have their issues. The woman at first is distrustful of a man who shouldn’t even be talking with her – by his rules, not hers. She is not bound by the Jewish religious laws and so is open to the conversation, but she is cautious as the Jews wield a lot of power and influence in the country.
She’s also a bit cynical in her comments to Jesus, as she doesn’t know who he is and probably hasn’t heard the stories about him yet. But the more she talks with him, the more she opens herself to him. She’s thirsty for God and is drinking in the living water of Christ without even recognizing that she is.
How many of us are like the woman – wanting God in our lives but distrustful of others who ask for help, cynical in our beliefs about the abilities of others, defiant in our attitudes, self-righteous in our faith?
Then, there are the men in her life. We don’t know why she has had so many of them – some may have died, some may have just left her, maybe she left them. While we might be quick to judge her since she is living with someone who isn’t her husband now, life was tough for women during that time and it may have been the only way she thought she could have any kind of life. Sadly, it is still true today.
How many of us have difficulties in our relationships – with our co-workers, our spouses, our family members? How often have we turned our back toward someone that we couldn’t handle, or isolated ourselves because of our own insecurities or sense of guilt?
How about the disciples? They left Jesus to rest while they sought out food, but upon returning they see Jesus breaking social conventions in talking with a woman, a Samaritan at that. They were uncomfortable enough to avoid asking about it. How often do we assume the worse in others when we see something we don’t understand?
There’s the rest of the townsfolk. Despite the fact that the woman was living as a bit of an outcast, she must have been inspired enough in her conversation with Jesus to be willing to overcome any separation between herself and the rest of the town to share her “faith” with them and draw them to come see for themselves. And they listened.
Are we inspired enough by the presence of Jesus in our lives to cross boundaries that separate us from others, even those closest to us, and encourage them to “come and see” what inspires us?
Finally, the townsfolk have their own personal encounter with Jesus. Not all of them believed, but they were willing to invite Jesus to stay with them so that they could learn more. The more they listened to Him, the more they came to believe.
And so, like the gamers who explored the world of Zork, we too are on a quest to explore our faith and find the treasure that is Christ. Like the Elect, we should seek out those who have already discovered the clues which help us in our journey – and like the woman at the well we should share with the Elect and with others those clues that we have discovered ourselves.
Finally, as we ponder this Gospel passage about the Woman at the Well, we should ask ourselves: Which character am I? As is often the case, we’re a little bit of all of them. But the more we discover about ourselves in the world of our faith, the closer we get to God. And there is no greater world, no greater Kingdom, no greater treasure, than His.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)