First Sunday of Lent
Reflection on Scripture
The Lord went into the desert and fasted for a long time and was tempted by the devil. Jesus experienced the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Jesus was tempted in His humanity, but He could not sin because to sin would be a denial of His divinity and as Scripture tells us, a denial of His very self which can never happen.
Why does the Church set aside six weeks prior to the Easter Tridium to prepare ourselves for the sacred time when we participate in the great mystery of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection?
When God loved us into existence, He placed an emptiness in our hearts which can only be filled by God’s love. But we are human and mortal. The spirit of God within us understands the nature of this longing, but our mortal bodies only seek consolation and fulfillment in the here and now. So, constantly our will is at odds with the spirit within us.
I would venture to say that most people are aware of their sinfulness in regard to living the ten commandments. Some take it seriously and seek reconciliation and the desire to be united with God. Some, however, are so set in their ways that evil has no significance, and they are ignorant of their failings and continue on path that leads to death.
Lent is the time when, through fasting and abstinence, we gather the earthy desires of our will and through grace, deny the body the material things that it craves so, the spirit can grow in the light and reflect the light of Christ in the darkness of our world.
To accomplish a quieting of the will, we must have a mindset that desires only God. It begins with self-knowledge and recognizing our failings, which is anything that separated us from the love of God. We need to ask God for the grace to want to want to desire only Him. To desire only God, means to separate ourselves from the things, actions, thoughts in our lives that dim the light of Christ and turn with our whole heart, mind, and spirit toward seeding only Him and desiring to Him face to face in His glory.
With a mindset reflection only on God, we then seek to see Him at all times in ourselves and in others. Yes, even in those that we find repulsive or not to our liking. We need to seek God with our first breath in the morning and our last breath before we sleep at night. We need to desire Him and notice Him in the routine actions of our day and allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify all our works and all our actions so, we become a benefit to our brothers and sisters on the journey and not an impediment to their salvation.
Lent is the time when we take responsibility for our salvation by admitting our sinfulness, versus blaming on another, and seeking reconciliation with God and with our brothers and sisters.
Lent is not a time to reminisce on the past or think about what could of, would, should have been. Lent is the time to grow in holiness through a gradual dying to self and being reborn in Christ Jesus. We live in a valley of tears, but our hearts awaken to the call of a new day, a day full of light and a new longing for ourselves and all people to seek the God of love and to become love for each other.
Deacon Phil