Moses' Mandates Meet Jesus' Zeal: Righteous Rules vs Defiant Desecration

Julie South [00:00:05]:
Welcome to your Catholic Corner. I'm your show host, Julie south. Peace be with you. Your Catholic Corner helps Catholics spiritually prepare for each Sunday's mass starting midweek each week, you can listen to your catholic corner@yourcatholiccorner.com today we are uncovering the biblical gems hidden in the Old Testament Book of Exodus. And then from 1 Corinthians, and then finally John's Gospel in Catholic speak. We're in the third week of Lent in Year B. We're going to kick of with this week's listener question of the week. Keep the coming.

Julie South [00:00:50]:
I'm really enjoying them. Thank you. And it's why are priests called Father? After today's question of the week, we'll pray together from the three Bible passages, and then I'll share my reflections with you. Remember that when two or more are gathered together in Jesus's name, like we are right here, right now with you and me, he is here with us. The Bible passages we're reading from today are Exodus, chapter 20, verses one to 17, one corinthians, chapter one, verses 22 to 25, and then the Gospel according to John, chapter two, verses 13 to 25. But before that, a quick word about your catholic corner, just in case this is your first time here. Regardless of where you are on your spiritual journey, whether you've only just heard of that man called Jesus, you're new to Catholicism or your a cradle Catholic. My prayer is that your catholic corner will help bring God's word to life in your heart through insights, reflections, and practical applications that help deepen your relationship with God.

Julie South [00:02:07]:
Every Thursday we'll start preparing for mass by uncovering the richness hidden in each Sunday's Bible readings, from Old Testament prophecies to gospel parables. I invite you to join me and the parishioners of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hamilton, New Zealand, sponsors of your catholic corner so that together we can hear God's word and echo Samuel, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. Now let's get back to today's show. The catholic tradition of calling priests Father dates back to the early church. So if you have ever wondered why are priests called Father, here's why. Terms like papa were used to address clergy, referring to them as father figures. Over time, Father became a common title for all priests. In Matthew in chapter 23, verse nine, Jesus once cautioned against calling anyone on earth Father except God in heaven.

Julie South [00:03:15]:
What he was doing there, though, was criticizing the religious hypocrisy, not prohibiting use of the term for spiritual leaders. So if you were aware of that and you thought, well, Jesus said, no, we can't do that. Then it was actually a different circumstance that Jesus was referring to back then. Today, calling a priest's father shows respect and acknowledges his role leading the parish. It also reminds priests of their responsibility to spiritually guide, to forgive, to teach, to mentor, and to care for their congregation, us, your and me, as a father does for his children. I have to say that in the beginning of my catholic journey I did struggle a bit with calling anyone other than my dad father. But I've managed to get over myself with that now. And now I'm a lot more comfortable.

Julie South [00:04:14]:
I'm very familiar and I'm okay with that term. I did have a father on earth. Now I have two fathers in heaven, one who hopefully is looking after the other. Hopefully he made it that far. So I hope that helped give a bit of the reasoning, the understanding, the association of why us Catholics refer to our priests as Father. This upcoming Sunday, the third Sunday of Lent, we are reading from the Book of Exodus, chapter 20, verses one through 17, 1st Corinthians, chapter one, verses 22 to 25, and then the Gospel of John, chapter two, verses 13 to 25. What's today's connecting theme or Sunday's connecting theme? It actually revolves around God's presence, his power and wisdom, and the importance of having true worship and faith. Looking at the connection, the typology, if this is the first time you've heard of that word typology, it refers to the theological concept that events, persons, or statements in the Old Testament actually foreshadow or prefigure the greater truths that are going to be revealed later in Christ or through Christ and in the New Testament.

Julie South [00:05:56]:
For example, a type in the Old Testament prefigures an anti type, A-N-T-I anti type in the New Testament, like the Passover lamb sacrificed in Exodus, typologically pointing towards Christ as the lamb of God today. The typological connection between the Exodus and John passages. So the first reading, the first passage, and then the last passage, the third one is the zeal for God's house and the standards for righteous worship. This is evident in Moses and Exodus being a type or a foreshadowing of Christ's later zeal for his father's, for God's standards as he cleanses the temple. As Jesus cleanses the temple, we have the Old Testament type prefiguring the New Testament anti type this coming Sunday. In Exodus, God establishes the ten Commandments. This moral law was foundational for Israel. It was their guide for living as God's people after he rescued them from slavery.

Julie South [00:07:10]:
The commandments set a divine standard. That's a capital d for divine, for righteous behavior that enabled their proper relationship, their genuine, true relationship with and worship of God. Similarly, in John's gospel, Jesus demonstrates his passionate zeal for God's standards by overturning the tables in the temple. He protests, Jesus protests about the commerce and corruption overtaking the space reserved for reverent worship. Can you imagine if you turned up at your local parish one day and found a whole bunch of market stalls and vendors selling? Yuck. So Jesus went in and he overturned them. Both of these actions, or his actions, echo the overarching message of Exodus. God expects obedience.

Julie South [00:08:15]:
He expects moral uprightness and pure worship among his people. Together, these passages therefore align in showcasing and revealing God's high expectations for us to live righteously and to be obedient to him. We are one of his followers. God uses Exodus and the ten Commandments to spell out what that moral behavior looks like, what he wants. And John depicts Jesus enacting a prophetic call to moral zeal through his cleansing of the temple. Both reveal God's priority for us to be upright and for us to have wholehearted devotion within the greater community that he has claimed as his own through establishing the standards in Exodus and enforcing the standards in John. The thread the typology of zeal for spiritual purity connects God's approach over the generations, through the generations, from way back then to today. The texts remind us that moral awareness and obedience still matter.

