Daily Readings

Reading I:  Ex 20:1-17

In those days, God delivered all these commandments:
“I, the LORD, am your God, 
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves 
in the shape of anything in the sky above 
or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; 
you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, 
inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness 
on the children of those who hate me, 
down to the third and fourth generation; 
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation 
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished 
the one who takes his name in vain.

“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work, 
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, 
or your male or female slave, or your beast, 
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, 
the sea and all that is in them; 
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, 
that you may have a long life in the land 
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, 
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, 
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
 

Responsorial Psalm:  19:8, 9, 10, 11

R. (John 6:68c)  Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
    refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
    giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
    enlightening the eye.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
    enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
    all of them just.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
    than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
    or honey from the comb.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
 

Reading II:  1 Cor 1:22-25

Brothers and sisters:
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 
but we proclaim Christ crucified, 
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, 
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, 
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
 

Verse Before the Gospel:  Jn 3:16

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
 

Gospel:  Jn 2:13-25

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, 
as well as the money changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, 
and spilled the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables, 
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here, 
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, 
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them, 
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said, 
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, 
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, 
his disciples remembered that he had said this, 
and they came to believe the Scripture 
and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, 
many began to believe in his name 
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, 
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.

Father Kirk's Daily Lenten Reflection
3rd Sunday of Lent, March 7, 2021

One day a Christian missionary was captured by a tribe of cannibals. They tied him to a tree with a huge cauldron of boiling water nearby.  All of a sudden, the cannibals knelt down to pray,  and the missionary said: “Thank God you are Christians after all.” But just then, the head cannibal yelled to him: “Keep quiet! You are interrupting our Grace Before Meals!”

A man told the story of being confronted one night by aother man who was looking to rob him.  Startled the man began to scold the would-be thief and, somewhat miraculously, the robber stepped back, put away his gun and asked for forgiveness saying, “I’m so sorry to scare you but I am desperately in need of money.”  Feeling pity the man took out some cash from his pocket and handed it to him saying, “Take this.  Go buy some cigarettes and whatever else you need.”  Interestingly the would-be thief refused saying, “Thank you but I don’t smoke during Lent!”

Both of those stories and today’s scripture echo the sentiment of the words of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel in which he quoted the prophet Isaiah saying: “These people honor me with their lips; but their hearts are far from me.”

We most certainly do not want to be people who can be accused of honoring the Lord with our lips but not with our hearts.  If we say we are followers of Christ (and indeed we are) then we are called to be people of principle, virtue, righteousness, and integrity.   We must strive to be people whose words and deeds match.  In other words, we must be people who are who we say we are … and who do what we say we will do.

May we strive always to be people who honor the Lord more with our hearts than with our lips.  As Saint Francis of Assisi frequently said: “Preach often.  If necessary, use words.