Homily for Lent 3 - March 8, 2015

Homily for Lent 3

March 8, 2015

Passion for Christ

 

            A couple of weeks ago – you may have read it in the headlines or seen the gruesome video – ISIS beheaded twenty-one people, twenty of whom were Coptic (Egyptian) Christians. All of them were given the chance to recant their faith in Christ, and all of them refused. There was one other man with that group, however, who had been arrested with the Christians. This man was not a Christian, but was merely a friend of the others. However, seeing their faithfulness to Christ, he asked to be killed along with the group, saying, “Their God is my God.” Twenty-one martyrs for Christ – and all this didn’t happen centuries ago – it happened last month.

            Those who have a personal relationship with Jesus live with passion. They know what their life is all about – God alone – and they pursue the goal of Heaven with every ounce of their strength, with every last drop of their blood.

            I love today’s Gospel because it shows the passionate side of Jesus. Here He is, coming into the Temple to pray, but He is so distracted and disturbed by the materialistic, dishonest salespeople in the Temple that He drives them out fiercely. His followers apply a verse from the Psalms to Jesus: “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”

            Could that be said about you? Would someone look at your life and say, “He is consumed with zeal for holiness,” or “She is so passionate about the Lord”? A person who has a living relationship with Jesus is on-fire with a desire for holiness.

            The word “Passion” has two meanings. In one sense, it means enthusiasm, fire, purpose, or strong feelings towards something or someone. But we also talk about the “Passion” of Christ – passion can mean suffering for that which we love.

            Let’s say we were all born in some slum in a poor country. Our food is whatever we can scavenge from the trash heap. We live in poverty; our houses are cardboard shacks, our clothing is rags. All of a sudden, someone comes to you and says, “I know a way in which you can live a better life. You will be rich beyond your wildest dreams, you will be the son of a king and live in a palace, and you will experience a joy and a love that is so deep I can’t even express it.”

            We would likely say, “That sounds wonderful! What do I need to do to have all that?” The other person responds, “It will not be easy. You will have to take a long journey, learn many new things, fight battles. You will have to leave this land and go to a foreign land. It will take some real suffering.”

            All of a sudden we reconsider. Hmm, although it sounds promising, is it worth it? Or is it easier just to stay in the mud and the filth, and avoid the radical changes and struggles that it would require to live as the son of the King?

            When we love someone or something, we are willing to pursue it passionately – in both senses of the word. We are hungry for it, and we are willing to suffer to obtain it. So, anyone who lives a love for Jesus Christ needs to live it passionately – we must desire Him above all of the passing trinkets of this world, and we must be willing to suffer for Him. Do you have this holy passion for Christ?