03 March 2013 - Third Sunday in Lent
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Homily Starter
First Reading: Isaiah 55:1-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 63:1-8
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
Lent, as we
know, is a season of reconciliation and repentance. Today’s readings not only speak to us of
these things but also of how God is with us to help us achieve reconciliation
and repentance. We think of the
sacrament of reconciliation as the confession of our sins and an act of penance
that is assigned to us by our priest/confessor.
Yet it should also be so much more than that.In the Jewish “Day of Atonement” or Yom Kippur prayers, they proclaim that Teshuva, Tefila and Tzedaka will remove any negative decree. These three concepts are commonly translated as repentance, prayer and charity. The word repentance comes from the Latin word poenitire which means “make sorry”, however, there is a different Hebrew word for “make sorry,” not Teshuva. Teshuva is commonly understood as the act of turning over a new leaf. When someone has made a mistake in life and after coming to the realization that they have erred, they commit themselves to change and become a new person. However, the real concept of Teshuva is not a process of changing ourselves but rather a process of returning to our true selves. The core of every person is good. It is only a superficial reflection of the self when a person behaves inappropriately. So, the solution to any momentary lapse is not to transform oneself into something else but rather to revert back to our default state, that of goodness. Therefore, a more accurate translation would be return[1]. This then is repentance, which is to make good again. Likewise this is reconciliation, which is to restore, repair and to bring into harmony.
In the first reading we are asked why we spend our money on things
that don’t nourish us and spend our energies on things that don’t bring us
peace. Runaway capitalism and our
consumer culture have made all of us like gerbils, endlessly spending our time
and energy running around on a wheel, going nowhere. We are all so busy but really have little
inner peace and satisfaction. In my
opinion, individual busyness and the tentacles of over-zealous corporate
business are very instrumental in our current disconnect from our innate,
natural goodness. These are the avenues
through which we forget that by seeking God, we can come to know that God is as
near as our hearts─ and by opening them, we can find the Divine Presence within
us. We are called to reconciliation and
repentance, that is, to return to right relationships with God, our relatives,
and our true selves.
The second
reading retells the story of the people breaking their covenant with God, even
as Yahweh, through Moses is leading them to the Promised Land. Paul explicitly tells us that he is relating
these things so we don’t make the same mistakes. He is also letting us know that “No testing
has overtaken [us] that is not common to everyone.”This week I spent a day and a half at one of the Reconciliation Dialogue Circles that are being held in preparation for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s arrival in Vancouver this coming September. We were a group of about 30 or 40 Native and non-Native people from various denominations in the Lower Mainland. The facilitators were from BC First Nations and followed either a Christian or Traditional spiritual path. The one thing our First Nations facilitators made clear is that reconciliation is a spiritual endeavour, which made me think, if only our government could fathom, accept and proceed from this starting point.
One part of the circle process was listening to the individual residential school and post-residential school experiences of the Native participants. Another part was that each non-Native participant got the opportunity to tell their own personal stories. Through this experience, the truth of Paul’s statement became reality for me, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing God will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” I say this because it didn’t seem to matter whether a person was from an alcoholic home or from the ideal white, upper middle-class home, each person’s story contain experiences of pain and brokenness. Each person’s presence also demonstrated their strength and resilience.
Each story illustrated that Our Gardener God is as caring and loving of us, as the Gardener in today’s Gospel is of the fig tree. Our God prunes us, digs around us and yes, even puts manure on us, as an invitation to bear the fruit of reconciliation and repentance. Repentance and reconciliation must be accompanied by prayer and charity, but as in Yom Kippur sense, charity entails compassion and justice[2]. For example, I learned from our Coast Salish brothers and sisters this week that when they lift up their hands saying “Hai’tch’ka Siem”, they are giving thanks to the Creator and, to and for the gift of a particular person. The gesture is also a reminder that we are to lift each other up. True charity then is not only cheque-book charity; it is also lifting our sisters and brothers up emotionally and spiritually. So with these things in mind let us, as the Psalmist says, “lift up our hands and call on God’s name” to bring us to true reconciliation and repentance not only this Lent, but as a lifestyle.
Please share
your thoughts.
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