CLICK HEREfor the Audio recording of the Readings of March 15th, 2020. Third Sunday of Lent.
CLICK HEREfor the Readings of March 15th, 2020. Third Sunday of Lent.
Mass Times
Saturday:4:00 PMEnglishEnglishEN
Sunday:8:00 AMEnglishEnglishENSeptember - May only9:00 AMEnglishEnglishENMemorial Day Weekend - Labor Day Weekend10:30 AMEnglishEnglishENSeptember - May only
Wednesday:6:30 PMEnglishEnglishENNo weekday mass 8/21/24 - 9/24/24
Thursday:8:00 AMEnglishEnglishENNo weekday mass 8/21/24 - 9/24/24
Friday:8:00 AMEnglishEnglishENNo weekday mass 8/21/24 - 9/24/24
Easter: Sunday, April 12th, 2020, 8:00AM | 10:30AM
March 15th, 2020. Third Sunday of Lent.
“Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?... “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”
Exodus 17: 2-3, 7
Is God reliable?
Right now, we (the world) are in very murky spiritual waters. This strange virus that spreads at a terrifying speed is very troubling. Many are panicked and afraid and rightly so. The experts have no clue of what to do!! Pope Francis himself is ‘holed up’ in his library.
The Scriptures this weekend, especially the first reading, providentially mirror almost our current situation, but with something more yet- a solution (something to hold on to; the one thing necessary). Moses’ honeymoon of leading the Israelites out of Egypt, splitting the Red Sea and watching Pharaoh’s powerful army destroyed, is over. Life in the desert is tough and rough. The wilderness is a period that brought out the people’s true colors. There is anger and hunger (bad mix!!) so much disappointment and frustration. The situation is expatiated by the lack of water- thirst! (Water is life). No water means a swift death! So, what was the point of leaving Egypt, the people vent? Was it for their children and livestock to die? The anger is directed to Moses, but not only him. It is directed to God (Yahweh). Does God even know what He is doing? Where is God when we need Him? Is God that reliable? Moses scrambles to ask God what he should do. They are ready to kill me he says. One can almost imagine a silent long stare and pause of total disappointment and unbelief from God. He directs Moses to gather all the Elders and, in their presence, bring the staff used to split the Red Sea and hit a rock, that water can flow. This gesture or directive of God is very telling. Who can make water flow from a rock? The people will now see more- from this moment on, God tasks himself to prove to the world (us) that He alone is reliable. He alone cannot be mistrusted. He alone is sufficient. Why? Because He created all. He enables all. He is the ‘the’ answer to all restlessness. He is peace and Hope. No one will find all these qualities in anything ever. All other things will always disappoint. In the words of Jeremiah: ‘cursed is the man who trusts in human beings’ (Jeremiah 17, 5) without God, we will always be at a Dead end.
For this reason, the encounters with Jesus in the Gospels are always life changing. Jesus brings those he meets along from the ‘small talk’ of their lives, the fragile things that disappoint. Jesus is about more than earthly things, material things, peripheral stuff. The Samaritan woman he encounters is the embodiment of exclusion, she is an outcast both internally and externally. She is forbidden from society. Yet in Jesus she finds acceptance, she finds a listener. Jesus reveals her past without condemning her. Jesus gradually leads her to a renewal of spirit and life. She ends up with ‘untold’ hope and Joy (come and see a man who told me everything I have done! Could he be the Christ, messiah?)
So, is God reliable? Yes! Always. Is God sufficient? Yes! Is the Lord in our midst or not? Yes! Without Him, we are not. We must know and believe this, no matter the situation. Christianity is always about the things that do not disappoint.
A blessed Week in the Lord! Fr. Anthony
View the below video for another Sunday Reflection on the readings.
