Scripture Reflection March 15, 2009: Called to Integrity

Scripture Readings:
Exodus 20: 1-17
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 1: 22-25
John 2: 13-25

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This week the New York Times reported that Bernard Madoff will plead guilty to multiple counts of fraud for the elaborate Ponzi scheme which he directed for years. It appears that he attracted about 65 billion dollars in “investments” from a variety of individuals and organizations, which were never really invested on their behalf. Madoff faces a sentence of life in prison for swindling people’s life savings. We also continue to read about the questionable transactions in which banks and other financial institutions became involved in recent years, helping to precipitate the current economic recession. And we learned this week that federal laws restricting embryonic stem cell development have been relaxed, opening the door to expanded research on human embryos. The rationale that was given for this decision was the need to “keep science free of politics”. One has to wonder whether that explanation really masks a trend to keep science free of ethics.

The call to become persons of integrity is a challenge for all of us these days. What we read in the newspaper and see on television can make us question whether integrity is an ideal worth pursuing. The Scripture readings for this third Sunday of Lent, however, speak to us directly about integrity – about living in a way that is authentic and consistent with our beliefs, guided by the vision that Jesus offers us in the gospel. At the end of the gospel passage for this Sunday we hear powerful words about Jesus’ knowledge of what is in the human heart: “While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.” This observation comes immediately after Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, where he strongly objects to turning this holy site into a place for commercial enterprise. His demand to “stop making my Father’s house a marketplace” is a clarion call to integrity of worship.

The reading from the Book of Exodus is one of two versions of the Ten Commandments that we find in the Hebrew Scriptures. Through the centuries believers have discovered that these “ten words” have a timeless validity for Christian life. For the people of Israel, the Decalogue prescribed a way of life based on the experience of what God had done for them in granting them freedom: “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.” These commandments are all about integrity of life before God, as individuals and as a community. They call for something deeper than just refraining from unethical actions – blasphemy, killing, adultery, stealing, lying, coveting, and so forth. They are meant to engender a way of living that is grounded in the experience of the faithful, merciful and liberating God of the covenant. They challenge us to a life of holiness – a call which the Second Vatican Council said is given to every believer. We are invited to cultivate an inner disposition of faithfulness that is manifested in our external actions – in adoration of God, respect and care for every human being, and commitment to the truth.

Lent is a season in which the Scriptures call us to reflect upon our own personal integrity. This means looking beneath the externals in our lives and examining the substance within. We are called to allow God’s grace to renew us from within so that our worship and our behavior may be more than simply a matter of externals but an expression of a heart transformed by the presence of God. We are invited to examine our relationships and to ask whether we are just doing the minimum in those relationships or are genuinely committed to the well-being of others. We are summoned to become more honest in speech and action in all of the dimensions of our lives. And we are invited to reflect on the integrity of our relationship with God. Are we just going through the motions in the practice of our faith, or are we entering into a dynamic relationship with the living God?

Paul touches the substance of the Christian faith in his letter to the Christians at Corinth. He reflects on the message of the cross, which he has consistently and fearlessly preached. It is not a message that can be nicely “packaged”, and to many it seems like utter foolishness. How can one who was executed as a common criminal be the Messiah and Lord? But for Paul the integrity of the gospel meant that he must proclaim “Christ crucified” – a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others – but for those who are called “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” It is this wisdom of the cross that we especially try to learn and re-learn during the season of Lent. It is a wisdom centered on the self-giving love of God in Christ, who gave himself completely on the cross because he was totally committed to us and our well-being. Christ’s saving death on the cross represents the integrity of God. May the wisdom of the cross fill our minds and hearts as we try to live as people of greater integrity.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp