2nd Sunday of Lent. Year C. 2016

 2^nd. Sunday of Lent (C)

(Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36)

 My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us look closely at Abram/Abraham, our father in faith as we are told in the canon of Mass, because thereby we can learn to appreciate anew something of the wonderful goodness of our God.

We heard that God spoke to Abram saying:

I am the Lord, Who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as a possession.  

Abram had been born and brought up as a believer in pagan gods; however, when the Lord God Yahweh called him, Abram -- hearing and dutifully listening -- in obedience left his home and patrimony and gave his life over into the hands of the hitherto unknown (to him) Lord Who yet knew him so intimately as to choose him for such a unique purpose and destiny.

Nevertheless, it seemed almost impossible to Abram that he personally, with his relatively small household and few retainers, could take possession of this whole land his ‘new’ Lord was now promising him, and so we read that, in his amazement at hearing what was beyond his understanding, Abram said:

Lord God, how will I know that I will possess it?

At this juncture we are about to glimpse something of the great goodness of our God condescending to encourage Abram by something with which he was quite familiar:

He said, ‘Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’  (Abram) brought all these to Him split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other; the birds but he did not cut.    

Because Abram was born a Chaldean the Lord told him to make preparations for a Chaldean covenant ceremony: the animals called for were all those that Abram could  properly offer in sacrifice: the birds were not to be cut in half, and the Lord would make an oath to Abram passing between the two lines of the animal carcasses.

Although Abram, for his part, had already left the country of his birth in obedience to the Lord, nevertheless, his fidelity and trust had to be ultimately confirmed by further testing: the sacrificial animals were now prepared but the Lord did not appear; and vultures -- quickly becoming aware of the lines of carcasses -- began to make attempts to feed on them.

Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them away.

Time passed, and though Abram was able to prevent the vultures eating he was not able to frighten them completely away: they were content to watch and wait, ever ready to make fresh attacks.  With the sun declining and still no sign from the Lord, Abram became very weary from having to continually watch for and frighten off the vultures, and we are told that:

A great, dark dread descended upon him.

Abram was being tested to his limit, but not beyond it, for:

When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces.

That is how Moses spoke of God in the book of Deuteronomy (4:24):

The LORD your God is a consuming fire.

Moreover God had reassured His chosen, as we read in the letter to the Hebrews:

When God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, “He swore by Himself,” and said, “ I will indeed bless you and multiply” you. (6:13s.)

And, as the Psalmist (132:11) learned to say:

The LORD swore an oath in truth; He will never turn back from it. 

Let us stop there and think, wonder, and admire.  Here we have the Lord God Who has taken up a simple pagan Abram/Abraham; Abram, however, is no ordinary man, because he had faith and commitment enough to hear and obey the Lord and leave all that he had thus far known -- his parental family and friends, his lands and his anticipated future -- and go off in blind obedience to the Lord Who was calling him.  He had travelled far in obedience, and now the Lord, in order to give Abraham confidence for the still distant future, made use of a covenant setting with which Abram was familiar.

Oh, the goodness of God!   Centuries later, He would still be the same compassionate and understanding Father, Who in order to give us confidence and strength, courage and hope, would establish with us a covenant in the way we could best understand and appreciate: sending His own Son as one of us, to offer Himself for us on the Cross of Calvary, and -- after dying on that Cross -- to rise again from the dead and ascend into heaven, assuring us thereby that whoever believed in Him and obeyed His word as Abram/Abraham had done, would themselves become, in Him, beloved of the Father.

In any sacrificial offering to God, the animals offered represented the human beings who gave them.  Man could not offer himself in sacrifice, man’s own life being too precious before God, but he could offer what was his livelihood and support, in place of himself he could offer the best of his possessions.  With Abram’s offering to God, all the different kinds of acceptable animals represented not only Abram/Abraham himself but also his many descendants promised by the Lord.  These descendants of Abraham would be attacked by the nations, as foreshadowed by the fact that:

Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses.

