Third Sunday of Lent (in case you want to reflect before Sunday)
Third Sunday of Lent Year C
Reading I
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law
Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to
Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in
fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the
bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to
look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.” When the
LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from
the bush, "Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” God said, “Come
no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is
holy ground. I am the God of your fathers, “ he continued, “the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to
look at God. But the LORD said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people
in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so
I know well what they are suffering. Therefore, I have come down to rescue them
from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and
spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Moses said to God, “But
when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent
me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God
replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the
Israelites: I AM sent me to you.” God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you
say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. “This is my name
forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations.”
1. What
surprises you in this reading?
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2. Have
you ever answered “Here I am” to God? If not why do you think you have yet not
heard God’s call?
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3. If
you could ask something of Moses what would it be? And how would that help you
on your Lenten journey?
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Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11.
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the
LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills, He redeems your life from
destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice and the rights of all the oppressed. He has made known
his ways to Moses, and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. For
as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward
those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
1. How has God shown his kindness and
mercy to you so far this Lenten season?
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2. How is kindness and mercy signs of
hope?
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Reading II 1
Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and
all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the
same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank
from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ. Yet God
was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert. These
things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as
they did. Do not grumble as some of them did, and suffered death by the
destroyer. These things happened to them as an example, and they have been
written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore,
whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.
1. How
does grumbling destroy hope?
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2. How
can you be an example of hope to others this Lenten season? Specifically what
actions can you take?
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Verse Before the Gospel
Repent, says the Lord; the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
Gospel
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans
suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no
means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or
those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them— do
you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not
repent, you will all perish as they did!” And he told them this parable: “There
once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came
in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three
years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the
soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall
cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the
future. If not you can cut it down.’”
1. In
what ways do you still need to repent today?
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2. Why
is letting go of things, ideas, people etc so hard?
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3. Write
a prayer asking for strength to repent:
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