|
|
|
Second Sunday in Lent Ex 30/1-17 |
||
| Background: (We choose the first reading today because it is so important. It does however, illumine the Gospel text, perhaps in ways that those who chose the readings did not anticipate and might not even like) The key word in this statement of covenant between God and people is "jealous" which is not a very good translation. In fact it has been "bowlderized" to clean it up so that the laity will not be shocked (an insulting and patronizing assumption). The word means in its Hebrew root "breathing after." In its only other use in the bible it describes the emotions of a groom passionately desiring his bride, a state of advanced sexual arousal. It would much better be translated "passionate," though perhaps that wouldn't even be strong enough. The bible has no problem using a word which means aroused passion to describe how God feels about His people. Sexual passion is a metaphor for God's love of us which is inaccurate not be excess, but by defect. The passage involves a metaphor in which God tells his people that because of his passion for them he does not want them whoring after false gods. It almost hints that God is the wife who grows angry at an unfaithful husband. Thus we understand the passion which animates Jesus in today's gospel. |
read the padre |
|
 |
Story: Not so long ago one of the radicals of the nineteen sixties was arrested and brought to court on a charge of murder. She had been the lockout in a robbery carried on her friends in which a policeman was killed. Both the woman and the policeman's family were Catholic. At the trial she begged the widow and her children to forgive for what she had done. They absolutely refused. She had ruined the joy of their lives, she had destroyed the bonds that held them together. They hope she would die in the gas chamber. They wanted to see her rot in hell. They were not reluctant to say these things on the national media, their faces twisted with rage. Many other Catholics agreed with them. Hell was too good for a woman who thought thirty years ago that she knew everything and could do anything. Teach her a lesson. Like the parents in "Dead Man Walking" they forgot about the "Our Father," - forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those -- forgot about reflecting God's mercy and love. |
|
