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The First Reading and the Gospel this week recall events of epic proportion.<\/p>\nThe First Reading and the Gospel this week recall events of epic proportion.<\/p>\n
The First Reading takes place three months after the Israelite exodus from Egypt. The Children of Israel have journeyed through the desert and found themselves at the foot of Mount Sinai. The stage is set for arguably one of the most important events of the Old Testament: the giving\u00a0the Ten Commandments through\u00a0 The Gospel Reading contains no less drama! We read the account from John’s Gospel of the “cleansing of the Temple”. The Lord drives out the money lenders and animal sellers and, when challenged by the authorities, He speaks outlandishly about the destruction of the Temple and its rebuilding in three days…<\/p>\n Moses guarded the nation of Israel and, through God’s\u00a0grace and guidance, acted as Israel’s leader, law-giver, mediator and intercessor. In Christ all these roles find their fulfillment and\u00a0perfection.<\/p>\n The Temple has been cleansed. A new dawn is at hand…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The giving of the Law on Sinai is one of the central events of the Old Testament and of central importance to Judaism (and therefore Christianity). The giving of the Law to the Children of Israel was considered a tremendous\u00a0privilege\u00a0and something wonderful. As this week’s psalm proclaims\u00a0“The law of the LORD is perfect…more precious than gold…sweeter…than\u00a0honey from the comb”<\/span>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The subject of the Law came up many times in Jesus’ ministry:<\/p>\n \u201cTeacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Jesus replied:\u00a0\u201c\u2018Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.\u2019\u00a0This is the first and greatest commandment.\u00a0And the second is like it: \u2018Love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019\u00a0All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.\u201d –\u00a0Matthew 22:36-40<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n St. Paul would later echo this when he wrote to the Romans:<\/p>\n Love\u00a0does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore\u00a0love\u00a0is the fulfillment of the\u00a0law<\/em>\u00a0– Romans 13:10<\/span><\/p>\n We often talk about “The Ten Commandments”, but strictly speaking, there are more than ten commandments in this Biblical text. However, these commandments can be grouped, producing ten main exhortations. Having said that, the groupings used differ between Jews and the various Christian denominations:<\/p>\nCharlton Heston<\/del> Moses.<\/p>\nReading I: Exodus 20:1-17<\/h2>\n
![\n<\/a>Reading II: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25<\/h2>\nThis is quite a famous passage of St. Paul. He describes the expectations of the Jews and the Gentiles and how the crucifixion of Christ presents a \u00a0problem to both groups. He then points out that true wisdom – the wisdom sung about in this week’s psalm – is the wisdom of God.<\/p>\nBrothers and sisters:\u00a0Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,\u00a0but we proclaim Christ crucified,\u00a0a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,\u00a0but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,\u00a0Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.\u00a0For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,\u00a0and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n](\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/jesus-crucified.jpg\"){kind=link}