THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR C: TURN OR BURN

Readings: Ex 3:1-8, 13-15; I Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Lk 13:1-9

THEME: God whose name is Goodness, also has limit to his patience and hence waits for us to turn away from sin, lest we are burnt by our own evil.
"The favourite place of God is in the heart of man" - Yiddish Proverb
"The man who thinks he is safe must be careful that he does not fall" (1 Cor 10:12).
Dear beloved,
I write to you with love and thanksgiving to God for guiding and nourishing me spiritually through the past year. It was on the 28th February 2009 when I was ordained. May you keep me in your prayers to be a holy priest.
In this Sunday’s readings we are reminded of God's overall plan of salvation, this was conceived in God's mind ab initio and of course it is realized through constant daily conversion. The burning bush that was not burning was the beginning of that salvation history. The delivery of Israelites from slavery is a type of man's deliverance from the bondage of sin. God never turns a deaf ear of man's cries. Man has to seek the right disposition in order for him to act. The Israelites were conscious of their humiliating condition on the one side, and their utter helplessness; that is why they cried to Yahweh, their God. "And now", says the Lord, "the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have witnessed the way in which the Egyptians oppress them" (Ex 3:9)
Both as a community and as individuals, we must be conscious of our spiritual and moral miseries, and cry to the Lord for deliverance. We know that Salvation History begins with the choice of Abraham but the appearance of Moses gave yet greater assurance and hope to God's people. It is then that God revealed his name to them "I am who I am" a mysterious name, so profound that it apparently says nothing, and yet in a nut shell, says everything that could be said about God. It was through Moses that the steps God was taking to liberate his people became concrete to them. Moses was a type of Christ.
What is disappointing here is that being favoured by God is no guarantee of fidelity on the side of the person favoured. The Israelites were not blind to the favours from their Lord. They were witnesses to the wonders he did on their behalf. Moses was with them ands he never failed to plead to God on their behalf, as the passage says "they were all baptized into Moses, and all drank the same spiritual drink, from the rock that followed them as they went...". But they did not prove faithful to Yahweh: "Most of them failed to please God" (10:2-5).
We know that we are a continuation of the chosen people of God. We can know this by that deliverance that we confront daily in the happenings in our times. May be it was over-confidence that was the root-cause of the falls of the Israelites. We are subjected to various temptations, and if we are over-confident our falls will not be less grave than those of the Israelites.
Like them, we too are inclined to idolatry. The Israelites made a golden calf and said: "This is our god who brought us out of Egypt". We may not have golden calves for our gods. We may not have temples around our houses, dedicated to false gods, i do not think we offer sacrifices to trees, stones or big snakes, but if a man's god be that to which he gives all his time and thought and energy, then men still worship the works of their own hands.
Some of the Israelites fell into the sins of lust. So long as we live, our lower instincts will tend to overpower us. The difference between us and the Israelites is that the Israelites were punished on the spot, we are not. It would appear they were not given time for repentance. And what a mistake it would be on our part to abuse God's patience with us. If he doesn't punish us immediately, it is not that we may offend the entire move, but that we may make reparation. At times we seem to be consciously or unconsciously to be trying him, trading on his mercy, we seem to say to ourselves: "It will be alright, God will forgive". Yet there is a holiness which God demands of us, and there is a love which we must give to him.
Grumbling against God figured in the history of the chosen people. As long as things go to the way we want them there is no trouble. But as soon as adversity comes our way, then we begin to ask why god should allow such a thing to befall us. "The man who thinks is safe must be careful that he does not fall". Our Lord said to Peter: "watch and pray". It’s perhaps when we think ourselves strongest that we are weakest. The moment we stop being vigilant is when the enemy takes us unawares. Lent is time to review our watchfulness and ask for grace that we may never be taken unawares.
"The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people" - Leo Tolstoy

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Padre Joseph Nyamunga Mubiru
P.O.BOX 15318-00509
NAIROBI-KENYA
BLOG: http://nyamusus.blogspot.com
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