Third Sunday of Lent, First Scrutiny of the Elect
Also Read: Mass Readings for 23 March 2025 Sunday Reflection by Maryanne – 23 March 2025
First Reading: Exodus 3: 1-8a, 13-15
“What is his name?”
Here in the famous calling of Moses by God, we are given one of the most monumental moments in the history of religion in the revelation of God’s name by God Himself. Where else has any religion deigned to have their God stoop to such a humble level? Even when a god or goddess would show him or herself to a hero it required some trickery on the hero’s part. Here, God has freely elected to show himself in this intimate way to Moses.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11
“bless his holy name”
Here we see an early liturgical application of the revelation God made to Moses so long before. Now, the Jewish people are saying a prayer of blessing specifically to the name of God because it denotes the humility and love that God showed first to Moses and continues to show to the Israelites. This humility and love will be perfected in the Incarnation when God fits Himself into the box of Creation by taking on human nature.
Second Reading: First Corinthians 10: 1-6, 10-12
“the rock was Christ”
St. Paul makes reference to Moses here, not from the first reading but much later as he leads Israel through the wilderness. He makes reference both to the Red Sea and the rock that provided miraculous water for Israel. Both of these are types of baptism in salvation that provide us freedom from slavery to sin and offer salvation and hope to one in this life. Baptism also would have been when one received his or her name in the Church, the name known by Christ.
Gospel: Luke 13: 1-9
The Gospel seems difficult to relate to the first and second readings until one considers exactly what type of freedom baptism provides. Remember that Moses was called in Exodus 3 to do something, be God’s instrument in freeing the Israelites for worship. They, in turn, were freed through the Red Sea in order to inhabit the Promised Land but also to be an example for the surrounding nations of worship of the true God. Christians, at baptism, are saved from something, but they are also saved for something. They receive a call to produce fruit like the fig tree. Our baptism is a gift, but not just a gift. Baptism is also a call by God.
