Homily: Third Sunday of Lent: 2007

Dear brothers and sisters, today we hear the great name of God, the name Moses asked Him to give as a recognition, which is transliterated "Yahweh" or "I Am Who Am." And the single most important fact about God, the utterly transcendent God, is that He exists. He is the only Being who must exist. He is the reason there is something rather than nothing. Why? Because He wanted it. He willed it, which is a positive form of wanting. Anyway, "I Am Who Am" (the name that could never be said, according to Jewish thought) is the perfect answer. I heard in a homily once that if you knew the "real" meaning of the ancient Hebrew it would not be "I Am Who Am" but "I am what I will do for you." Implying, of course, that God is just, good, merciful, etc. And while those may be -- those ARE -- true attributes of God, that is not WHO He is. And while He is infinitely high above us, we can still make analogies with ourselves. I am who I am . . . and not just what I can do for you. I remember how put off I was when in the very first instance I met my roommate in college she said, "Chemistry? You're a chemistry major? Good, you can help me with my chemistry." Okay . . . I'm sure attractive girls feel the same when they are treated as objects, even if they are being complimented at the same time. No, we are much more than what we can do for you . . . we are who we are! And the same goes for God. His attributes are unity, truth, goodness and beauty . . . but the thing most important to predicate of God is existence. He is.

What else can these readings tell us? Well I remember being kind of taken aback when I was rebuked once: "The bible says don't complain." I wondered about that. Well, right here in today's second reading is one such passage: "Do not grumble." St. Paul is warning the Corinthians not to complain as the Jews did in the wilderness after they were freed from slavery in Egypt: "Do not grumble as some of them did, and suffered death by the destroyer." (1 Cor 10:10). I think it's entirely human to complain a little . . . I don't think we necessarily have to slap a smile on our faces, be Pollyannas, and only talk of "sweetness and light." No, but if we ever lose our sense of gratitude to God, we are lost. Our debt to God is so great we must constantly advert to it . . . praising Him, thanking Him, and, if necessary, asking Him for mercy and relief. So if they (the Jews) had only followed their statement "We are sick of this wretched food" with something like "but we thank thee, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, for bringing us out of the land of Egypt" they would have avoided sin. As a friend of mine said the other day, "We accept good things from the hand of God; must we not accept evil?" And by evil he meant things that seem bad, things that go against our will. I mean, we shouldn't act like we're entitled to anything . . . all is gift.

And finally we have the crowning rebuke to the so-called "Prosperity Gospel" by our Lord Himself. He mentioned a couple of horrible tragedies and then said, "Do you think that because these people suffered in this way they were greater sinners than [everybody else]? By no means!" Wake up, people. Bad things do not just happen to bad people; and money, health and prosperity do not just happen to you because you are good. By no means! It is not a tit for tat game. Be good, say your prayers, avoid sin and you will not suffer. No, the most eloquent refutation of that is the Cross itself. You will suffer, but if you unite yourself with Christ, you will triumph. Be a Christian and you will suffer. Look at Christ. As my wisest friend said, "He was the greatest Christian . . . and look what happened to Him!" Yes, but we know the rest of the story . . .