Bob Jensen

I’ve been going a bit stir crazy for the past couple of weeks. Many of you may feel the same. Our gospel reading this weekend focuses on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. To Martha and Mary, Jesus personifies the resurrection and the life. In calling forth Lazarus from the tomb he offers new life. During this time of bearing with effects of the spread of the coronavirus may we know deep down that Jesus is call us out of the tomb of fear of the unknown. He will see us and our loved ones through the days and weeks ahead. May his blessing be on us all.

 

On the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, the scrutinies are celebrated with the elect (those who are to be baptized at the Easter Vigil) in the presence of the worshipping community. In our case this is taking place at the Life Teen Mass. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults teaches us that “the scrutinies are meant to uncover, then heal all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the hearts of the elect; to bring out, then strengthen all that is upright, strong, and good.” The Gospel passages of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, his giving sight to the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus on these three Sundays are all clearly baptismal in focus and point to water, light, and new life that  come from the sacraments of initiation.

 

Almost a year ago I travelled with forty some others throughout the Holy Land. When we arrived at the Mount of the Transfiguration we waited for vans to take us on up. We were just one of several tour groups preparing for the ascent. I couldn’t help but think that Jesus and his three companions climbed Mt. Tabor in less time than it took for us to finally arrive at the top. It was only when I allowed the stress of the wait to dissipate that I could appreciate the setting and the view below. What a sight it must have been for Peter, James, and John to behold Jesus in his glory, along with Moses and Elijah! It must have taken some nudging for Jesus to get them down from that mountaintop  experience. Jesus assures us that even in the most mundane situations of life traces of resurrection can be found. May this Lenten journey deepen our faith.

 

If we are honest with ourselves we too face the same temptations that Jesus did in the desert. Self gratification rears its ugly head in many circumstances. Discipline is necessary if we are to avoid those shortcut behaviors that provide at best short term satisfaction but not long term renewal. How often have we dreamt about making a mighty splash in our seemingly routine world. It can be hard to believe that living the life we are living, as mundane as it seems, can serve God and others just as well. What about the temptation of having it all? We want so very much to fill up the empty hole within us and so we pursue a materialistic way of life. It is only that which comes from God that gives us what we truly need to be blended and happy. May this Lenten season fill each of us with hope and joy.

As we prepare to begin the holy season of Lent this Wednesday many of us are pondering about how we are to keep it. Might I suggest that we take our 2020 parish theme “Live a Legacy of Love” and run with it. In this Sunday’s passage from the Sermon on the Mount Jesus exhorts us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father”...Lent provides a time for us to work on relationships, to make that call or write that letter that we have put off because of our disgruntled feelings toward the other. When we pray for another, hopefully, our heart begins to soften toward him or her. That is how a legacy of love is built. May this Lenten season be a holy and reflectful time for you and your family.

After Jesus describes his disciples as salt and light, he continues his sermon by explaining how they are to understand his teaching, He has come not to abolish the law but to bring it to fulfillment. Jesus could well reiterate this statement when his later actions seem to negate the convictions of his Jewish contemporaries on keeping God’s law. He eats with sinners (9:11), cures on the Sabbath (12:7-13), and does not enforce the traditions of the elders on his disciples (12:1-8;15:2). Yet Jesus’ words and his actions show that he is not in conflict with the law itself, but with how it is being interpreted.

The law, understood and lived correctly, guides people in living righteously, or in right relationships, a virtue emphasized throughout Matthew’s Gospel. Though external manifestations of righteousness are important, Jesus goes beyond external actions to consider the interior dispositions. Later in Matthew’s Gospel, as Jesus’ passion draws near, he explains the “weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity” (23:23). These are the interior dispositions of righteousness that are the foundational for Jesus’ view of the law.

Jesus teaches through a series of antitheses, or contrasts, the difference between his teaching about the law and what people have heard about the law. Far from abolishing the law, Jesus’ teaching goes deeper, moving from external behavior to the righteous heart that motivates action.

May we  with the Lord’s help grow in our understanding of the love that is at the heart of all of Jesus’ teaching.