Catholic Sunday Mass Third Sunday of Lent 7th March 2021 Livestream
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You are watching Today’s Sunday Mass, Third Sunday of Lent March 7, 2021 by Church Of The Holy Cross, Singapore. Received God’s peace and blessing.
Watch Sunday Mass below;
TODAY’S READINGS
First Reading — The law was given through Moses (Ex 20:1-17)
Psalm — Lord, you have the words of everlasting life (Psalm 19)
Second Reading — We proclaim Christ crucified; the foolishness of God is greater than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:22-25)
Gospel — Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (Jn 2:13-25)
WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH US?
Today’s readings stir us to reflect about our understanding of God and man and their relationship. We need ongoing purification of our mind!
In Ex 20., Moses gave the Law to help the people honour God and love their neighbours. They were given to ancient Israelites in their historical context. They are culturally conditioned and should not be used as the moral standard for Christians today.
1. Moses and his people presumed there were many gods, and the God of Israel was the greatest and He alone they should worship. This is a misconception. There is only One God, and every group of people knows, names and worships this same God differently.
2. God was said to punish the faults of a father in his sons, grandsons and great-grandsons. This was said to be the consequences of offending God who should not be defiled at all. Jesus reveals to us that God is our heavenly Father who welcomes the prodigal who was lost but is found.
3. The Jews were to keep Saturday holy, known as sabbath day. Today, we rest on Sunday, known as the Day of the Resurrection of the Lord. (or The Lord’s Day)
4. Ancient Jews considered their wives as part of their property. The last statement of the decalogue in one breathe states that “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, etc.” Wives and servants should not be treated as man’s possession, they are to be respected as human persons with equal dignity and rights.
Catholic Sunday Mass Third Sunday of Lent 7th March 2021
In the Gospel, Jesus was upset that the Jewish authority turned the worship space for Gentiles into a market square. He took action to purify the temple.
In this account, we see an example of the people caught up in the material things they use to worship God, rather than being caught up in God. The space that was reserved for prayers, for encountering God, had been repurposed for carrying out the law of temple worship.
Jesus drove the animals and pigeons sellers, and the money changers out of the temple. The Son of God Jesus provides the standard of right and wrong with divine authority!
TOTAL ALLEGIANCE
In previous weeks we have seen how the theme of covenant—as a preparation for the baptismal covenant celebrated at Easter—occupies an important place in our cycle of Lenten readings. The notion of covenant as a relationship between two parties carries with it an expectation of mutual accountability and fidelity to the terms of the covenant. When God forged the covenant with the Jewish people on Mt. Sinai, it was a pledge of God’s protection, and it would forever permit them familiar access as the Chosen People. For their part, the Jewish people were to observe the dictates of the law, summarized most succinctly here in the form of the Ten Commandments. To be in a covenantal relationship with the Lord God requires an exclusive relationship, just as discipleship with Jesus—ritualized in baptism—demands a total allegiance to him and none other.
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