Raise It Up

March 11, 2012

Third Sunday of Lent 2012 B

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

"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." Exodus 20:8-11

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. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

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. John 2:19-22

Piety

Our piety proclaims the cross of Christ as the throne of glory. It embraces the cross of Christ, the stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles as the badge of discipleship. Our piety teaches us how to distinguish the cross of Christ in our lives from masochism. Carrying our cross in the name of Christ makes us disciples of Christ. His invitation to discipleship invites us to take up our crosses and to follow him. Study allows us to discover what the true cross of Christ in our lives is.

Study

The cleansing of the temple by Christ challenges us to take a good look at the temple of our hearts. We are called to be temples of the Holy Spirit. We learn by the meditation on the standard of Christ and the standard of the Evil One what the style of Christ is. The temple of our hearts where the spirit dwells challenges us to love even as Christ loved. Christ emptied himself out of his Godness to be truly human in what he did. He gives us the chance to treat everyone as more important than ourselves. Paul challenges us to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Christ became one of us that we might have the chance to be one with him. Zeal for the goodness of Christ must eat us up. Our oneness with Christ makes us children of the Father.

Action

Prayer, fasting and good works makes something special out of the temples of our hearts. We have the chance to put on Christ by being better people. The challenge of holiness is the willingness to give of ourselves without counting the cost. We learn the generosity of Christ by doing what is right in cleansing the temple of our hearts so that it might be a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. We try to speak up for the truth of what is significant in life for the needy and those who cannot defend themselves. The cross in our lives might be all that we should do for the sake of those who need our help and cannot afford our services. We must try to reach beyond common sense that we might have God sense in our lives. There can be no bypass in our lives of the cross of Christ. He invites us to come to him because his cross is easy and his burden light. He is companion to us as the other part of our yoke in our service of the kingdom of God.