Hymns for Mass – Press Here

FIRST READING (“I AM” sent me to you.)

A reading from the Book of Exodus (3:1-8a, 13-15)

Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.”

When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But the Lord said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.”

God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.

“This is my name forever, thus am I to be remembered through all generations.” —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11)

The Lord is kind and merciful. (Ps 103:8a)

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (R)

He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion. (R)

The Lord secures justice and the rights of all the oppressed. He has made known his ways to Moses, and his deeds to the children of Israel. (R)

Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him. (R)

SECOND READING (The life of the people with Moses in the desert was written down as a warning to us.)

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (10:1-6, 10-12)

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.

These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did. Do not grumble as some of them did, and suffered death by the destroyer. These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall. —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Mt 4:17)

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Repent, says the Lord; the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (R)

GOSPEL (If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did.)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (13:1-9)

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ The gardener said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’” —The Gospel of the Lord.

R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayers

Celebrant: God is kind and merciful. He hears the pleas of his people and brings them to the promised land. Let us place our needs before him.

READER: For Francis our Pope, and Stephen our Bishop, that may they inspire us all to a more fervent devotion to Christ, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: That all peoples may always be reverent in the presence of God, as was Moses before the burning bush , (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: That we may take practical steps in this Lenten season to help the poor, the hungry and those suffering have a more equal share in this world’s goods, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: That our community may bear the fruit of prayer and penance, and not deserve God’s just judgment, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: For the critically or chronically ill of our parish that the all merciful Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, may bring them healing in mind and body, and for the deceased members of our community, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

CELEBRANT:  Loving Father, receive the prayers of a penitent people, who come before you in humility and faith. We ask this, through Christ our Lord. (all) AMEN.

Homily

“What to make of it?”

In the last 4 or 5 generations, many of us have been raised in the faith by studying books called “catechisms.” We were told to memorize questions and answers, or we were exposed to teachings and their foundations in Scripture and Tradition. We were also introduced to a list of characteristics that are identified as attributes of God. This list includes such traits as: all-present, all-knowing, all-loving and so on. While the meaning of these characteristics is quite clear, when it comes right down to it, we must admit that we have very little understanding of the nature of God. Today’s readings reconfirm this. Each reading in its own way reminds us that God and the ways of God are truly mysterious.

Our first reading recalls the experience of Moses in meeting God’s awesomeness, highlighted in the description of the burning bush that was ablaze but never consumed, and in the mysterious name that God communicated to the dumbfounded Moses: “I AM.” How could that extraordinary bush possibly be explained? It is certainly meant to capture and hold Moses’ attention, and to alert him to the fact that he would never be able to comprehend fully what he was about to experience with God.

And what of the divine name? Scholars agree that it is some form of the Hebrew very “to be,” but they are not in agreement as to which form. Is it: “I AM who am?” or is it “I will be who I will be?” And even those who may degree on the precise verb form do not all agree on its meaning. Is God claiming to be the source of all that is? Is God saying something about the future? Or is the very ambiguity of its meaning a way of reminding Moses and those after him who claim to know the divine name, that God is indeed a mystery that will never be understood? This is a God who reveals and conceals at the same time. 

The Gospel accounts of the Galileans killed brutally by Pilate, and the people crushed when the tower fell on them illustrate our inability to understand why God allows certain events to occur. The parable of the fig tree at the end does not do much more to help throw light on this conundrum either. What’s THAT supposed to mean after the stories of the two tragedies? Instead, it points to the need to trust in divine mercy, even in those situations we cannot fully explain.

Few of us will ever experience a burning bush, but all of us have at one time or another struggled to understand why tragedy seems to fall on innocent people. Just n our recent past we have learned of hundreds of people swept away by a tsunami; we have witnessed entire neighborhoods ravaged by fire or destroyed by earthquakes or wars. And what of people struck down by incurable cancer, or who die in a tragic accident? What did these people do to deserve this? While such a question is understandable, it arises from a rather mechanistic view of the world. 

Certainly, in some situations what we experience can be seen and understood as the consequences of actions. Becoming ill from eating the wrong kinds of foods, or smoking, or drinking heavily are examples of such consequences. There is much in life, however, that cannot be so easily traced back to anything we might have done or omitted. So, what are we to do in the face of such ambiguity? The readings today offer two admonitions:   In the Gospel, Jesus twice calls his listeners to REPENT and REFORM their lives. If we follow this admonition, will it guarantee our safety?  Not necessarily, but the added parable of the fig tree offers a second admonition, namely, to trust in the mercy of God. 

St. Paul in the 2^nd reading also insists on these two attitudes of mind and heart. He tells the Corinthians that the fate of the religious ancestors who suffered in the wilderness should be an example to them. Though sustained by God, nevertheless they sinned. Paul exhorts his converts to be faithful and not to presume that membership in the community of believers will automatically save them. They are required to live righteous lives and to rely on Christ who is their true rock and safety.

This is really all we can do. We cannot understand the workings of God and so we are called to trust that, as the great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber taught, GOD IS WITH US AND GOD IS ON OUR SIDE. When faced with tragedy and hardship, we may wonder about this. It is at such times like these that we must confess with the psalmist today, “Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.”

Such a prayer from our heart and lips may require tremendous faith and trust in God – religious sentiments that Moses was expected to have. He was called from the relatively trouble-free task of tending the flock of his father-in-law to assume the role of opponent of the pharaoh and leader of a group of escaping, homeless people. Real faith and trust in God are seldom easy to attain and foster. And yet, our God, though utterly mysterious, is truly “kind and merciful.”