Remembering helps us to believe

March 19, 2006 -- Third Sunday of Lent

By Fr. Michael Stubbs

	Fr. Mike Stubbs

During the 1800's, Irish immigrants to this country began the practice of wearing the color green on St. Patrick's Day to link them to the Emerald Isle. On one hand, the "wearing o' the green" proclaimed their Irish origins to the world. On the other hand, it also tied those immigrants more securely to their Irish heritage. It was an act of remembering, which took on an almost religious significance. That is not merely a way of speaking, because in religious faith, the act of remembering plays a crucial role.

L e n t
• Everyday People, Everyday Faith articles
• Other Lent articles

Sunday's gospel reading, John 2:13-22, twice ascribes to the disciples the act of remembering. The narrative focuses upon a pivotal event in Jesus' ministry, the cleansing of the Temple. As that event unfolds, the disciples remember a scripture verse, Ps. 69:10, which appears to them to explain Jesus' actions, "Zeal for your house will consume me." Then at the end of the narrative, an editorial comment mentions how the disciples will later on recall this incident and what Jesus said during it, "When he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken."

The dramatic action of overturning the money changers' tables and driving them out with whips from the Temple area makes the disciples think of the verse from the Psalms. Similarly, the equally dramatic event of Jesus' resurrection will recall that earlier event and Jesus' words concerning it. The act of remembering links these moments in the disciples' lives. It enables the disciples to make sense of them.

The disciples who remember are able to understand amidst the chaos of the overturned tables and the animals driven out. In contrast, the opponents of Jesus, described in the gospel as "the Jews," do not understand what is going on. Unlike the disciples, they have not remembered the scripture passage. And when they ask Jesus about his action, they do not understand his enigmatic reply, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."

The act of remembering does not only enable the disciples to understand, it enables them to believe. "They came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken." That is why the act of remembering takes on such importance. In John's gospel the Holy Spirit will assume the weighty task of facilitating the disciples' memory. "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name - he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you." (John 14:26) By reminding the disciples, the Holy Spirit enables them to believe.

The Holy Spirit plays the same role in our lives as well. Through John's gospel and other inspired scriptures, the Spirit speaks, to jolt our memory concerning the person of Jesus Christ and to bring us to faith in him. That is why we read the gospel of John, not only to understand, but to believe.

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name." (John 20:30,31)

(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)