Fr Xavier Writes 3rd March 2024
We are in an age of freedom, with laws thrown to the wind and people deciding for themselves what is right and wrong. In this context, what is the Ten Commandments for me, do they really matter anymore or are they a bit old fashioned? The giving of the commandments by the Lord to Moses on Mt. Sinai signalled the birth of Israel as a nation. For them, living the commandments on a daily basis was seen as living out the relationship with a real personal God. It’s for them a love response to the wisdom of God, who had bound himself with His people; commandments are the wisdom of God for them, shared with them as a gift - an invitation to behave like God and not a test of their obedience. Though we are more advanced and sophisticated than was Israel at the time of Moses, right and wrong are still the same. The commandments are the very roots of our faith and any nation that does not keep these basic guidelines is doomed to crumble.
In the Gospel, Jesus shows great reverence of the House of the Lord and leaves us an example of how we should respect our own places of worship. The traders were using God’s dwelling for their own selfish purposes of making money. All their commotion showed little regard for the spirit of true worship. Jesus was reassuring reverence, fiercely for God’s name and God’s house, because the whole transaction had become an empty ritual, which obscured the true function of the temple.
As a community, we gather in our church each Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist and to thank God for the week that has passed. Every Lord’s Day should be a step on the way to heaven. Are we closer to God by being here in the church or has our Sunday worship degenerated into an empty ritual, a social outing or something we do because it’s expected of us? The Sabbath should make us appreciate the God above us and the people around us. Our worship should be more than words and external behaviour. In worship, we recognise the goodness of God in our lives and know that, because the Lord is our shepherd, there is nothing we shall want. As well as going to church on Sunday, we are called to be the church in our society during the week.
Have a real worshipping Sunday
and a good week ahead.
