In Solidarity with Jesus

 

Deacon Dave · In Solidarity with Jesus

Homily for the First Sunday of Lent, March 9, 2025. Gospel of St. Luke 4:1-13. Theme: In Solidarity with Jesus 

 Not everything that Jesus said and did is recorded for us in all 4 versions of the Gospel. We might find a particular story in Mark and a different one in Luke, and then maybe something totally unique will pop up in John. But when something in the life of Christ is considered to be of the utmost importance it tends to be found in all four Gospels. The Temptation or Testing of Christ by Satan in today’s Gospel is one of these “must-tell” stories because it teaches us two fundamental things, one about Jesus and another about dealing with temptations. 

 First, it conveys to us the stark reality of Jesus’ full and sinless humanity. He was not God play-acting the role of a human being but became like us in every way except for our propensity towards sin. What this means is that Jesus of Nazareth, in addition to maintaining His divinity, had both a body and soul as we all do. And like each one of us his physicality was subject to the debilitating effects caused by original sin which are suffering, sickness and death. But as God the Son, Christ did not suffer from the wound of original sin that is within each one of us. So when it came to temptation, He did not experience the struggle to do good and avoid evil that originates within us, rather, his encounters with temptation came from outside of Himself. 

 And this is why Satan tempted Jesus at the end of his 40 day fast. The evil one surmised that his only chance of possible success (though he didn’t know he didn't really have a chance) was to attack Jesus at His weakest external moment. He would strike at the opportune time, when Christ was utterly worn out by His extreme fast and probably suffering headaches and blurry vision as well. The fact that Jesus stood up strong to the devil in His diminished condition was proof of His inner sinlessness that remained firm and intact. He was fortified by the Word of God which He had on His lips and in His heart, as St. Paul counsels us in today's Second Reading. Jesus engaged in the spiritual battle of temptation by quoting Scripture. He answered each invitation to sin with the Word of God because it contains great spiritual power. As the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, “The Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…” (Heb 4:12). And this is exactly the weapon we need when faced with temptation. 

 And that brings us to the second lesson we can learn from this story and that is how we can best deal with temptations. The fact is that all temptations, no matter what they are specifically about, are all aimed at one thing: enticing us to waver in our relationship with God. Because once we begin to waver, we become much easier prey. Every temptation, whether it comes from within us or outside of us, is aimed at causing us to lose trust in God and to fall for the lie that He is simply trying to ruin our fun and limit our freedom. Temptation turns our attention to the messed up and unbalanced desires that are welled up within us and before we know it, we so easily find ourselves caught up in the enticements of greed or gluttony or lust or any other allurement that falsely promise us happiness and fulfillment. And even though we have fallen for these lies over and over in our lives, and have experienced for ourselves that they don't bring us those false promises, we so easily give into them yet again. This is the dynamic of the wound of original sin at work within us but was not at work within Jesus. 

 Inspired by today’s Gospel story, the ancient desert fathers and mothers, who were the first monks and nuns of Christianity, went into the wilderness of Egypt and the Middle East where they engaged in combat with temptation. They taught that every Chrtistian should build up an arsenal of spiritual weapons precisely to combat the attacks of the devil. We can do this by becoming familiar with Scriptures that particularly speak to our personal struggles and temptations. These Bible verses should be short enough to memorize and go straight to the point. The Psalms of the Old Testament and the Beatitudes of Jesus provide us with many of these short and powerful swords of the Word of God that can be directed towards temptations. 

 Another powerful spiritual weapon that these monks and nuns strongly recommend is the Holy Name of Jesus, particularly in the custom of reciting what is called the "Jesus Prayer”. It is easy to memorize and goes like this, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” When faced with temptation we can serenely repeat this prayer to ourselves over and over again and it will bring us to a place of interior calm and strength. The desert fathers and mothers found this devotion to be so effective in dealing with temptation that they popularized using a string of beads upon which to repeat the Jesus Prayer and it is still used very much by Christians today. 