Julie South [00:09:31]:
They still matter greatly to the God who called Israel and sent his son to redeem the world on our behalf. This means that when you're devoted to God, when I'm devoted to God, we must also pursue doing the right thing morally, because true dedication to God goes hand in hand with living an ethical christian life. With these as the backdrop, with that as the backdrop. Now let's pray these Bible passages together so that we can hear what God is saying to us, to your and me, about doing the right thing, living the right life according to his standard, his commandments, and being devoted to him. A reading from the book of Exodus. God spoke all these words. He said, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no gods except me.

Julie South [00:10:49]:
You shall not utter the name of the Lord your God, to misuse it, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the person who utters his name to misuse it. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given to you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

Julie South [00:11:23]:
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his servant, man or woman, or his ox or his donkey or anything that is his. The word of the Lord. A reading from Paul's letter to the Corinthians. While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ to the Jews, an obstacle that they cannot get over to the pagans, madness. But to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. And God's weakness is stronger than human strength. The word of the Lord.

Julie South [00:12:40]:
A reading from the gospel according to John. Just before the jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting at the counters there, making a whip out of some cord. He drove them all out of the temple. Cattle and sheep as well. Scattered the money changers coins, knocked their tables over, and said to the pigeon sellers, take all of this out of here and stop turning my father's house into a market. Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture. Zeal for your house will devour me. The Jews intervened and said, what sign can you show us to justify what you have done? Jesus answered, destroy the sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.

Julie South [00:13:35]:
The Jews replied, it has taken 46 years to build the sanctuary. Are you going to raise it up in three days? But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body. And when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he has said this. And they believed the scripture and the words he had said during his stay in Jerusalem for the passover. Many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he gave. But Jesus knew them all and did not trust himself to them. He never needed evidence about any man. He could tell what a man had in him.

Julie South [00:14:19]:
The gospel of the Lord. What was God saying to you? Remember that we each hear God differently depending on what's going on in your lives at the time. What God is saying to me may not be what God is saying to your. Here are some 21st century things that we can do to honor God and give him the priority in our lives that he's asking for, that he's commanding of us. Through Exodus and the ten Commandments. We could post one of the commandments on a mirror or a fridge as our daily reminder that God is talking to us. We could choose not to participate, a friend's gossip or slander, someone we can step out of, walk away from politics and gossip at work. We could also call someone, preferably a family member whom you haven't spoken to in a while to honor the command of God, to strengthen our family ties.

Julie South [00:15:50]:
In Paul's letter to the Corinthians, what we have there is maybe when we pray that we can admit that we don't actually understand everything, but we still seek God's wisdom. We are humble and God is strong. We could share with a friend or a family member when we see an example of something good unexpectedly coming from a bad situation. And we could also research the background of a Bible story, a Bible passage that doesn't make sense to us. How you do that is, you could put the passage into Google, put reference to Catholic in it, so that you get a catholic perspective and see what comes up. And then with John from the Gospel of John, with Jesus cleansing the temple, we could make regular time for us to pray before we actually go to mass each day, perhaps through Lent, each weekend, each Sunday, once in a while, especially through Lent, it's a great time to fast, to take a social media or a news break. We can fast from social media and it will help us maintain a peaceful spirit. We could also spend some time in nature appreciating everything that God creates to look for the good.

Julie South [00:17:28]:
And then we could volunteer. You could put your hand up. You could ring your local parish. I'm sure they would be very grateful for an extra pair of hands because there are never enough. And coming into Easter right now, they would be especially grateful if you put up your hand and said, I want to help you clean. I want to help clean this parish, our parish, ready for Easter this year. If and when you can apply any bits of these three passages, or even one part of a passage into the daily rhythm of your digital life, your fast life here in the 21st century, you're giving God space in your heart and in your life. Things like letting one of the commandments guide our speech.

Julie South [00:18:25]:
Your speech, my speech. Recognizing God's beauty in our world through nature, and recognizing God's hand in the good that emerges from the bad that we seem to keep reading about in the news. Those were my takes from these three Bible passages. This Sunday what about you? What was God saying to you? I'd love to hear if when this podcast is helpful to you, if my reflections are helpful to you, I promise not to share them. I just want to know that I'm not talking into a big void, a big black hole, and you can do that through yourcatholiccorner.com. There's a place there where you can send me a message. I hope you found all of this interesting and helpful. I hope this podcast helped you prepare and maybe even understand, just a teeny, tiny, incy wincy dinky little bit better, the wonderful word of God and the catholic faith.

Julie South [00:19:45]:
Thank you for spending the last half an hour or so of your life with God and me. I pray that each of these Bible passages has been able to make the difference God wishes for you today in their own way, in your life. Thank you for getting this far with the podcast. Can I ask you to do me a huge favor, please? If you enjoyed today's show, can you please help me spread God's word about your catholic corner? All you have to do is just tell three of your friends and family about this podcast so they can hopefully benefit as well. Letting them know about it is really easy. You just invite them to visit yourcatholiccorner.com where they can subscribe and follow the show from there. It's free. It doesn't cost anything at all.

Julie South [00:20:36]:
Thank you very much. Wherever you are, I pray that God's glass of love overflows in your heart and your life, and that when you're ready, you're able to accept God's invitation to you to join him to share in holy communion this week at your local parish. And finally, I'd like to say thank you to the parishioners of the cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hamilton, who helped me bring this podcast to you today. This is Julie south signing off until next week. Peace be with you. God bless. Close.