As we begin this third week of Lent, we are given a great deal to consider about renewing our faith and “come to believe.” In the first reading from the Book of Exodus, God gives His Commandments and speaks of His jealousy and His Love. In this powerful reading, we hear that to those who “hate God,” or who choose another person or thing to “believe in” rather than have faith and belief in the One True God, He will punish and have little to do with down to the “third and fourth generation”—even though God will not stop seeking their hearts; but to those who choose Him, His Love with fall upon them until the thousandth generation—endlessly. In this
reading we learn both of God’s desires for us—to live in such an excellent way that we will be like Him in our human interactions; and we learn of God’s great mercy and love for those who choose to live life in-and-through the fulfillment of His Commandments. God gives us the blueprint for a holy life and then He floods us with His grace and favor so that we actually live according to His Will.

In the second reading from 1 Corinthians, Saint Paul asks us to recognize that the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness is stronger than any human strength or power. He who Is, Was, and Shall Ever Be gives all that He is to anyone who will choose to hear and follow His call, Jew and Gentile alike. This is a God who is the essence of Love and desires to share that Love with us ,and for us to freely choose to Love Him back by the way we live our human lives.

These two readings speak to us of “signs” which both Saint Paul and Exodus asks us to consider: the signs that God has given us and asked us to listen to as well as the “signs” of God’s wisdom, mercy and power—and how we are called to welcome them into our lives. The Gospel of John also uses the word “signs” and while John may use the word differently, the Catholic Church this is a unique understanding of this word. For the Church, a “sign” is a thing which is used to signify other things and to make them come to mind. If you remember your religious education class on the Sacraments, you will recall St. Augustine’s definition from the Fifth Century as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.’

However in John’s Gospel, the word “sign” is used to mean a “miracle”—or actions that lead to faith. In today’s gospel passage, Jesus says of the Temple building "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews could not believe Him, considering that the Temple had been under construction for 46 years—, and He will raise it in three days? But of course Jesus was talking about His body and His Resurrection—a whole different kind of Temple. In our Catholic understanding we believe that being baptized and by living our lives in Christ, we too are temples of His Holy Spirit and that God dwells within us. At the end of the Catholic funeral Mass the priest incenses the human remains, for as Christ’s disciples our faith teaches us that He dwells within us as we live—being baptized and living the sacramental life of the Church.

When we conclude the Lenten Season and enter into Holy Week and Easter, Good Friday will be another “sign” or “miracle” – one of God’s Love for us. In fact the Church calls Good Friday the “ultimate sign of God’s Love” in that He gave His Only Son for the salvation of the world—for you and for me. May these remaining weeks of Lent and the coming Easter Season be a time of to renew our faith and to Come to Believe that Salvation awaits us and we are called to spend this life in service to God through our service to others. For one day we shall see the Glorious Face of God.