Homily for 1st Sunday of Lent Year C 2016
Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13
Introduction
On Ash Wednesday most of us received ashes. It was not just to make up for our Mardi Gras
indulgence. It was to kick-start the
period of Lent. But why Lent?
We can answer this question about the
meaning of Lent, by looking briefly at the history of Lent and at the readings
of today's Mass.
Scripture and Theology
The inspiration for Lent can be traced back
to the many incidents in the Bible, of people going out into the desert.
·
When Moses led the people of
Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, he did not use the shorter route along
the Mediterranean Sea; rather they took the longer route through the desert. This was no scenic route; it was a gruelling
40-year journey in harsh conditions of heat and depravation.
·
The Prophet Elijah also fled
into the desert to escape the death threat issued against him by Queen Jezebel,
wife of King Ahab. He too spent 40 punishing
days and 40 nights in the desert.
·
And as we just heard, Jesus too
spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.
In all three cases, the time spent in the
harsh conditions of the desert, was a time of training. Like gold is purified in fire, with the
impurities burning away, so the Hebrew people, Elijah and Jesus were tested by
the harsh realities of the desert. The
difficulties they faced brought on many temptations, three of which we heard about
in today's gospel. While Jesus did not
give in to the temptations, the others did.
But still God took care of them all during their desert experience. And they all came out stronger, having
discovered and honed their strengths, and at the same time having pared down
their weaknesses. Now they were all ready
to start their missions: the Hebrew People to living in the Promised Land,
Elijah to prophesying, and Jesus to proclaiming the Good News of Salvation.
With this history in mind, it was natural
for Christians to celebrate a desert-like period of 40 days. But when would they have this experience? Before Christmas or at the beginning of the
year? They decided that the best time to
experience 40 days in the desert was right before the most important Christian
feast, one certainly greater than Mardi Gras or Valentine's Day. The desert experience was to prepare us for Easter,
when we celebrate Christ's death and resurrection, which brought about our
salvation, restoring us to God.
Besides being a preparation period for all Christians,
two special groups of Christians used Lent to prepare themselves in a special
way.
·
Catechumens, who were preparing
to be baptized and so enter the Church, spent these last 40 days before Easter in
intense preparation.
·
And so did Penitents. At that time the sacrament of confession
required sinners to do their penance first, sometimes for years, and then they
would be reconciled to the Church on Holy Thursday. They too used these final 40 days to prepare
themselves to tie up any loose ends in their conversion.
And so, the Lent has a long history; from
the desert experience of Moses, Elijah and Jesus, to the intense preparation of
Catechumens and Penitents.
Christian Life
From this history, we can see that Lent
still has meaning for us today. After
all like the catechumens and the penitents, we need to renew our relationship
with God through conversion. After all, like Moses, Elijah and Jesus, we need
to be purified by the desert, and come out triumphant over the temptations of
Jesus.
1.
The devil tempted Jesus with the pleasure of
food saying: “If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread.”
Aren't we also subject to sensual temptations of over-eating,
over-drinking, sexual pleasure, pornography, television, the internet, video-games,
to name but a few?
2.
After failing with the first
temptation, the devil then dangled power before Jesus saying: "All this [power and glory] will be yours, if
you worship me.” Aren't we also
tempted by the seductive lure of power over others at work or in the family, or
the power of good looks, intelligence and wealth?
3.
Finally the devil uses piety to
tempt Jesus saying: "If you are the
Son of God, throw yourself down from here [after all your God will protect
you]." Don't we succumb to this
temptation when we fail to do our part and presume that God will take care of
everything, such as when we fail to take care of our health and expect God to
do it all, or when students refuse to study and expect that prayer will
substitute for sheer hard work?
Through the desert experience, Jesus
overcame these temptations of uninhibited pleasure, unbridled power, and
presumptuous piety. For us our desert
experience is the season of Lent, particularly the traditional Lenten practices
of fasting, almsgiving and prayer.
1.
Fasting allows us to get down
to bare basics. When faced with hunger
and thirst, we quickly realize what is important in life and what is only
accessory. If we can do without food and
water, which are necessary for life, we soon realize that we can survive
without many other things. Like Jesus
told the devil, “One does not live on
bread alone,” but on a deep relationship with God and with others, in the
family, Church and society.
2.
Almsgiving allows us to realize
that we are not the centre of the world.
We realize that there are others besides us, with whom we must share
what is ours. When we give alms, we use
our power for good. We share our bread
with the hungry, water with the thirsty, because God has shared his life with
us. Through almsgiving we worship the
Lord our God who is in the other, and through serving others we serve him who
is God alone. One very practical way to
practice almsgiving is to carry out the traditional seven corporal works of
mercy and the seven spiritual works of mercy, especially since this is the
Jubilee Year of Mercy. In both works of
mercy, we give something of ours to another person; in the corporal works we
give them something for the body like food and shelter; in the spiritual works,
we give them something for the soul, like knowledge and correction.
3.
The third Lenten practice of
Prayer focuses attention on our relationship with God. In prayer we speak to God, we listen to
God. Heartfelt prayer is like a cordial conversation
between close friends, where everything is put on the table, the good and the
bad. In this conversation we do not presume
nor bribe nor demand from God. True
prayer makes the request and leaves it to God, to decide whether and when to
grant the request.
Conclusion
Let us live out this Lent in such a way
that like Jesus came out of the desert triumphant, we too will come out of the Lenten
desert victorious. For having set off on
this journey with the three tools of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, we shall
come out with a threefold harvest at Easter:
1.
Within ourselves, a greater control
of our addictions to pleasure and power
2.
With others whom we show mercy,
a closer relationship
3.
And with God who shows us
mercy, a renewed relationship
And when the time comes for us to enter our
heavenly Promised Land, our admission will be assured not because we bear roses
or chocolate, but because we shall bear the three most important gifts: a right
relationship with ourselves, with others and with God.
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