Sunday March 20, 2022

Third Sunday Of Lent

1. Unless You Repent
3. I Have Seen the Misery of My People
4. 

 

Greeting (See First Reading)

The Lord says:
”I have seen the misery of my people;
I have heard their cry to be free;
I am aware of their suffering.
I intend to set them free.”
May this caring God be always with you. R/ And also with you.

 

Introduction by the Celebrant

1. Unless You Repent

We all know that Lent is a time for conversion. There is much evil in the world and we know that there are also things wrong with us. These are certainly reasons for change. But the deepest reason for conversion is not the evil we see in the world and in us, nor the penalties we may have to pay for it. The ultimate “why” for conversion is God himself, that we encounter God and his love. Our faith in God and his fidelity to us and the goodness God showed us in Christ are the most profound motives to repent and to respond to his holiness and patient love.

 

2. I Have Seen the Misery of My People

If we are living with both feet firmly on the earth, we cannot but see that we live in a world that is not exactly God’s world. We are not the people we are called to be, many situations and structures need change, and many people live in misery. We need conversion, the world around us needs it. The Lord is quoted as saying on this Third Sunday of Lent: “I have seen the misery of my people.” Do we see it and what do we do about it? For conversion means changing our ways, turning to God and to people. Are we willing to change?

 

Penitential Act

How far are we still from being the persons
whom God calls to be fully human and deeply Christian!
We ask God to give us the spirit of repentance.
                        (pause)
Lord Jesus, you were in all things like us
but there was no sin in you.
Make us aware of the evil there is in us:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, you repeatedly call us
to conversion and penance:
Make us humble enough to repent:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you rejoice over one repentant sinner.
Bring us the joy of your forgiveness:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all the evil we have done.
Let your holiness shine on us
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

 

Opening Prayer

Let us pray that God give us the courage
to repent and to turn to him and to people
                        (pause)
Patient God,
we are reluctant and slow
to make the change of heart we need.
Give us the time to understand
the extent of your mercy and your love,
which your Son Jesus showed us in its fullness
in his suffering and death.
Recognize your own Son in us
and accept us in our poverty.
Raise us up, change us,
that we may proclaim your persistent love,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

 

First Reading (Ex 3:1-8a,13-15): God Is a God of People

In the burning bush God reveals himself to Moses as a God ever-present to people. He will lead his chosen people from a land of slavery to a land of freedom.

Reading 1: Ex 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, AMoses! 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.”

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11.

(8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
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. The Lord is kind and merciful.

He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills,
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.

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. The Lord is kind and merciful.

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. The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

Second Reading (1 Cor 10:1-6,10-12): To Be Baptized and Eat the Eucharist Is Not Enough

God had led his people through the saving waters and given them manna to eat, yet many failed to respond to his love and perished. We are baptized and eat the Eucharist, but we are not saved unless we live as people redeemed by Christ.

Reading 2: 1 Cor 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 a spiritual rock that followed them,
and the rock was the 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.

 

Verse Before the Gospel: Mt 4:17

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

 

Gospel (Lk 13:1-9): Be Converted and Bear Fruit!

God is patient and gives everyone a chance. Accidents and calamities are not to be taken as signs that God is vengeful, yet the events of life are a constant call to conversion and Christian living.

 

Gospel: Lk 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?’
He 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.'”

 

Intercessions

God is patient and aware of our miseries. Let us pray to him to help us on the way of conversion and renewal, and let us say: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

–          That all the faithful, leaders and members, may heed the call of Christ and his Church to look into our hearts and to change what ought to be changed, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

–          That God may give us the courage to commit ourselves to the liberation in Christ of all those imprisoned in their selfishness and in unjust political and economic systems, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

–          That those responsible for others may be people of faith and vision, close to the people entrusted to them and concerned about their material and spiritual welfare, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

–          That we may bring a bit of warmth to those whose hearts are empty and cold, that they may discover happiness in the love of God and of their neighbor, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

–          That the word of God may stir all in our communities us to bear fruits of justice and love and that the bread of the Eucharist may give us strength and faithfulness, let us pray: R/ Have mercy on your people, Lord.

God of compassion and love, hear the cries of a word trapped in suffering and sin and make us free and eager to do all that is good, through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord, merciful Father,
in baptism you have sown in us
the seeds of new life;
in the Eucharist you give us your Son
as our companion in life
and our food for growth.
Do not allow us to think we are safe
because your Son is with us.
Let him help us not to fall
but to grow in your life
and to support one another
on the way to you,
our God for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

 

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Let us give thanks to the Father for giving us each year during Lent the opportunity to change and to grow closer to him and to people.

Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray with Jesus our Lord
to the Father who sees all our needs: R/ Our Father…

 

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant us the peace
of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Set us free from all the shackles of sin
and give us the courage
to lead the life to which you have called us.
Strengthen us in the trials of life,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…

 

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus our Lord,
the Lamb of God who came
to free the world from sin
and to sustain us in our struggles
against the forces of evil.
Happy are we to be called
to live the life of our Lord. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
let your Son stay with us
on the way of renewal,
that we may speak your name
with respect and thanks;
that we build your kingdom and do your will,
that we give bread and space to every person,
that there be forgiveness for all;
that we may not tempt one another
nor harden in our selfishness.
Let there be redemption and liberation from sin,
so that we keep hoping in you
and live in your love
today and tomorrow and for ever. R/ Amen.

 

Blessing

Where God reveals himself to people,
there he gives them a mission.
Today he has again spoken to us
in this Eucharist through Jesus:
”I have seen the miseries of my people.”
He tells us too:
Tell them, your brothers and sisters,
that the God of our fathers sends me to you
to lead them to a land of freedom,
where it is good to live together
in peace and friendship.
Bring God’s love to one another
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

 

Let us go in peace

and share God’s concern for people.

R/ Thanks be to God.

 

Commentary

Responding to Grace

Read:

Moses encounters God on Mount Horeb and receives a task to fulfil. Reminding Corinthians of the failure of Israelites to respond to God’s grace, Paul warns them to be more responsive. Jesus speaks of the need to bear fruit, giving the parable of the fig tree.

 

Reflect:

What exactly was a fig tree doing in a vineyard? And, what would a stammering murderer Moses do in Egypt for the people of God? There might be times you look at your life and wonder why on earth you are where you are, and feel like a square peg in a round hole. Doesn’t matter. If the Lord of Life—I Am Who Am—has planted you where you are, He has given you the grace to fulfill your life’s mission. A fig tree does not need much manure, but the gardener is gracious enough to provide extra care. Our task is to respond to grace and be fruitful. As Paul reminds the Romans, God’s kindness is intended to lead us to fruits of repentance (cf. Rom. 2:4).

 

Pray:

Pray for the grace to produce the fruit(s) of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5: 22-23).

 

Act:

What is your life’s Mission? Draw up one, listening to God’s voice.

 

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF