Our readings for this Sunday, the Third Sunday of Lent are here. (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324.cfm).
Again, these are my notes and interpretations of Fr Dennis Dillon SJ’s homily from the 10AM Masses on March 4, 2018 and March 8, 2015.
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The poems Fr Dennis references in 2018 & 2015 are:
The Sorrel Filly by Wendell Berry (4 March 2018 10AM Mass)
My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears (8 Mar 2015 10AM)
In 2018, I must have only caught the Wendell Berry poem when I spoke with him later (as I don’t have any homily notes, just the poem) —
- A farmer who, a week later, catches sight of the filly that he, in his bustle, was going to sell but couldn’t get his asking price … “…Now in the quiet I stand / and look at her a long time, glad / to have recovered what is lost / in the exchange of something for money.
- And, this may be what underlies Jesus anger and exasperation — of what we lose when something or someone or Someone is reduced to a price.
In 2015, D2 reflected —
- It is good to remember in the Exodus reading of today that the Ten Commandments are of a long tradition dating back to the Hebrew Scriptures, and the style and content reflects the basics of society from several millennia ago.
- In the second reading, those who are called to see Jesus as the Ultimate Wisdom; Jesus as the one they want to spend their life with.
- The gospel is not typical; we have one other account in Luke 19:45-48 of this angry episode of Jesus in John 2:13-25 (and coming directly after the first sign in John, the wedding at Cana — a quiet miracle occurring only on the prompting of Jesus by Mary) … but otherwise, Jesus is very mild.
- With today’s John 2 gospel showing Jesus being very angry in the Temple, how the apostles must have been puzzled with this peaceful, calm Jesus and the angry, table-tossing Jesus.
In Mohja Kaaf’s poem, “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears,”
- And the granddaughter finds a space of silent bridge builder by “hold[ing] the door open for everyone.”
- In the third stanza, her grandmother’s indignation and anger is an expression of her faith, perhaps ….
- in the same way Jesus’ anger was an expression of his faith.
- Jesus is the True Son of God in his anger, maybe especially in his anger.
Our image is by the Indian (Bangalore area) artist Jyoti Sati, who focuses on the intersection of art and spirituality.
The Surest Sign 