Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Third Sunday of Lent, March 23, 2003 Exodus 20:1-17 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 John 2:13-25	Listen to Audio

Don’t do things like that, Jesus. Don’t you realize you’re going to get people mad at you? You are really being foolish antagonizing the authorities like that. Don’t you realize how powerful they are? And be careful what you say. “Destroy this Temple,” and you will raise it up! That sounds like the ravings of a madman. How can you expect anyone to take you seriously?

Jesus, what you are doing is very dangerous. It’s going to end up . . . well, it’s going to end up getting you crucified. The Jewish Temple authorities don’t want people rocking the boat. The Romans, who control the world, are very powerful, and will quickly do away with any perceived threat. Don’t challenge the way they’re doing things, Jesus. Don’t talk about destruction of the Temple. We’ve got enough problems. Don’t make waves.

There’s evidence that Jesus’ disciples might have been saying or thinking things like that. Sadly, the story itself is so familiar to us, that it has been tamed through repetition and the passage of time. Maybe we need to hear it with new ears, just as Jesus promises a new Temple, no longer constructed according to the designs of the world, but made of the fabric of his own body.

The key to understanding, of course, is provided by those strong but enigmatic words of St. Paul at the end of the second reading: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

Notice what he does not say. He does not say “God’s wisdom is greater than human wisdom” and “God’s strength is greater than human strength.” St. Paul throws us a curve by saying, “God’s foolishness is greater than human wisdom; God’s weakness is greater than human strength.”

Jesus knew from the start that his words and actions would result in crucifixion, because the universal and unconditional love of God that he proclaimed, taught, lived, and commanded cuts across the grain of all the values by which we naturally live our lives. The world’s wisdom says, “You are valuable for what you do, or for what you mean to me.” God’s wisdom says, “You are valuable for what you are.” The world says, “That’s foolishness.”

Today, we experience many conflicts, not only in the Middle East – within our hearts, within our families, within our communities. Conflicts always arise when we pit one set of values against another. Today, we are surrounded by the “wisdom” and “strength” of the world.

The words of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, on the world conflict today seem foolish to many, including those who profess utmost fidelity to his teachings. Yesterday, no longer able to speak words to prevent war, he said, "When war, like the one now in Iraq, threatens the fate of humanity, it is even more urgent for us to proclaim, with a firm and decisive voice, that only peace is the way of building a more just and caring society. Violence and weapons can never resolve the problems of man.”

He has been criticized, even by conservative Catholics, as “out of touch,” naïve, and even ignorant of the power of evil. Yet no major world leader can match his experience of raw, naked evil in the tragedy of war and the brutality of totalitarian oppression. Last week at this Mass, I noted that, as a native of Poland living among his people until elected Pope, he suffered, persevered, and risked his life in resistance movements under both Nazi and Communist domination, through the horrors of World War II and the terrors of Communist oppression. As Pope, he came within a centimeter of being slain by a Muslim extremist assassin, who may have been acting as an agent for a Communist country, and he continues to bear the physical pain of that wound every moment of every day. And he, more than any other world leader, must be given credit for the fall of Communism and the dissolution of Soviet Union. Oh yes, he is coming from a lifelong struggle with the forces of evil. He knows what he is talking about. He knows that the true weapon of Christ, and God’s triumph over evil, is found in the works of forgiveness and peace, not the weapons of war. He’s no naïve simpleton.

Today, can we – you and I—truly believe that, the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom? That the weakness of God is stronger than human strength?

© Thomas Welbers, 2003