Homily: First Sunday of Lent A

Story: A man bought paint to refurbish the outside of his house. But he ignored the instructions on the can and thinned it liberally with water.  After he finished painting the exterior, he stood back to admire the job, chuckling to see how beautiful it looked for so little money.  But that night there was a great rainstorm. The next morning he went outside and stood before his streaky house. At that moment a voice from heaven thundered in his ear: “Repaint and thin no more.”

How often we shortcut the instructions of God, to do it our way and end up with a worse condition? Are we choosing to listen to the voice o f God or of human expediency. To confuse the issue further the evil one knows our vulnerability and comes against us with half truths that satisfies the human appetite.

In the first reading, God called Adam to recognize the gift he had received, to recognize the relationship between him and God and to remain in that relationship through obedience. The evil one said that Adam and Eve could determine their own live, to have total power over life. He said that they could be like God, equal to him. There were three points to his temptation. One was the temptation of the appetites (apple); second, the temptation of self-determination, independently of God (to be like God); third, the temptation for power (you shall not die).

Paul in the second reading says that through one man’s disobedience all became sinners. What was the sin of Adam and Eve which they expressed through disobedience?  It was the sin of not accepting oneself as limited and depended; the sin of wanting to be other than creatures dependent upon God, the Creator; the sin of turning away from God and to turn to self. What was the temptation? To believe in and trust the father of lies rather that the author of truth. It was true that they would know good and evil; it was a lie that they would be like God. The result of their sin was they saw themselves as nothing without God.  As a result, they hid themselves because they were no longer in right relationship with God. To isolate themselves from God was not to become equal to God but to become less than they were meant to be.

In contrast, Paul states, referring to Jesus: “through one man’s obedience, all shall become just.” The Son of God became man to show us how to live in our humanity in right relationship to God.. After his baptism, he experiences similar temptations to Adam and Eve. The first temptation was self-gratification rather than dependency upon the Father to care for his needs. Jesus’ response: “Not on bread alone, but on the Word of God.”

The second temptation was to question God’s ways, to have God prove his love by a miracle. Jesus’ response was that his relationship with the Father was strong and need not be tested. In his humanity Jesus did not have to assert himself or test the Father’s love. He knew and trusted in that love.

The third temptation was that of power, ambition, greed, authority, dominance and control. To be set up as a god. Jesus’ response: There is only one God and you, Satan, are not. You have not power. Be gone.  Jesus refused to give him power, or credence or the time of day.  Jesus’ knew he was the beloved Son of the Father and he was loved as such. No questions asked.

How was Jesus able to do this? Though God, in his humanity he emptied himself of his divinity so as to embrace our full humanity in everything but sin. In his humanity he allowed the Holy Spirit to lead him as he kept his eyes, heart and will on the Father. He refused to assert his own power but totally remained dependent upon the Father, waiting and trusting on the Father.  Jesus refused to isolate himself from the Father in his humanity. He totally entrusted himself to the Father in obedience.

As we commit ourselves to Jesus, as we repent of our desire to be independent, as we accept Jesus as the Lord of our life, we will also experience the freedom of our humanity. We will become more the son or daughter, beloved by the Father, that we are meant to be. Following the lead of Jesus, in the times of our own temptations, remember who we are, whose we are and keep our eyes on the Father, following the lead of the Sprit. 

"Do you wish your prayer to fly toward God? Make for it two wings: fasting and almsgiving." St. Augustine

The fasting God desires most from us is not only from food, but more importantly from sin. For what good is our material fasting if we are not dying to sin? What is our frequent sin? For many people it is of the tongue. We use the tongue to judge others, to criticize them, to speak unkindly, to use God's name in vain, to lie, to slander, to flatter people for our advantage. If we don't seek to clean up our act, what good is our fasting or prayers. They will be empty actions and words. Repent of sin and turn back to the Lord. This is the call of Lent.

First Sunday of Lent Gospel A

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 

· God tests us to draw us closer to him. The devil tempts us to draw us away from God.

· From the time of the baptism until his death on the cross, Jesus is led by the Spirit.

·       In the desert the Lord tested the Chosen People. In the deserts of our journey God tests us.

He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. 

· Moses and Elijah fasted forty days and forty nights as part of their preparation for what God had in store for them.

· Here the number forty has another significance. During the forty years in the desert, the Israelites proved that they were not true sons of God by their frequent, sinful rebellions and grumblings. Jesus as the Son of God gives us the example of how a true son of God is to live in the midst of temptations.

· Do you see the power of fasting and prayer in dealing with temptations?

The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” 

· The devil picks up on the word of God to Jesus after his baptism: “You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The devil wants Jesus to question his identity.

· The focus of the devil’s temptation is to satisfy self rather than be faithful and depend upon God to care for you. Do you see the similarity with the temptation in the Garden of Eden?

