Good Friday message of the cross (2017)

[Is. 52:13-53:12; Heb. 4:14-16, 5:7-9; Jn. 18:1-19:42]

A man was standing in line at a bank once, when he noticed a commotion at the counter. A woman was distressed, exclaiming, “Where will I put my money? I have all my money and my mortgage here!! What will happen to my mortgage?!”

It turned out that she had misunderstood a small sign on the counter. The sign read, "WE WILL BE CLOSED FOR GOOD FRIDAY.” She wasn’t familiar with the events of Holy Week, because she thought that the bank was going to be closed “for good” that coming Friday. “WE WILL BE CLOSED FOR GOOD . . . FRIDAY.”

Well, God closed for Good all sin account of humanity by the death of his beloved Son. That is why instead of mourning we are celebrating the death of Jesus. That is why we call GOOD Friday rather than bad or black Friday.

It was in the eternal plan of God that his son should be sacrificed to bridge the gap between us and Him. John tells that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." [Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 4:9]  In Rom 5:8: Paul says, “But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. "For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 5:21).

Based on the Bible and the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, Bible scholars and theologians try to explain the reason for Jesus’ death by various theories. But all these theories are based on the central fact that man cannot atone for his sin against the infinite justice of God. Since God is just, he cannot merely sweep our sins "under the rug." God's justice demands that our sins be punished. Not to punish sin would be unjust. God is both just and loving. Therefore, God's love is willing to meet the demands of His justice. But only a God–man could do that, and Jesus made that atonement by his suffering and death. Out of perfect love for us, Jesus took upon himself the punishment we deserve. His willingness to suffer in our place balanced the divine "scales of justice." The debt was now paid. His love paid the price. His passion and death atoned for our sins and redeemed us.

Since humanity’s sin against an infinite God required infinite atonement, only Jesus who was God and man could make that atonement. In other words, nothing less than the atonement made by one who was God as well as man could suffice as satisfaction for the offense against the Divine Majesty. St. Thomas Aquinas explains that by reason of the infinite dignity of the Divine Person, the least action or suffering of Christ had an infinite value, so that in itself it would suffice as an adequate satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. (NAE).

You may have heard the story of soldiers who were prisoners of war on the River Kwai. At the end of a hard day’s work, a Japanese guard insisted that a shovel was missing. He ranted and raved, but no guilty party stepped forward. Finally in his anger he shouted, "All die! All die!" He raised his gun and prepared to start shooting. Suddenly a Scotsman stepped forward and said, "I did it." One guard kicked him. Then they hit him. They bashed his head with their rifles. Soon he was dead. The other prisoners picked up his bruised body to bury it. The shovels were counted and none was missing. The Scotsman, innocent of the accusation against him, had given his life as a sacrifice for the rest.  You all know how the Polish priest St. Maximilian Kolbe offered his life in the gas chamber to save another man.

The challenge Jesus offers from the cross for us is to accept our unavoidable share of pain and suffering in this life, deriving strength and inspiration from the suffering of Christ, and to offer it with His sufferings for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of the world. Jesus proved that voluntary acceptance of suffering has salvific value. It was in fact a condition for his disciples: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16: 24, Mark 8: 34, Luke 9: 23).

      Soon we will do the veneration of the Holy Cross.  As the covering on the Cross is uncovered in three steps, the priest intones, "Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world." As they kneel, the congregation responds, "Come, let us adore."

     The Holy Cross is then venerated by all, each one approaching the Cross with an appropriate sign of respect. Finally, the Cross is "enthroned" at the main altar.

     Why is the Cross such an important symbol? The Cross itself is an ambiguous symbol. St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians speaks of how the Cross is a scandal and foolishness for unbelievers (1 Cor 1: 1- 23).

     In John's Gospel Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

     The Cross is nothing other than the love of God. The Cross that we venerate is not a symbol of death but rather a symbol of life-giving love, of divine love! When we venerate the cross, think about the suffering Jesus endured on the cross for you.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

Holy Thursday

On Holy Thursday, we celebrate three anniversaries: 1) the anniversary of the first Holy Mass, 2) the anniversary of the institution of ministerial priesthood, in order to perpetuate the Holy Mass, convey God’s forgiveness to repentant sinners and preach the Good News of salvation, 3) the anniversary of Jesus’ promulgation of His new commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). The word Maundy means Commandment; therefore Maundy Thursday means the day Jesus gave the commandment of love.  

 It was at the conclusion of the Passover meal that Jesus himself added two more symbols. He took a loaf and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying: Take eat, this is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me. Then he took a cup with wine. He drank from it and gave it to his disciples saying, “ Take drink of this, for this is my blood which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.” Thus was born our sacrament of the Lord's Supper, out of the experience of an ancient Jewish custom.

On this night, Jesus already knew that Judas had betrayed him and he already knew that the powers of darkness were circling. In this most vulnerable of moments, his focus is not on himself. If it were any of us we would be focusing only on ourselves. Rather, Jesus gives each person present all of his love.

He knew the trials that were soon to crush his mortal body. They would be a means to prove his worth: his love. “He loved his own in the world, and he loved them to the end.” Love endures anything. Love can draw forth good even from the worst of situations. Love redeems. The very betrayal of his friendship will let him demonstrate the authenticity of his friendship: “There is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for one’s friends.”

The Apostles sensed the added intensity in Jesus' words and manner, and their own expectations rose to a higher pitch. And when Jesus interrupts the Passover ritual by standing up, their eyes are fixed on him. Conversation ceases. Eating stops.  Jesus walks over to the large water jug, the silence deepens. Slowly, deliberately, but still without a word, Jesus begins washing their feet. Only Peter breaks the silence. Peter’s reaction, Master, are you going to wash my feet?” does not come as a request, rather as a resistant acknowledgment of what Jesus is about to do. Do humility and love need our ‘permission’? The question is: who is humble enough to receive someone else’s love? Am I humble enough to receive Jesus’ love for me? Jesus’ humility and charity are purifying in their effect. In fact, precisely the attitude, “You will never wash my feet,” needs to be washed away. Only the poor in spirit, the pure of heart, the childlike enter the Kingdom of heaven: “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”

When Jesus started washing the disciples' feet, it was shocking for two reasons.

First, because of the nature of the task. 

In ancient Palestine, washing other people's feet was a job reserved for slaves. By lowering himself to the level of a slave, then, Jesus is making it forever clear to his Apostles, that the way of Christ is a way of self-giving, not self-indulgence. Jesus never sought to get, but only to give. His followers are to do the same. That in itself goes far beyond simply being nice.

But secondly, he was disrupting the sacred ritual of the most hallowed ceremony in Jewish tradition: the Passover Seder, the ceremony that God himself had commanded Moses to institute to commemorate the Israelites' miraculous escape from Egypt.

God himself had established the rules of that ceremony, and Jesus was deviating from them, adding to them, just as he did when he established the Eucharist. Clearly, Jesus sees himself as more than just another teacher or prophet, on the same level as Moses. Only God himself can alter God's commands.

Our celebration of the Eucharist requires that we wash one another’s feet, i.e., serve one another, and revere Christ's presence in other persons. In practical terms, that means we are to consider their needs to be as important as our own and to serve their needs, without expecting any reward. 

When he washes their feet he shows his love. The main message here is not that I should go and wash the feet of others – though of course we are called to do that every day. No, the main message is that we are to let Jesus wash our feet, to let Jesus wipe away our weariness, to let Jesus heal the scars of our straying, and to let Jesus’ love renew our bodies and souls. This is what Jesus chooses to do in the face of death.

Symbolically we will have 12 people getting their feet washed now. Getting our feet washed, even ritually, also requires certain amount of humility. But all of us need to let Jesus wash us from the ground up, with all the affection and hope he has been carrying for us. If we won’t let him do that, we will lose our part with him. Decide today, do we want part with him? Then humble ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus.

PALM SUNDAY Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mt: 21: 1-11,27:11- 66

On Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army, at the McLean house in Appomattox, Virginia. This surrender ended the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. State against state, brother against brother, it was a conflict that literally tore the nation apart. Five days later, on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, America’s most revered president, Abraham Lincoln, was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theatre. It was Lincoln who wrote the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery in the U.S. forever. It was Lincoln who wrote and gave The Gettysburg Address. Lincoln hated war, but he was drawn into this one because he believed it was the only way to save the nation. On Palm Sunday the war ended. Triumph. On Good Friday, Abraham Lincoln became the first U.S. president to be assassinated. Tragedy. We begin today the triumph and the tragedy of the six days preceding Easter.

The Church celebrates this Sixth Sunday in Lent as both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday.  The liturgical experts in the church are trying to remind us that the two Sundays belong together because you cannot divorce the two. We cannot just highlight the palm Sunday events and down play the Passion events.

Imagine the gospel story ended with Palm Sunday? The disciples probably wanted to capture and bottle that festive atmosphere. It was rather like Peter's reaction to Jesus' transfiguration when Moses and Elijah also appeared with Jesus on the mountaintop. Peter piped up and said, "Let's build some tabernacles right here so we can keep this great thing going forever!" So also on Palm Sunday: if they could have hit the pause button on the remote control of life, this would have been a wonderful image to freeze frame.

The problem is that there is no salvation for anyone on Palm Sunday. The people cried "Hosanna," which means "Save us!" But given the world we are in, there could be no salvation from that kind of happy parade. That festive atmosphere, though in one sense befitting the true, deep-down royalty of Jesus as God's Son, still all that hoopla just doesn't fit our world. It doesn't address the problems that need solving.

Before we can get to celebrate Easter we need to tiptoe past the tombstones and stand together at the foot of the cross. Palm Sunday runs right through the middle of Good Friday to Easter Sunday. We will hear another shout there under the cross in response to our shout of Hosanna. It is "Tetelestai!" – it is finished. Finished the payment for human sins. Until we hear that, until we see the empty tomb we cannot sing praising God, Halleluiah.

If Jesus came today we'd line the streets and strike up the band and have a grand parade right down Main Street. But it is also certain that, by the end of the week, we'd have him nailed to a cross, too. Why? Because the Kingdom Jesus came to establish still threatens the kingdoms of this world -- your kingdom and mine -- the kingdoms where greed, power, and lust rule instead of grace, mercy, and peace. And who among us really wants to surrender our lives to that Kingdom and that King?

It is not just the Jews who acted against him, but also the Romans. Not just the religious leaders, but also the common ‘regular’ people. Not just Judas, who we can readily write off as corrupted and evil, but also Peter, the faithful disciple, and the others, who never even get mentioned during all of Jesus’ trial, beatings, and crucifixion. Not one who Jesus healed, not one who Jesus forgave, not one who Jesus broke bread with speaks for him, acts on his behalf.

Before the beginning of the procession, Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Lk 19:41-42), and when the procession was over, He cleansed the Temple (Lk 19:45-46).  On the following day, He cursed a barren fig tree. These events and reactions show how sad he felt over the situation and in Jerusalem. Would he feel anything different today? If we accept Jesus as king today, the King of our hearts let us resolve to stick up for him on Good Friday, let us try to make time for Him in our daily life; let us be reminded that He is the One with Whom we will be spending eternity with.  If only we will stand up for him, he will stand up for us before the Father.

LENT V [A] : Ez 37:12-14; Rom 8:8-11; Jn 11:1-45 

A few years ago, a letter appeared in the national news that was sent to a deceased person by the Indiana Department of Social Services. It read as follows:

"Your food stamps will be stopped in March because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."

If Lazarus received that letter he would have certainly reapplied, because his circumstances changed.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  By raising Lazarus Jesus showed he was the resurrection," he was claiming that he was the source  of all life; he was claiming that  he was divine.  According to John, the raising of Lazarus is the sixth of seven signs. It is the longest single narrative/story in the four Gospels, covering 45 verses. It is also Jesus’ last public appearance before His Passion and death. In addition, it is the last and greatest of the miracles worked by our Lord to demonstrate that he is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, and that through Faith in him believers will receive eternal life.  In other words, Jesus wanted to make this, his last recorded miracle, a convincing demonstration that he is what he claims to be -- the Messiah, sent by God to give new life, eternal life, to mankind.  As this miracle took place a few miles from Jerusalem, Jesus also knew it would give his enemies the impulse and motivation to carry out his condemnation and death by crucifixion, which was the “debt” he, "the suffering servant" of God, was to pay for the sins of mankind.  Jesus explains the why of this miracle as, “It is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 

Lazarus’ sisters had sent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was ill and perhaps would soon die.  On receiving the message, Jesus waited two days so that the will of God might be demonstrated and God glorified by His Son through a major miracle.  At last, Jesus went to the house of Lazarus, knowing very well that his friend had died.  Jesus waited Lazarus to die because raising Lazarus four days after death brought more glory to God than just healing a sick Lazarus. On his arrival, Jesus pacified Martha with one of the most treasured of his teachings, which brings great consolation at funeral service, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.  Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Jesus offers “eternal life,” which begins with Faith now and lasts forever in its fullness. Then Jesus asked one of the most important questions found in the Bible, “Do you believe this, Martha?”  Martha answered, “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Martha pronounced her confession of Faith as a response to Jesus who had revealed himself as the Resurrection and the Life.  Her Faith did not depend upon seeing her brother raised from the dead.  Proof begets knowledge and confirms Faith; Faith does not rest on proof but precedes it.  

 Seeing his friends Martha and Mary crying “Jesus wept.”  This showed that he was not only the Son of God, but also the Son of Man, fully human, sharing our grief and our sorrow and comforting us with his declaration, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”  Mary’s friends who grieved with her are the model of a supporting Church community, like our women who care.  There is something therapeutic about having friends around us when we are grief-stricken.  Hence, the Church must be a community offering compassion and consolation to one another.  Often, in our busy and active culture, we don’t have time to live deeply with our feelings and to share deep love or deep sorrow.

When  Jesus raised  Lazarus  from the dead,  he told  the  people to remove the stone  at the  tomb so Lazarus  could come  out.  Similarly we  ask  the  Lord  to remove from   in  front of  us  those  things which   keep  us from  a full  life  with  Christ:   this  is what  faith  is all about - to remove whatever hinders us in allowing Jesus to be the Lord  of our life. There are so many dark areas in our private lives.  Sometimes we are buried in the tomb of selfishness, filled with negative feelings such as worry, fear, resentment, hatred, and guilt.   Jesus asks us today to seek his help and that of the community around us to loosen those chains and come out of tombs of our own creation.  Is there an area of life where hope is gone?  Why not invite Jesus to visit this area?  If we want Jesus to visit our dark dungeons of sin, despair and unhappiness, let us ask Jesus during this Holy Mass to bring the light and the power of the Holy Spirit into our private lives and liberate us from our tombs.  When we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus will call our name and command, "Come out!” Jesus calls each of us by name to come out of our graves and to help others to do the same.  This Tuesday at 7.00 we have the parish reconciliation service. More than fulfilling the Easter duty contained in the law of the Church to confess once a year and receive communion worthily during Easter season it should be an occasion for us to remove all the blocks that hinders Jesus from giving us full life and to enjoy a stronger divine intimacy. As we are just a couple of Sundays away from the Greatest feast let’s us focus all our energy in preparing ourselves to enjoy the peace of the risen Christ when we are set free from anything that hinters us from freedom to know and love God.

Lent IV [A]: I Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41

This is the Fourth Sunday in Lent, traditionally known as Laetare Sunday, derived from the Latin word “rejoice,” (based on the words of Isaiah 66:10).  Today’s readings both remind us that it is God who gives us proper vision in body as well as in soul, and instructs us that we should be constantly on our guard against spiritual blindness. By describing the anointing of David as the second king of Israel, the first reading, illustrates how blind we are in our judgments and how much we need God’s help. In the second reading, Paul reminds the Ephesians of their new responsibility as children of light: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Jesus’ giving of sight to a blind man, teaches us the necessity of opening the eyes of the mind by Faith and warns us that   those who assume they see the truth are often blind, while those who acknowledge their blindness are given clear vision. In this episode, the most unlikely person, namely the beggar born blind, receives the light of Faith in Jesus, while the religion-oriented, law-educated Pharisees remain spiritually blind.  "There are none so blind, as those who will not see."  To live as a Christian is to see, to have clear vision about God, about ourselves and about others.

In the context of the Lenten RCIA scrutinies, the Church challenges us to see this man’s journey from darkness to light as a paradigm for our own spiritual lives—from the darkness of doubt to belief (for catechumens preparing for Baptism); from the darkness of sin to the light of repentance, mercy and freedom (for those of us already baptized, who are called to renew our Baptismal promises, and to “own” our Baptism more consciously). From earliest times, today's Gospel story has been associated with Baptism. Just as the blind man went down into the waters of Siloam and came up whole, so also believers who are immersed in the waters of Baptism come up spiritually whole, totally healed of the spiritual blindness with which all of us are born. Raymond Brown comments that in the lectionaries and liturgical books of the early Church, there developed the practice of three examinations before one's Baptism. These correspond to the three interrogations of the man born blind. When the catechumens had passed their examinations, and were judged worthy of Baptism, the Gospel book was solemnly opened and the ninth chapter of John was read, with the confession of the blind man, "I do believe, Lord," serving as the climax of the service.  The early Christians looked at their Baptism as leaving behind blindness and darkness and stepping into the glorious light of God. In other words, they realized that their becoming Christians and then continuing as followers of Christ, was indeed a miracle - as great as, if not greater than, the healing of the physical blindness of the man in the Gospel today.

The Pharisees suffered from spiritual blindness.  They were blind to the Holy Spirit.  They had religion but lacked the spirit of Jesus’ love.  They were also blind to the suffering and pain right before their eyes. They refused to see pain and injustice.  There was no compassion in their hearts.  In short, they were truly blind both to the Holy Spirit and to the human misery around them. “The blind man’s progress in spiritual sight is paralleled by the opponents’ descent into spiritual blindness.”

According to Pope Benedict XVI, the miracle of the healing of the blind man is a sign that Christ wants not only to give us sight, but also open our interior vision, so that our faith may become ever deeper and we may recognize Him as our only Savior. He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as "children of the light".

Life messages: 1) We need to allow Jesus to heal our spiritual blindness.  In real life, we all have blind-spots -- in our marriages, our parenting, our work habits, and our personalities.  We often wish   to remain in the dark, preferring darkness to light.  It is even possible for the religious people in our day to be like the Pharisees: religious in worship, in frequenting the Sacraments, in prayer-life, in tithing, and in knowledge of the Bible – but blind to the poverty, injustice and pain around them.  Let us remember, however, that Jesus wants to heal our blind-spots.  We need to ask him to remove from us the root causes of our blindness, namely, self-centeredness, greed, anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, addiction to evil habits and hardness of heart. Let us pray with the Scottish Bible scholar William Barclay, “God our Father, help us see Christ more clearly, love him more dearly and follow him more nearly.”

2) We need to get rid of cultural blindness.  Our culture also has blind-spots.  Often it is blind to things like love, happiness, marriage, and true, committed sexual love in marriage.  Our culture has become anesthetized to the violence, the sexual innuendo, and the enormous suffering of the world around us.  Our culture, our media, our movies and our values, are often blind as to what it means to love selflessly and sacrificially. Our culture, in spite of scientific proofs, is blind to the reality that life begins at the moment of conception, and it callously promotes abortion.

This   cultural blindness can only be overcome as each one of us enters the living experience of having Jesus dwelling within us and within others, through personal prayer, meditative reading of the Bible and a genuine Sacramental life.

3) We need to pray for clear vision:  Peter Marshall, the former chaplain to the United States Congress used to pray, "Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything.”   Jonathan Swift said, "Vision is the art of seeing things invisible."  It resides in those who never give up hope.  Let us pray for the grace to see and experience the presence of a loving and forgiving God.

LENT III [A]: Ex 17:3-7; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4: 5-42

  

Today's liturgy makes use of the symbol of water to refer to our relationship with God. Water represents God’s Spirit Who comes to us in Baptism. Baptism is the outward, symbolic sign of a deep reality, the coming of God as a Force penetrating every aspect of a person’s life. The Spirit quenches our spiritual thirst. Just as water in the desert was life-giving for the wandering Israelites, the water of a true, loving relationship with Jesus is life-giving for those who accept him as Lord and Savior.  The Holy Spirit of God, the Word of God and the Sacraments of God in the Church are the primary sources for the living water of Divine Grace. 

The first reading describes how God provided water to the ungrateful complainers of Israel, thus placing Jesus’ promise within the context of the Exodus account of water coming from the rock at Horeb.  

The Samaritan woman in this story was thirsty — a thirst caused by the absence of God in her life.  A meeting with Jesus gave her the living waters of friendship with Jesus and the anointing of the Spirit of God which restored her dignity and changed her life. 

 This woman belonged to a heritage rejected by the Jews.  In addition, she expected scorn simply because she was a woman, for in the ancient Middle East, men systematically degraded women.  Finally, this Samaritan woman seemed unwanted by her own people.  Since she had had five “husbands,” and was living with a sixth “lover,” she seems to have been considered by fellow villagers a social leper, and she seems to have been driven from the common well of the town by the decent women.  Perhaps she had not stopped wishing that somewhere, sometime, some way, God would touch His people — that He would touch her!  Jesus’ meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well illustrates the principal role of Jesus as the Messiah: to reconcile all men and women to the Father.  Hence, Jesus deliberately placed himself face-to-face with this person whom, apparently, no one else wanted.  Jesus saw in this social outcast and moral wreck a person who mattered to God.  The Samaritan woman must have unburdened her soul to this stranger because she had found one Jew with kindness in his eyes instead of an air of critical superiority.  She was thirsting for love that would last, love that would fill her and give purpose to her life. Just as Jesus confronts the woman at the well with the reality of her own sinfulness and brokenness, we must confront our own sinfulness and, in doing so, realize our need for God. 

Jesus not only talked with the woman, but in a carefully orchestrated, seven-part dialogue he guided her progressively from ignorance to enlightenment, from misunderstanding to clearer understanding, thus making her the most carefully and intensely catechized person in this entire Gospel.  Jesus always has a way of coming into our personal lives.  When Jesus became personal with this woman and started asking embarrassing questions about her five husbands, she cleverly tried to change the subject and talk about religion.  She didn’t want Jesus to get personal.  But Jesus wanted to free her, forgive her, shape her life in a new direction, and change her.  He wanted to offer this woman living water.  At the end of the long heart-to-heart conversation Jesus revealed himself to her as the Messiah, which in turn led her to Faith in him.  This growth in understanding on the part of the woman moved through several stages: first, she called him a Jew, then Sir or Lord, then Prophet, and finally Messiah.  When the Samaritans came to hear Jesus because of her testimony, the affirmation of Faith reached its climax as they declared that Jesus was the Savior of the world.  Step-by-step Jesus was leading her in her Faith journey. 

Jesus wants to get personal with us, especially during this Lenten season.  Jesus wants to get into our “private” lives.  We have a “private” personal life which is contrary to the will of God.  Christ wishes to come into that “private” life, not to embarrass us, not to judge or condemn us, not to be unkind or malicious to us.  Rather, Christ comes into our “private” personal life to free us, to change us and to offer us what we really need: living water. And when we have the living water welling up in us we will bear witnesses to Jesus like the Samaritan woman. Let us have the courage to share our experience of Jesus with others. Let us also have the courage of our Christian convictions to stand for truth and justice in our day-to-day life. 

LENT I [A] Gen 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Rom 5:12-19; Mt 4:1-11

A lark flying safely high in the air, observed a small object moving slowly along the path in a garden below. Out of curiosity it descended to take a closer look. He discovered it was a small wagon with a cat pulling it and chanting all the time, "Fresh worms for sale. Fresh worms for sale!" Interested, the lark alighted on the path -but at a safe distance. He asked what the worms were selling for. "Three nice worms for one feather from your wing." said the cat. The lark thought that was a bargain and pulled a feather from his wing and enjoyed the delicious worms. Then he took off and soared again but the thought of those juicy worms brought him down to the wagon again. This time he bought twice as many, and bartered away two more feathers. The same thing happened several more times. But the pussycat was watching closely. Robbed of wing power, the lark was not able to get away when the cat sprang at him… and thus met his death in the garden where temptation had proved too strong for him. 

Today’s readings give us the notion that testing comes to us by an agency apart from and in opposition to God.  But the truth is that, while testing comes from the outside, temptation comes from within ourselves.  However, the good news is that, though we are tempted and often succumb, God’s grace provides the way of salvation for us.

The first reading from the book of Genesis (Gen 2:7-9, 3:1-7) describes the “Original Temptation" – "You will be like gods, knowing what is good and what is evil."  This is the story of the first sin, symbolized by the eating of the forbidden fruit. It tells us that Adam and Eve were given the possibility of making a choice. The fundamental choice was to live for God, dependent upon and obedient to His will, or to say no to God.

Paul reminds us of the social consequences of sin. Sin is never a private affair, affecting only myself. When we sin, all our relationships are affected: our relationship with our inner self, our relationships with our brothers and sisters, our relationship with our God and our relationship with nature and the world in which we live.

 Today’s Gospel (Matthew 4: 1-11) teaches us how the "desert experience" of fasting, praying, and soul-strengthening was a kind of spiritual “training camp” for Jesus which enabled him to confront his temptations successfully and then to preach the Good News of salvation. 

The first temptation has to do with Jesus’ own need for food.  The second temptation involves a wider circle in Jerusalem and the Temple.  Finally, the third temptation takes in the whole world.  Matthew saw the sequence of the three temptations as significant in that they moved to greater heights, from stones on ground level, to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and finally to a mountain top from which all the kingdoms of the earth could be surveyed.  The progression was also greater intensity and scope, from personal food to power in Israel and then to rule of the whole world.

It was a temptation to do the right thing using the wrong means.  Jesus was being tempted to win the world by worshiping the devil.  Why not compromise a bit?  Why not strike a deal with the evil powers?  Spirit-filled, sanctified, spiritually vibrant Christians are still subject to the same temptation.  We need companionship, acceptance, the approval of others, love and appreciation.  We are tempted to fulfill these legitimate needs using the wrong means. But these temptations never could win him over as he was himself the Son of God.

As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, "Are you trying to break this bridge?" "No," the builder replied, "I'm trying to prove that the bridge won't break." In the same way, the temptations Jesus faced weren't designed to see if He would sin, but to prove that He couldn't.

A group of mountain hikers came across an old woodsman with an axe on his shoulder. "Where are you going?" they asked him.” “I’m headed up the mountain to get some wood to repair my cabin." "But why are you going up the mountain?" they asked incredulously. "There are plenty of trees all around us here." "I know," he said, "but I need strong timber and it grows only on the highest elevations, where the trees are tested and toughened by the weather around them. The higher up you go, the stronger the timber grows." And that is what God desires for us — that through the winds of trial and the storms of temptation we may grow strong and live on a higher level — strong to resist the devil's urging, strong to serve God, and strong as we stand together in Faith and service to one another. Our sinful nature has to be chastised, disciplined, and rightly ordered. The attainment of true joy comes, in a sinful world, at the cost of some suffering.

Temptation is a very real part of life: temptation to stray from the values we hold dear, temptation to take short cuts, to avoid struggle, to find the easy way through.

Harry Emerson Fosdick was one of the greatest American preachers of this century. He described his preaching as counseling on a large scale. Few people knew that as a young seminary student he reached the breaking point after working one summer in a New York Bowery mission. He went home and was overcome by deep depression. One day he stood in the bathroom with a straight razor to his throat. He thought about taking his own life. And then -- and then he heard his father in the other room calling his name, "Harry! Harry!" It called him back. He never forgot it. It was like the voice of God calling him.

So I want to remind you today that in those times when you are in the wilderness, trying to find your way through, and when temptation comes and offers you the wrong answer, the wrong choice -- the wrong use of power, the way to popularity, the wrong kind of partnership -- then you remember that God has called your name: "This is my beloved son, my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased." And, you remember that because God has called your name He will see you through.

During this lent let’s  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.  

Video Message from Bishop Robert Barren.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHzG3ocLaj4