Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent 2023
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."
-Matthew 5:17-19
As hard as it might be to believe, Ash Wednesday was three weeks ago!
We might be tempted to look back over our Lenten observances and ask ourselves how faithful we have been to our resolutions to pray, fast, and give alms. However, the liturgy for this Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent asks us to shift our reflections. Rather than focus on our actions and our “successes” (or failures, as the case may be!), I propose that we are being invited to ask ourselves is this: Whose voice has been receiving our attention in these days? Are we distracted by the noise of the world around us—and the noise that is within—or are we setting aside time and space in these days to listen to the voice of the One who is always calling out to us?
The First Reading is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy and Moses is admonishing the People of Israel to be grateful not only for the blessings of the Promised Land, but to also be mindful that God has chosen to speak to them, revealing his blessings and his will for them. The revelation of the Law was understood as a gift and that gift reflected God’s choice of Israel as a people “peculiarly his own” (see 1 Peter 2:9).
Moses reflects:
“For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?”—Deuteronomy 4:7-8
The passage we hear today concludes with Moses reminding the People of their responsibility to hand on to their children what they themselves had received. This revelation of God is a fundamental part of their identity as God’s Chosen People.
The Gospel assigned for today also speaks of the Law. Here, Jesus makes it clear that he himself is the perfection of God’s revelation, first made real in the Law given to the People of Israel by Moses.
“Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling it through his whole work of making Himself present and manifesting Himself: through His words and deeds, His signs and wonders, but especially through His death and glorious resurrection from the dead and final sending of the Spirit of truth. Moreover, He confirmed with divine testimony what revelation proclaimed, that God is with us to free us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to life eternal.”
-The Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, no 4
These discussions of the meaning and value of the Law invite us to reflect on obedience. But here, we have to recognize that, for peope of faith, obedience isn’t about submission. Rather, obedience is that quality of attentive listening that should be one of the hallmarks of our lives as Christians. When the Scriptures today call us to be obedient to God’s Revelation in the life, mission, and person of Jesus, we aren’t simply be asked to follow a set of precepts or moral absolutes. It is, as Pope Francis reflected in a 2020 homily, ultimately an invitation to be mindful of the nearness of the God who is constantly revealing himself to us:
“The Lord gives the law to His people with an attitude of closeness. They are not the prescriptions of a governor, who may be far-off, or of a dictator… No. There is closeness. And we know through revelation that there is a paternal nearness of a father accompanying his people, giving them the of the law. A God who is near. Indeed, ‘What nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him?’”
If we believe in the Revelation of God in Jesus Christ, then we are called to listen to and take to heart his words for us. As the words before the Gospel call us to remember: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; / you have the words of everlasting life.”
Where will you direct your attention today?
What do you hear the Lord inviting to you as continue the work of Lent?
Grant, we pray, O Lord,
that, schooled through Lenten observance
and nourished by your word,
through holy restraint
we may be devoted to you with all our heart
and be ever united in prayer.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