Abram, however, drove those birds of prey away signifying that later, Israel would be saved for Abraham’s sake, whose faith and obedience would continue to win protection for his people.  As we hear in Israel’s sacred songs:

The Lord remembered His sacred promise to Abraham His servant.   He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with shouts of triumph. He gave them the lands of the nations. (Psalm 105:42-44)

Moreover, Abram was himself being continuously and mysteriously conformed to the likeness of Jesus his Saviour by the Spirit.  For example, having given all, Abram had fallen wearily asleep in darkness, tested and tried to the full, but still waiting faithfully for the Lord of the covenant.  This was in the likeness of Jesus Himself, for Whom:

At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.  And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’  (Mark 15:33-34)

Finally, He breathed His last with the words:

        It is finished!  (The work is completed, the covenant established!) (John 19:30)

People of God, try to appreciate, rejoice in, and trust, Jesus’ unfailing, covenanted, care for His Church foreshadowed here by Abraham’s millenia-long watching over his people Israel!!  We should also realize how important it is for us to renew our personal confidence in and relationship with Jesus in the Church, through a deepening awareness of the fact that the Spirit Who formed Jesus in the womb of Mary is constantly, in all the events and circumstances of our lives as disciples of Jesus, seeking and striving to form us in His likeness in Mother Church.

However, today we live in a society where, as St. Paul in our second reading says:

Many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their end is destruction.  Their god is their stomach, their glory is in their shame.  Their minds are occupied with earthly things.

In fact we sadly find ourselves becoming surrounded by very many who, even openly, have nothing but contempt for those ideals and aspirations so much loved and admired by all Christians:

Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things  (Philippians 4:8);

and that can, indeed, be for some both a depressing experience and even a temptation to discouragement.

However, we know that those who delight in evil of all sorts will, without doubt, as St. Paul (Ephesians 5:6) told us, suffer for their sins:

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.  

And so it is most important for us today, as steadfastly faithful and confidently committed Catholics and Christians, to find comfort and strength for ourselves by positively rejoicing in the glory and goodness of Jesus, the God of Abraham and the Saviour of mankind.  Yes, let us rejoice in Him because even here on earth we -- with Peter, James and John in our Gospel reading – have, in our prayer and sacramental life, seen, experienced, some faint reflection of the heavenly glory of the Lord:

As Jesus was praying, His face changed in appearance and His clothing became dazzling white.  Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is My chosen Son; listen to Him.’

There in a divine tableau we have the heavenly voice of the Father testifying to His beloved Son from the covering cloud of the Spirit’s presence; and on earth below, Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets, witnessing as servants to the One they had foretold and foreshadowed, the Lord and Saviour of us all.

This glory of the Lord will indeed descend -- for eternal live and salvation -- upon all those who as Jesus’ faithful disciples are part of His sacrificial offering to the Father, just as the torch of fire passed between the offerings of Abraham.

My dear friends, the Father has called us to Jesus Who has made us His own by the Gift of His Spirit, and by the Spirit we must follow Him as did Abraham, ‘our father in faith’.  And as Abraham followed the voice of the Lord through countries and lands that were often alien and antagonistic, looking forward to a reward he could not easily comprehend, so we too must follow Jesus faithfully through our life in this ever more alien world to a destiny beyond the power of human imagining, for it is no earthly fulfilment that is being prepared for us, but one that is divine:

For our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will change our lowly body to conform with His glorious body.

People of God: our destiny is glorious as our God is great: the Father calls us, our Lord has prepared the way for us, and the Spirit is with us.  Let us, therefore, rejoice in Him and whole-heartedly take Paul’s exhortation to heart:

Stand firm in the Lord, beloved, stand firm.

                                                                 

1st Sunday of Lent Year C 2016

 1^st Sunday of Lent (C)

(Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13)

Since the Lord Jesus came to lead us in the fight against sin and death, against the devil panoplied in power and pride, it was fitting that He be tempted for our sake and on our behalf.  And so, after receiving John’s baptism and immediately before starting upon His public ministry Jesus was – as our emerging champion – led by the Spirit to be tempted in the desert by Satan, and there the divine integrity of His being as the incarnate Son of God was manifested to His adversary in divine wisdom and filial obedience.

Later, having jealously observed his hated and feared opponent in order to finally succeed against Him, Satan’s opined ‘weak link’ in Jesus’ incarnate being was its physicality which, though beautiful in its perfection, Satan thought he might profitably put to the test: first of all by infiltrating His Mystical Body, the Church (Lk.  22:3,31-32) as best he could, before finally committing himself to a definitive paroxysm of rage against Divine Goodness --  manifesting Itself most sublimely in the Father’s gift of His incarnate Son as Son of Man and Lamb of God -- in the crucifixion and death of the only Sinless One on Calvary.  And thus it was that Jesus, overcoming satanic pride by His own inconceivable humility before God and love for mankind, won for us the grace that would enable us to work with Him and by His Spirit, for our own salvation and the glory of the Father Who originally created us and eternally loves us as His adopted children in Jesus, His most beloved Son.

Now, if we look carefully at Our Blessed Lord’s temptations in the desert in today’s Gospel reading, we can recognize the broad outlines of temptation faced by humankind everywhere; for the devil tempts men, women, yes, and even children, first of all, through their earthly appetites, just as he did with Jesus when he said:

            If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

They are very many who succumb to this first sort of temptation by repeatedly pandering to their appetites for food, alcohol, sex, and earthly pleasures and satisfactions of all sorts. Yet, there are many who will overcome, or at least resist for a time, this “common” sort of weakness, until the next big hurdle -- the temptation to personal pride by the indulgence of self-will, above all in the exercise of power and authority -- brings them crashing to the ground:

Then the devil took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. And he said to Him, “I shall give to You all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.

Some few, however, might not readily succumb to even such temptations; and, being neither overwhelmed by sensual pleasures, nor proudly eager to exercise power or authority over others, they may not even strive to be seen by others as most talented, acknowledged as most capable, or admired as most popular.  Nevertheless, because all human beings are, in one way or another, sinful, these remaining few will ultimately succumb to the last temptation experienced by Jesus in the desert:

(The devil) led Him to Jerusalem, made Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.

There we have the temptation most closely corresponding with the devil’s own character, hatred for God in his spiritual pride and self-proclaiming holiness, and disdain and supreme contempt for humankind when ultimately inducing them to suicide.

But what about those human weaknesses of fear and despondency which inhibit so many by persuading them to hide, or even shut themselves away, so that nothing can  either be expected from them or asked of them?

In one sense this last failing is the worst of all; for, what can be done with one who refuses to move?  Someone going in the wrong direction can be redirected; anyone who is faltering on the way can be encouraged and strengthened; and those who are seeking but confess themselves to be puzzled and uncertain can be enlightened; but what can be done for someone who has no desire to do anything other than to hold tight?

The sins of pleasure are a perverted acknowledgement of the divine truth that creation is truly beautiful and we are not self-sufficient; for, without repeated injections of contrived and distorted satisfactions of whatever sort, such sinners find themselves deeply unhappy and unfulfilled.  Likewise, the sins of pride are a testimony to our God-given human potential for advancement and improvement of all sorts: and indeed, at times, sinners of that sort show great human ingenuity and skill, expend enormous energy and make great endeavours, in order to satisfy that most insatiable of all passions: self-aggrandizement.   On the other hand, however, the despondency and fear which can paralyze a human being gives no witness to our human dignity or divine calling; indeed, it tends to rob us of our authentic human character, since it is of the essence of human kind that, being made in the image and likeness of God, they are destined for fulfilment and, indeed, called to seek and to find it eternally with Him.

Our readings today have shown us something of humanity’s sins and failings, and perhaps that has already helped to set us on the way to health by spurring us to hate our lustfulness and pride and to despise our despondency and fear.  Can they help us further in our needs?  Do they hold yet further guidance and grace for us?

Let us think back to our first reading and, learning from it, begin to appreciate more and give greater expression to that most beautiful and praiseworthy virtue, gratitude, which springs up so naturally in the human heart, unless that heart has been rendered insensitive by the cares and concerns of deep-rooted selfishness.

Gratitude is a most beautiful virtue: its “innocence” gladdens both the recipient and the giver, for true gratitude is not, and cannot be, concocted; neither is it a virtue only for those who are specially talented, since it wells up freely and spontaneously from the depths of our common humanity.

The Lord brought us out of Egypt with strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders; and bringing us into this country, He gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.  Therefore I have now brought you the first-fruits of the land which you, Lord, have given me.

The easiest and surest way to find joy in the Lord is, indeed, to become aware of and grateful for all the blessings of your life be they big or small.  Above all, try to offer your Communion at Mass with gratitude to God in your heart.

Next, we can learn something from St. Paul’s teaching in the second reading, for so often people make relations with God difficult for themselves.  They imagine God is demanding this and that from them when really He is not demanding anything but simply seeking to lead them, gradually, along the way towards the fullness of happiness and eternal life. 

Now, you in Church today have come here believing – mind and heart – in Jesus; and hopefully you have learned to appreciate and want to express gratitude for the salvation He opens up before you.  Learn then, from St. Paul, and undertake to confess with your mouth that gratitude you acknowledge as due from you:

For, one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

People of God, this is a teaching you can and should begin to put into action here at Mass!  Don’t just stand or sit with your mouth closed and your heart dull; if you do not confess God here you will never confess Him outside before others who do not believe.  If you put your heart into the Creed, the hymns, the responses at Mass, if you confess with your mouth in that way, you will show yourselves as worthy to be gradually led to speak up, when it is necessary so to do, before those who do not believe, or even mock.  Don’t imagine for yourself seemingly impossible acts of public witness being demanded of you on leaving Church this day; try to praise God wholeheartedly here and now, and He may gradually lead you -- if you are worthy -- to confess with your mouth before others when the Spirit wants such witness of you.  He will never demand what you cannot give: He will – if you are willing and worthy -- lead and encourage you first, and then, only ask you when you are able.  Indeed, you will probably not even be aware that you are being asked, it will seem so natural for you to respond to the Spirit’s call when you have become accustomed to confessing gratitude with your mouth here at Mass.

Finally, we should have boundless confidence in God.  St. Paul reminded us:

Scripture says, "No one who believes in Him will be put to shame."   

The Israelites, slaves though they were, were led out of Egypt, despite the power of Pharaoh’s army, because they trusted in the Lord who had spoken to Moses; they endured the desert privations because they trusted in the Lord speaking to them through Moses, who though born a Hebrew had been brought up as an Egyptian; the Lord had called and inspired him to lead Israel into freedom; and, because Moses knew the Egyptians, under his leadership the Hebrew slaves learned confidence to trust their God and face up to the Egyptians. 

Now, surely we can trust Jesus!  He is, indeed, the Son of God and, since He is also most truly one of us, His Spirit knows how to guide us along ways that -- in Him and with Him -- are no longer impossible for us.  That is why He is always wanting and seeking to lead us onward and upward to ever better and greater things; and that is also why the idleness that aspires only to sit cosy and hold tight is so unacceptable to Him.   God has made us for Himself and in Jesus He has overcome for us all the trials and temptations that can come our way.  Take confidence, therefore, and trust in the Lord and the Spirit He has bestowed on us: sing psalms and offer prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving in your life, and you will find them developing quickly into a joyful paean of witness and praise springing spontaneously to your lips as you find yourself being led along ways that delight and fulfil you beyond all your dreams.  Then you will indeed thank God for your Catholic Faith which has helped you to believe in Jesus, our Lord and Saviour; to trust in His Spirit, our Advocate and Comforter; and to look forward in hope to the vision and the presence of Him Who is our God and, indeed, our most loving Father.