The trajectory of the Gospel readings at the Sunday Masses during Lent take us through many key events in Christ’s life and public ministry. The first Sunday in Lent, we heard about Jesus being thrust into the desert by the Holy Spirit, where he was tempted by Satan. Last Sunday, we heard about Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountaintop in the presence of some of his apostles. This weekend, we hear of Jesus cleansing the Temple of all the things that is not leading the people to God. Jesus tells those who doubt him: Destroy this temple and I shall raise it up in three days. The people were perplexed by Jesus’ words, thinking that Jesus was speaking about the physical building of the Temple in Jerusalem. How would Jesus raise up such a huge building in three days? Many of them also did not understand what the resurrection was all about, which is what he was really speaking about.
Just as Jesus tried to cleanse the physical Temple in Jerusalem, we must cleanse our lives from the all that does not lead us to God. As we hear in the book of Exodus about God giving the people of Israel the 10 commandments, we are reminded of how knowing God’s commandments and striving to live out these values in our lives is one of the ways that we can be cleansed for God. We cannot achieve salvation on our own; it is not something we ourselves can earn. We achieve our salvation through our Savior Jesus Christ through a freely given gift from God. But God also asks us to cooperate in his plan for salvation. As the story of Exodus and the gift of God’s commandments demonstrates, God offers his loves to his people. God is always striving to love us and to draw us to himself.
Lent is a wonderful time in our Church year where we can reflect upon our response to God and upon God’s love. We can start by asking ourselves if we truly believe that God loves us. If we we believe that God is our ally in helping to cleanse us from all that separates us from God and our faith. If we are able to place our trust in God’s love.
I chose the theme of gratitude for Lent this year because gratitude is such an important value in our Catholic faith and because there seems to be a lack of gratitude in many aspects of our world. Here is a great quote from 19th century American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson: “People only see what they are prepared to see. If you look for what is good and what you can be grateful for, you will find it everywhere.” We need to open our see to see what we should be grateful for in life and to reflect on our lives in through the lens of gratitude. Jesuit Indian priest Anthony de Mello has this to say: “You sanctify whatever you are grateful for.” Yes, indeed we do make holy the things for which we are grateful. Maybe think of a person for which you are grateful and write that person a letter. I thought of a college friend and an aunt for whom I am grateful and for whom I will express that gratitude in a letter.
As we think of those things we need to purge in our lives and those things we need to fast from, let us also give thanks to the Lord for all things and to have a heart of gratitude.
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