Homily Notes, 02-21-21 - First Sunday of Lent

 02-21-21
First Sunday of Lent

Philip Augustin Immelraet, “The Temptation of Christ,” 1663

During the season of Lent, God and the Church ask that we take on more penance than we normally do throughout the year.  Austerity of the season makes it harder for us, and yet the Church has this letter from St. Paul that says these are the days of grace, the acceptable time; time for us to make reparations for our sins and call down the mercy of God, to free us from the chains that our sins have forged for us.  We need strength in our souls to firmly resist temptation in the future, but also be better able to fight the devil.

Our Lord deals with the famous 3 temptations of the devil meant to divert Him from His father's mission.  These temptations follow his 40 days of fasting in the desert.  It is through that effort of being in the desert that he prepares to deal with the devil.

Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.  It was through his efforts of penance that he was capable to answer the tempter.  He goes without all the conveniences of human life.  This occurs right after His baptism in the Jordan River, in the valley to the East of Jerusalem.  It's an area that is empty of human habitation.  The closest city is Jericho, 5 miles to the west.  All to the east is uninhabited wasteland with very little vegetation.  Our Lord did not have access to regular things or to any comfort.  No food, no heat, no shade, no bed.  He did this exercise his human nature, to be able to do without comforts.  True, in a way, it is extreme - it says he ate and drank nothing, which is beyond human capacity.  The point is mastery of the soul over the body, so that when He is hungry and an alluring temptation is presented to him, he is able to say no.  He resisted with calmness.  He shows ease in resisting. We have to say no to our desires.  

It is in that light that we should take on Lenten penance.  Don't give up something arbitrary.  What keeps me from being able to say yes to God?  Make an effort to fast from that.  Some of our temptations will only be overcome by prayer and fasting.

Our Lord also separated himself from his fellow men by going out into the desert alone.  He had a great solitude.  Free from the vanity of being concerned about what other human beings think.  We can all recognize that we are very motivated by what others think of us.  We measure a lot - our actions, our clothing, our words - by other's reactions.  Sometimes for good or for ill, depending on who we are surrounded by.  It's necessary for us to occasionally take a step back and be alone so that we can be more in the presence of God, to be really attentive to what He thinks of us. "I am always in the presence of my Father because I do always what pleases Him." - Jesus.  We have to make an effort to place ourselves before God.  We can't see Him or hear Him - that makes it difficult to be attentive to Him, especially when we are around our neighbors who we can see and hear.  It takes a special effort on our part to take a step back from others around us. 

Fast from social media and from modern music for Lent.  Put yourself in the presence of God.  Think of Our Lord going out into the desert.  he wakes up, what does he do from morning to evening?  He didn't go to work.  He didn't pour a cup of coffee and chat with someone.  How did he spend his time?  We can be certain he prayed, but also reflected on the word of God in Scripture.  Our Lord would have retained Scripture distinctly.  He is not prone to forget like we are.  We can be sure he reflected on the meaning of all the words of the Old Testament.  Meditating and thinking through the consequences they have on the human soul.  Every single temptation presented to him, He responds with Scripture because it was so much a part of Him.

It is vital to make time to be silent in the presence of God.  In your state in life, even 5-10 minutes reflecting on the Gospel and really trying to apply it to your life.  Go back and think about the mission and apply what you heard to your life.  It's good to take time to read also, so our mind will be filled with things to think about.  It can be hard to have an atmosphere for silence, especially with small children, and yet it is still possible to maintain a spirit of silence.

Catherine of Siena was very involved in the world, and yet in the depths of her soul she would make a cell where she could retreat to, in order to be an abode for God.  It only takes a few minutes each day to go inside ourselves and greet Almighty God.  Those moments of real, true silence in the depth of our soul, even briefly, gives us peace amidst our hectic day.

In this time of Lent, God wants to be found.  The Church puts these words on the lips of the priest: "Seek God while He may be found." We will not receive the grace of God in vain and we will be able to make good use of this truly acceptable time, this day of salvation, and be ever more ready to enter into the combats that Our Lord has prepared for us.