 Because temptation is something that every human being must wrestle with until death, all four of the evangelists made a point of including this story in their Gospels. They wanted us to know that Jesus Himself experienced such things and that He is in solidarity with us as we struggle to do good and avoid evil. Their message is that we need never be alone as we face our own personal temptations but can call upon the Lord in our weakness and depend upon Him for strength. But for this to happen, we must choose to intentionally live in solidarity with Him, just as He intentionally chose to live in solidarity with us even in our weakness. This means that we must arm ourselves with the Word of God and call upon the Holy Name of Jesus, both of which are full of power. We must strengthen ourselves with the Sacrament of the Eucharist which is His holy and life-giving Body and Blood, and so deepen our union with Jesus Who will bring His power into our powerlessness and give us victory over temptation.

Fresh Starts & Second Chances

 

Deacon Dave · Fresh Starts & Second Chances

Homily for Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Book of the Prophet Joel 2:12-13. Theme: Fresh Starts & Second Chances 

 Of all the special days within the Church Year, Ash Wednesday seems to draw the largest number of people. Why is that? It’s not a holy day of obligation and it’s always midweek of course…so why do people flock to churches in such great numbers? I think it might be because the Holy Season of Lent, which gets its kick-off on Ash Wednesday, is all about second chances and fresh starts. And who among us doesn’t want a second chance? Who wouldn’t want the opportunity for a fresh start? 

 Our first reading today from the prophet Joel tells us that our hope for second chances and new beginnings is based on the fact that God is “gracious and merciful…slow to anger, rich in kindness and relenting in punishment.” As we begin the spiritual journey of Lent, the prophet encourages us to return to the Lord with all our hearts and to work on our ongoing interior conversion through a commitment to spiritual practices. 

And in today’s Gospel, Jesus echoes this message of the prophet Joel and gives us His teaching on three spiritual practices that are known as the “three pillars of Lent”. These are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Notice that Jesus’s words assume that we will be carrying out these spiritual practices. For He did not say “IF” you do them but instead He used the more certain terminology of “WHEN” you do them. This clearly tells us that they are not optional for us, His disciples. So as we put together our personal spiritual programs for Lent, let’s be sure to include something from each one of these pillars so that in some way, shape or form prayer, fasting and almsgiving will each find a place in our preparations for Easter. 

 But before moving on to thinking about what we will do for Lent, let’s stay here at Ash Wednesday and consider for a moment the words we hear upon receiving the blessed ashes on our foreheads. They set the tone for the 40 days ahead of us and can give us a clue as to what each one of us needs to do in order to deepen our relationship with God, strengthen our commitment to Christ, and be of better service to our brothers and sisters in need. 

 There are two short Scripture verses that can be said when imposing ashes. The first is, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” This verse is from Genesis 3:19. The ashes help us to recall that death came into our human experience as a result of the free choice of Adam and Eve to commit the original sin and that we can choose a different path than they did by our own free decision to leave sin behind. These words also summon us to never forget that our lives on planet Earth are temporary. Our immortal souls, that is the part of us that is really who we are as persons, survive our physical deaths. Our time here is just the first stage of the overall story of our personal eternal existence. Where we are going to spend our eternity is up to each one of us and Lent allows us to reorganize our priorities with this in mind. Ash Wednesday, then, is meant to be the kick-off to a new and improved lifestyle that will lead us to eternal happiness. 

 The second Ash distribution verse is this, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” This is a direct quote from the lips of Jesus Christ that has been recorded for us in the Gospels. These words formed the very heart and soul of His teachings and summarized His message of salvation. So a good and helpful spiritual practice for us during this holy season would be to simply memorize these three words - Repent… Believe… Gospel - because they set the tone and give us direction for the fresh start and the second chance that we are hoping for during Lent. 

