Here on the 3rd Sunday in Lent, since I have talked about the Preface Prayer for the last two Sundays, I thought I just as well keep it going. Today we will hear this Preface: “For by your gracious gift each year your faithful await the sacred paschal feasts with the joy of minds made pure, so that, more eagerly intent on prayer and on the works of charity, and participating in the mysteries by which they have been reborn, they may be led to the fullness of grace that you bestow on your sons and daughters.” So I’m just going to give some thoughts, three thoughts, on this prayer as it relates to our readings.
My first thought is on the 1st line: “For by your gracious gift each year your faithful await the sacred paschal feasts.” I feel like we hear this word paschal so often but we don't really think about what it means. Paschal is another word for the Passover, or another word for Easter. These two events are one in the same, Jews celebrate Passover, we celebrate Easter which is on Passover.
Today’s Gospel takes place on the Jewish feast of Passover, it’s the first of three that we hear it celebrated in the Gospel of John, three consecutive years. The 2nd one is when Jesus gives the Bread of Life Discourse, the 3rd one is when He celebrates the Last Supper and then is crucified, it’s during their Paschal feasts.
So here in today's Gospel, the first of Jesus’ three passovers during His public ministry, Jesus clears the money changers out of the temple so the Gentiles can use that space again to pray - it wasn’t about what they were doing, it was about where they were doing it at in the Court of the Gentiles- but the Jews are upset and ask what sign can you do to show you have authority?
And Jesus responds cryptically: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Now for Jews, the temple was God’s dwelling on Earth, that’s how they viewed it. So when Jesus said “Destroy this temple,” He was talking about His body, He was talking about His death and Resurrection, but it was so cryptic that not even His disciples understood it. “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.”
Jesus was foreshadowing even for those closest to Him, helping them to know He was truly God on earth, without directly saying it and getting Himself killed sooner.
My second thought is on this phrase: “participating in the mysteries by which they have been reborn” - I've been really sensitive to this word “mystery” recently, especially when I chant: “The mystery of faith.” I heard a story recently where someone, a non-Catholic, was at a Catholic wedding Mass, and the priest chanted that per usual, and this person just started laughing, out loud, in the middle of Mass, because it sounded so silly or foolish to sing about how this is all a “mystery.”
Listen, this is all a mystery! If we ever feel like we've got it all figured out, we are wrong and probably committing a heresy in the process. This is why sometimes super smart people go off the rails, since they are smart they typically understand everything so they feel like they should fully understand the faith too, they think they have the faith all figured out, but then something doesn’t exactly jive, and they begin to try to tear it all down because it doesn’t fit their own expectations and understanding.
Its stull a mystery to me as a priest. I've been studying and learning about this “Mysterious Faith” very actively for the better part of 17 years now and I don't think I am anywhere close to understanding it all (I learned two things before 7am yesterday morning!).
This relates to our second reading when St. Paul talked about how Greeks look for wisdom, and we proclaim Christ crucified which is foolishness to them, but to us, Christ is the wisdom of God.
We try so hard to be wise, to learn and to understand, but we don't and it doesn't seem we can, as Paul goes on to say “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.” At some level we just have to trust, stop trying to control & understand everything and just trust.
Which goes to my third point, the last phrase of our Preface says “they may be led to the fullness of grace that you bestow on your sons and daughters.” We might not be able to fully understand the mystery we are participating in, but we can fully receive the grace of God. That is, if we can accept this notion of being Sons and Daughters and trust, trust that we are loved.
I want to relate this to the first reading about 10 Commandments. What we have to remember, lest we think they are oppressive, is that these Commandments are for our benefit, as beloved children, to save us. The first three commandments boil down to “love God,” the next seven boil down to “love our neighbor,” and this benefits us, way more than either of them!
At that time it was part of leading them out of Egypt, the Exodus from Egypt included an Exodus from the sin of Egypt as well. Jesus came for a similar reason, a new Exodus, which is beneficial to us. The Exodus freeing them from Egypt is foreshadowing The Exodus of Jesus freeing us from our Sin.
I’d like to Read the verses from today's Psalm (Read Psalm 19:8-11)
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
This was written by David, King David, a man who had violated the commandments, He sinned and turned away from God but returned, God still loved Him. David realized the commands of God were good and for his benefit, for all of our benefit, as a Father loves His children He works to keep them safe.