Father Rick’s Three-Minute Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent C

March 23, 2025, Luke 13:1-9

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032325-Year. C.cfm

Who has not seen the movie The 10 Commandments with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner? You don’t have to raise your hand. It will show your age.

Do you remember the scene when Moses encountered the Lord on Mount Horeb? I can’t forget the lead into that scene. Moses was going about his daily chores, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, when he heard the Lord’s voice from the burning bush tell him, “Take off your sandals, Moses. You are on holy ground.”

Why the sandals? When we wear sandals or shoes, we can walk anywhere we want with no problem. When barefoot, we must be cautious about where and how we walk.

What about this thought? The ground is holy when we walk with the Lord barefoot, following him. We put our shoes back on when we go where we want to go through life and not listen or follow him.

As we navigate our days, are we mindful of the Lord’s presence, or are we walking with our shoes on, oblivious to his guidance? The burning bush, a powerful symbol of God’s presence, remains unharmed, reminding us that God can work through us if we allow him.

Let’s consider our relationship with the burning bush. The burning bush, a symbol of God’s presence, was on fire but not consumed. Are we willing to become a burning bush in his service? What will happen when we trust the Lord enough to set us on fire, to be truly present to us and work through us, and yet not consume us?

When we choose to become a burning bush to other people, we are not just offering help; we are igniting a transformation in them.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta understood this so completely and so beautifully. She writes,

One of our novices from afar-country and a well-to-do family. She was sent right away to our home for the destitute who were dying, just like the rest of the novices. Before they left, I told them, “During Mass, you have seen with what care and tenderness the priest touched the Body of Christ changed into the Bread of Life. Do the same in the home for the dying destitute.”

Three hours later, the novices returned. The newly arrived novice came up to me and said, full of joy, “Mother, I have been touching the Body of Christ for three hours!” I asked her, “What have you done?” She said she had rescued a man lying in the gutter, half eaten by worms. “I really felt that I was touching the Body of Christ as Jesus said, I was sick, and you visited me.” (Magnificat P. 205, Monday, January 15).

We don’t have the poor of Calcutta lying in our streets. But we do have the poor of hearts who, like the poor of Calcutta, are unloved and unwanted, especially by their own.

Who is the Body of Christ in our homes, families, parish, and neighborhoods? We receive Jesus in Holy Communion and are not destroyed or consumed. What might happen if we become a burning bush to them and allow God’s love through us to set them on fire and yet not consume them?

What might happen if we touch them with the same care and tenderness as the priest touches the Body of Christ at Mass? It will happen to the degree we show reverence to the Body of Christ when we receive Him in Holy Communion.

Let’s take off our shoes and walk, my friends, on holy ground wherever we find ourselves.

Love One Another!

Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
www.bscchurch.com