THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT - B

The Lord Be with you. And with your spirit. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just.

That is why we are here. We gather to celebrate the Eucharist because it is right and just. We come to give praise and glory to God because it is right and just. We assemble as a community of faith to participate in the ritual of the Mass because it is right and just. We don’t gather here to be entertained. We are not here simply to fulfill an obligation. We are not here just to receive special graces from the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We are here because it is right and just.

It is right for us to gather here because this place is God’s house. It is a house of prayer. And we come to this sacred and beautiful place, so that we can participate fully in the mystery of our salvation. We gather as a faith community that loves God and each other in such a way that our prayer makes a difference in our lives. It is right for us to come here for private visitations. It is right for us to be able to venerate the Body of Christ in Eucharistic Adoration. It is right for us to be here to celebrate all the other Sacraments. it is right for us to be here to learn about our faith and to grow in our loving relationship with God.

Jesus was upset with all the money changers and vendors of sacrificial animals that were in the temple in Jerusalem. He was not angry because they were there; they were supposed to be there. Many of the Jews who purchased animals for sacrifice used Roman currency which was not allowed in the temple treasury. The animals were purchased so that they could be sacrificed, which was an essential part of the Jewish worship. Of course, the money changers and animal vendors did make a small profit, but that’s not what made Jesus so angry.

Jesus was angry because the Jewish people stopped seeing the Temple as a sacred place of prayer. They no longer saw it as God’s dwelling place. God’s house had become a market place that had more economic and social importance. It’s value as a place of worship and praise was gone. People were paying lip service to the value of their faith. The “Yes” to faith they showed each other was a big, fat “No” to God. From the King on down to the religious leaders the faith had become a symbol of something more important than worshiping God. God’s will no longer mattered. The covenant no longer mattered. The letter of the law had become more important than the truth of the law, the spirit of the law, and people were being misjudged and mistreated. People were abandoning the faith because, it no longer met their spiritual needs. And history has a way of repeating itself.

The Lord Be with you. And with your spirit. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just.

That is why we are here. Our worship of God is a matter of justice. We are called to obey God’s command to keep holy the Sabbath. We are obliged to be here because we are God’s people, called to worship him as our only true God. Our being here might not seem to be as fun as taking a well deserved day of rest. Our being here might not be as productive as working on a Sunday and getting time-and-a-half pay for it. Our rituals do not always make sense to people. The Mass becomes so routine that it seems almost pointless to be here. But our presence truly is a matter of justice. We are gathered here to please the God who judges us and to love the God who loves us so much that he calls us to share in his divinity.

The rituals of the Mass may not seem to connect very well with our lives, but they are beautiful. The Mass is not very entertaining, but, it demands that we participate in a way that is heartfelt and meaningful. The Mass is more than a matter of fulfilling an obligation, it’s about obedience, commitment, and deep concern for the sanctification of our souls. The Mass is not just about what we receive for ourselves, it’s about worshiping God from the deepest parts of our souls because we are God’s children, because we love God.

The Lord Be with you. And with your spirit. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just.

It is truly right and just. What greater reason do we have for being here?