 “Repent” means to make a 180 degree turn in our attitudes and behavior. It means to make a genuine commitment of concrete change in how we think, how we speak and how we act. It reminds us that “talk is cheap” and that we prove our new outlook by the solid evidence of changed behavior. 

 “Believe” means to trust. When we say that we “believe in someone” it means that we have confidence in them. So, where are we to place our trust? In Jesus Christ, our Merciful Savior. Trust is the fruit of a relationship that is rooted in love and Jesus has earned this trust from us by loving us even to the point of dying for our sake. 

 “Gospel” means “good news”. And the good news is this: that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). In dying for us, Jesus destroyed the power of sin to control us and our destiny. And by His rising from the grave, He conquered the dark gloominess and finality of death, transforming it into the pathway to eternal life for those who trust in Him. 

 So, there we have our foundation for a fresh start and our hope for a second chance. No matter how we have been living up to now, Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent are a reminder that we can make a fresh start and have a second chance; that we can always pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin following Jesus all over again.

Time for A Spiritual Vision Checkup!

 

Deacon Dave · 250301_002

Homily for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, March 1, 2025. Gospel of St. Luke 6:39-45. Theme: Time for A Spiritual Vision Checkup! 

 The three major world religions each have a particular passage taken from their holy books which expresses the central teaching of their faith and who they are as a people. One could say it’s a kind of “mission statement” as to how they live out the faith that they profess with their lips. And each of them also have a special time of year particularly devoted to entering deeper into their faith by prayer and repentance, renewing their commitment to God as they understand Him. 

 The mission statement of Judaism, for example, is expressed in the Shema, a prayer that begins with: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone…” and then it goes on to remind the Jews of their obligations to God. And every year - from Rosh Shanna to Yom Kippur - the Jewish people observe 10 days of reflection on how they have lived out their relationship with God. 

 Islam’s mission statement is called the Shahada, which is a very short profession of faith that declares: “There is only one God and only one prophet of God, Mohammed.” Their penitential time of year is the month-long Fast of Ramadan, which calls the Muslim people to submit themselves to spiritual purification. 

 What about Christianity? Our mission statement is taken directly from the lips of Christ and we call it the Great Commandment because that’s what Jesus called it: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.” The Great Commandment expresses the very core teaching of the Lord and therefore, it should be enshrined in the heart of every Christian. 

 The collection of short sayings of Jesus in today’s Gospel summon us to refocus our spiritual vision; to examine our interactions with others to see how authentically we are living our mission statement of observing the Great Commandment of Love. 

 Jesus says the bind cannot lead the blind…how is our spiritual eyesight? Are we trying to see life from God’s point of view by reading the Scriptures and pondering them in our hearts? Try reading the Word of God a bit more this Lent to refocus your spiritual vision. 

 Jesus says to remove the beam from our own eye …do we know what constitutes that beam in our eye? That is, are we aware of what behavior or attitude is blocking us from loving God with all that we are and from loving our neighbor as ourselves? Start making a review of the day before you go to sleep. Evaluate where you succeeded and where you need to improve in living as a Christian. 

 Jesus says that what we cherish in our hearts is what will really guide our decisions and actions…So, let’s ask ourselves with gut-honesty: do we hold the Great Commandment of Love as the treasure of our hearts? Is it guiding our relationships? 

Try doing the following simple spiritual practice this Lent: Memorize the Great Commandment and recite it twice a day throughout Lent, so as to enshrine it in your heart. Recite it first thing in the morning to remind you to make choices consistent with your faith. Then repeat it at night as a way to review your day to see where it was lived well and where improvement is needed by God’s grace. 

 This simple program of recalling and repeating the Great Commandment can help keep our mission in mind and remind us to put concrete acts of love into practice throughout the day. This is particularly challenging for us when dealing with people who are regulars in our everyday lives as St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said: “It is easy to love the people who are far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give food to relieve the hunger of a stranger, than it is to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved among our own family. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”