Third Sunday of Lent (Year C)
Theme: God is truly with us
The 1st reading from the Book of Exodus clearly shows that God is aware of everything that happens in our lives. He took pity on the Israelites who were going through difficult time in Egypt, and commissioned Moses to go and lead his people out of Egypt. Our story is not different from that of the people of Israel. God knows what we are going through at any point in time in our life. What we need to do is to continue to do our best, pray and trust in God. His intervention in the life of the people of Israel was not automatic, it was a process and it happened at God appointed time; that is why we must also pray for the grace of patience. One thing that is certain in such a situation is the fact that God will never desert all those who trust in him; just like in the case of the Israelites. We must always be conscious of the fact that God is very close to us, especially when we are faced with different challenges in our life, just like the Israelites. Our faith in God at such a moment makes a lot of difference.
In the 2nd reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he gives us some insight into the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land by the people of Israel. It was not an easy journey, and the people of Israel made a lot of mistakes and offended God. My brothers and sisters in Christ, we are encouraged today to guide against the mistakes that they made in the wilderness and learn to trust in Gods process, no matter the difficulty we encounter in our journey of life. We have to be careful at such moments not to get involved in things that are not pleasing to God or begin to grumble against God. When some of us come to a cross road in our life, we become impatient and get involved in things that are contrary to our faith as children of God. Always remember that Gods time is the best; he never comes late, he comes when it matters most. Just pray for the grace of patience.
Lastly, in St. Luke’s gospel there is a call to repentance in a very special way. We are all in need of repentance in one way or the other, because we are not perfect people. In view of this, today’s liturgy invites us in a very special to way to reflect about our call to discipleship and make amends in our life. Just like the Israelites, we are all in need of Gods mercy, let us humble ourselves and return back to God with a humble and contrite heart. God is waiting patiently for as many of us that are willing to retrace our steps and return back to him, he will forgive us our sins and bless us. My brothers and sisters in Christ, his grace is sufficient for us.
May God grant us the grace to always be conscious of his closeness to us. Peace be with you.