He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” 

· Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 in response. Jesus knows that he is the Son of God, beloved of the Father. He doesn’t have to use his own power to prove this. Rather, he chooses to be obedient to the Father’s will in all things, even in the time of physical hunger. His food is the word of God.

·

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” 

· Again the focus of the temptation is questioning whether Jesus is the Son of God and trusts in God. Like Jesus the devil too quotes the scriptures (Ps 91:11-12). Jesus responds as a true Son of God but stating that he does not have to put God to the test as the Israelites did in the desert, complaining against him for not providing food and drink. A creature does not test the Lord. The Lord tests the creature.

·

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” 

· The first lie is that the devil can’t give all the kingdoms of the world. He has no power or authority. The second lie is that he is not God, who alone deserves worship. Jesus unmasks the devil for who he is—a creature subject to God, but who is separated from God eternally by choice.

· In a sense, Jesus is laughing at the devil when he says, “Get away.”

· Jesus proves himself as a true Son of God, who is obedient to the Father, unlike Adam and the Israelites.

· “Each temptation has one common purpose: to divert Jesus from his mission, to distract him from the purpose for which he came on earth; to replace the Father’s plan with a different one. In Baptism, the Father had indicated to Christ the way of the obedient Servant who saves with humility and suffering. Satan proposes to him the way of glory and triumph, the way that everyone then expected of the Messiah.”

· “Today also, the whole effort of the devil is to divert man from the purpose for which he is in the world, which is to know, love and serve God in this life to enjoy him later in the next; to distract him. But Satan is astute; he does not appear as a person with horns and the smell of sulfur. It would be too easy to recognize him. He makes use of good things leading them to excess, absolutizing them and making them idols. Money is a good thing, as is pleasure, sex, eating, drinking. However, if they become the most important thing in life, they are no longer means but become destructive for the soul and often also for the body.”

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Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

· What lesson can we derive from our reflections on this passage?

· How should we respond in times of temptations and in times of test?

· What was the role of the Spirit during the temptations? 

 "There are two ways of keeping God's word, namely, one, whereby we store in our memory what we hear and the other, whereby we put into practice, what we have herd (and none will deny that the latter is more commendable, inasmuch, as it is better to sow grain, than to store in in the barn)."

As we enter into the Lenten season, let us both hear the word of God with a fresh openness. Let us reflect on this word. Let us act on the word heard and reflected.  The word of God is never stagnant or old hat. God speaks it anew to us each time it is proclaimed. We need to approach the word of God with the attitude of Samuel: "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Then we need to ponder like Mary what we have heard, so that God's word can bear fruit in our lives. Then, we are called to proclaim that word when convenient or inconvenient. For the word was given to us, for us and to be shared with others. In that way the word of God will be a lamp for our feet and a light for others.

 "Let us begin by disarming our language, avoiding harsh words and rash judgement, refraining from slander and speaking ill of those who are not present and cannot defend themselves. Instead, let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christin communities. Pope Leo IV

As we enter into the Lenten season of grace and conversion, Pope Leo provides us with a plan of action. How often our speech is our downfall! It is like an unbridled horse that can take us to perilous situations. Using words from St. Paul, if we can't say something in love and in the name of Jesus, then we must not say it. It will not give glory to God. If we put the admonitions of the Pope into practice, then the love of God will be able to transform our hearts to resemble his great, sacrificing love.

 "Countless people experience their existence as dull, boring, stagnant, and routine. They lack vitality, a deep desire to be alive. For them, every day is just another day, often filled with many things to do, but seldom offering profound human satisfaction. This is the experience of living without bearing fruit. But fortunately, some men and women have a deep sense of their value - precisely because they are in touch with the life-giving quality of their existence. Their joy brings forth joy, and their peace brings forth peace. They make us aware of the holy contagiousness of all that lives." Henri Nouwen

What makes the difference between the two different experiences? I think it is the awareness of God in the second group. That awareness includes the love God has for them and their value in his eyes. They are aware that he delights in them. Their existence is not routine, but a response to the Lord. Thus, the joy and peace. They have a purpose for being and living each day. They seek to fulfill that purpose to the best of their ability. This attitude is a choice that needs to be made consciously in the midst of the routineness of life. In choosing to be joyful, they become a light to others. Which existence do you desire?

 "Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness." St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

What does this say to you, about your relationship with God? Sometimes we are not sure that God loves us enough, in spite of the many ways he has shown us his love in the past. Sometimes we focus more on our weaknesses that on his power. Yet, the more we surrender ourselves to him, the more the words of St. Paul will ring true. "In him I can do all things, who strengthens me." What I can't accomplish on my own, God can do through me. The signs and wonders in the lives of the Saints attest to this. God waited for Mary's Yes, before the Spirit overshadowed her and the Word became flesh. He awaits our Yes as well.