1st Sunday of Lent (Fr. Vinner)

A Journey Towards Victory and Salvation

My Brothers and sisters in Christ,

On Ash Wednesday we began our journey with Christ. As a journey that will last for about six and half weeks, the Lenten season presents to us the opportunity of re-living the Paschal mystery of Christ. It exposes us to other dimensions of life, and thus, equips us for the glory of Easter.

This first Sunday of Lent, starts on a hopeful and joyful note. The readings bring in view concepts like faith, salvation and victory over sin. These remind us of the need to praise God for the great wonders he worked for our fathers in faith. Through our participation this Lent God is ready to extend the same wonders to us.

The first reading begins with a very brief account from Moses about how God delivered His chosen people Israel from bondage in the land of Egypt. Therefore, this reminds us of our own salvific journey. This Lenten season, we are on a journey to our salvation, and the hope of this salvation must sustain us throughout this season and beyond.

The second reading presents another dimension to this journey towards salvation. It presents faith as a necessary tool which must be manifested through our confessions. Without faith, it will be practically impossible to reach our destination. Faith in this case is the energy that motivates us as we march on. If along this journey this season, we become weary, turning to Jesus is the best option available to us. If we call upon Him in faith, we shall find the strength to continue. We cannot prevail in this journey by our own strength alone.

This season therefore, we are to be mindful of the fact that temptations abound, just as our Lord was tempted today by the devil in our gospel. It is important to note that the tempter is always looking for a point of contact or weakness. This was why, once he realized that Christ was very hungry he felt it was an opportunity to use Him. However, the good news is that the devil was wrong, because Christ did not give him the chance to use Him. Hence, the devil cannot succeed with us too if we do not open avenues for him in our lives.

We must not give the devil any chance this season and in our entire life time. Therefore, let us close all the avenues in the course of this journey by wearing the sign: “Road Closed or No Vacancy Here!”  The avenues that must be closely guarded this season as the temptation of Christ teaches us include: The avenues of hunger and thirst for sin, the avenue of cheap popularity, vain glory, pride, and selfishness. These are obstacles to our spiritual growth, victory, and of course, to our salvation.

As Paul writes: “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God for pulling down Strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). Our weapons this season must include a very strong faith in God, prayer, uprightness, good works, and the word of God. This is because: “We do not fight” (this season only), against flesh and blood. But, against…powers of this dark age…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm” (Eph 6, 10-12). Above all, we must allow the Holy Spirit to be in charge by being docile to Him.

Finally, trusting in the arm of our own flesh will not help us this season. This is because, it might fail us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, this season, God is absolutely ready to do for us what He did for our fathers in faith in ancient times. So, together with the psalmist today, let us unceasingly implore the Lord saying: “Be with me, O Lord in my distress.”

1) We need to confront and conquer temptations as Jesus did, using the means he employed: Like Jesus, every one of us is tempted to seek sinful pleasures, easy wealth and a position of authority, and is drawn to the use of unjust or sinful means to attain good ends. Jesus sets a model for conquering temptations through prayer, penance and the effective use of the ‘‘word of God.” Temptations make us true warriors of God by strengthening our minds and hearts. We are never tempted beyond the strength God gives us. In his first letter, St. John assures us: “The One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Hence during Lent, let us confront our evil tendencies with prayer (especially by participating in the Holy Mass), with penance and with the meditative reading of the Bible. Knowledge of the Bible prepares us for the moment of temptation by enabling us “to know Jesus more clearly, to love him more dearly and to follow him more nearly, day by day,” as William Barclay puts it.

2) We need to grow in holiness during Lent by prayer, reconciliation and sharing. We become resistant and even immune to temptations as we grow healthier in soul by following the traditional Lenten practices: a) by finding time to be with God every day of Lent, speaking to Him and listening to Him; b) by repenting of our sins and renewing our lives by uniting ourselves with God both by the Sacrament of Reconciliation and by forgiving those who have hurt us and asking forgiveness of those whom we have hurt; and  c) by sharing our love with others through our selfless and humble service, our almsgiving and our helping of those in need.

May God Bless us.

FR. S.Vinner HGN