1st Sunday of Lent (Fr. Vinner)
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The primary purpose of Lent is to prepare us for the celebration of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. The Church tries to achieve this goal, leading her children to metanoia or true “repentance” by the reordering of their priorities and the changing of their values, ideals and ambitions, through fasting, prayer and self-control. The first reading tells us how man irrevocably broke the original covenant God had made with Adam and Eve and how the merciful God selected Noah and his family to renew the covenant. Noah’s rescue from the flood symbolizes how we are saved through the water of Baptism which cleanses us of sin and makes us one with Christ. St. Peter shows us how Noah’s episode prefigured Baptism. He reminds us that as Noah and his family were saved from the waters of the deluge, we are saved through the waters of Baptism. Baptism is an outward sign of the New Covenant that God made with his people. It makes us adopted children of God, heirs of Heaven, and temples of the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel, we are told that Jesus faced and defeated the tempter by his forty days of prayer and penance in the desert immediately after his baptism. It also tells us how Jesus started preaching his Messianic mission, “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent. Believe in the Gospel.”
Temptation to dominate: A long line of men stood at one of Heaven’s gates, waiting to be admitted. There was a sign over the gate which read, “For men who were dominated by their wives while on earth.” The line extended as far as the eye could see. At another of Heaven’s gates, only one man was standing. Over this gate there was a sign that read, “For men who were not dominated by their wives.” St. Peter approached the lone man standing there and asked, “What are you doing here?” The man replied, “I don’t really know. My wife told me to stand here.”
The fact that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert is significant. This recalls the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert after being led from slavery in Egypt. The prophet Elijah also journeyed in the desert for 40days and nights, making his way to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he was also attended to by an angel of the Lord. Remembering the significance of these events, we also set aside 40 days for the season of Lent.
In Mark’s Gospel, the desert marks beginning of Jesus’ battle with Satan; the ultimate test will be in Jesus’ final hours on the cross. In a similar way, our Lenten observances are only a beginning, a preparation for and a reinforcement of our ongoing struggle to resist the temptations we face in our lives. During Lent, we are led by the Holy Spirit to remember the vows of Baptism in which we promised to reject sin and to follow Jesus. Just as Jesus was ministered to by the angels, God also supports us in our struggle against sin and temptation. We succeed because Jesus conquered sin once and for all in his saving death on the cross.
1) We are to confront and conquer temptations as Jesus did, using the means he employed. Every one of us is tempted to seek sinful pleasures, easy wealth and a position of authority, power and glory, and to use any means, even unjust or sinful ones to gain these things. Jesus serves as a model for us in conquering temptations by strengthening himself through prayer, penance and the active use of the Word of God. Temptations make us more powerful warriors of God by strengthening our minds and hearts. By constantly struggling against temptations, we become stronger. Each time one is tempted to do evil but does good, one becomes stronger. Further, we are never tempted beyond our power. In his first letter, St. John assures us: “Greater is the one who is in us, than the one who is in the world (1 John 4: 4). We may be strengthened by St. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No testing has overtaken you, that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and [God] will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing [God] will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” Hence, during this Lent, let us confront our evil tendencies by prayer (especially by participating in the holy Mass), by penance and by meditative reading of the Bible.
2) We are to grow in holiness by prayer, reconciliation and sharing during Lent: a) by finding time to be with God every day of Lent, speaking to Him in fervent prayer and listening to Him through the meditative reading of the Bible; “Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.” b) by repenting of our sins daily and asking God’s forgiveness every night at bedtime; c) by being reconciled with God through the sacrament of reconciliation; d) by being reconciled with others, forgiving them the hurts they have caused us and asking their pardon for the hurts we have inflicted on them; e) by sharing our love with others through selfless and humble service, almsgiving and helping those in need; f) by living the Gospel or the Good News of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness in our lives, thus bearing true Christian witness.
3) Lent is the time for the desert experience. We can set aside a place and time to be alone daily with God, a time to distance ourselves from the many noises that bombard our lives every day, a time to hear God’s word, a time to rediscover who we are before God and a time to say yes to God and no to Satan as Jesus did.
May God Bless us.
FR. S.Vinner HGN
Drink a lot of WATER during LENT
- Word of God
Read, listen, meditate, contemplate and live the word of God.
- Available
Spend quality time with your family, friends, neighbors, relatives and people whom you have not spoken for a long time. Being Available means I care for you.
- Trust in God
Trust God in good times and in bad times, in sickness and in health, in joys and in sorrows. Jesus, I trust in you.
- Eucharist
The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life. Holy mass is the highest form of prayer. Let us come before God to adore him and to receive his blessings.
- Reconciliation
Receiving the forgiveness of God and be ready to extend the forgiveness to others.
Question
Are we ready to drink a lot of WATER during LENT?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, the fountain of living water, sometimes I am spiritually dehydrated and I am thirsty for you, fill me with your living water so that I am spiritually quenched from my spiritual dehydration. Amen.