Last year, in the first weeks of Lent, the pandemic was starting to spread across the United States, leading to the stay-at-home order and everything shutting down. Here we are one year later, still in the midst of the pandemic. Social distancing and masks are still the norm. There is still not a lot in-person. We were not able to have Mardi Gras festivities this year. And this horrible winter sweeps across Mississippi and the rest of the country. We are not even able to have in-person Masses for Ash Wednesday this year. Boy, has this been a hard year for us.
At the beginning of Lent, we hear of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, the paradigm for our own Lenten journey. I always look forward to Lent each year. It is such a wonderful opportunity for us in our journey of faith, to look at our faith journey in a very introspective way, to see where God is calling us to conversion and renewal. As I think about our Lenten call to conversion, transformation and renewal, I think about our short Gospel reading from the first chapter of Mark, about how it states that Jesus was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit where he remained for forty days, where he was tempted by Satan. I always find it curious: why would the Holy Spirit drive Jesus into the desert? Why would the Spirit lead him into this time of difficulty, deprivation, and temptation? Couldn’t Jesus just go on a relaxing retreat for forty days, praying, eating good food, relaxing, and getting ready for his public ministry? In many ways, Jesus is sent into the desert as a demonstration of his humanity. Jesus, fully human and fully divine, was tempted in his humanity just as we human beings fight temptations. And all of us, no matter who we are, fight temptation of one sort or another, that is for sure. Jesus is definitely a role model for us as we battle with these temptations in our lives. Just like Moses and the Israelites faced a time of testing and preparation for 40 years before they entered the promised land, just as John the Baptist lived in the desert before his public ministry, Jesus spent this time in the desert wilderness as a time for preparation for his public ministry and his final journey to the cross. As the examples show, the desert wilderness occupies a place in the history of the Jewish people as a place to prepare for service to the Lord. Finally, as Jesus cites Scripture in response to the temptations of the Devil, it show that Jesus resists temptation in his foundation in the word of God and his dependence on God. It is our faith, our relationship with God, and our foundation in the word of God that will help us resist temptation and grow in our faith.
This year, as a part of our parish’s Lenten journey, we want us to look at the sacrament of reconciliation. Through this sacrament of healing, we look our relationship with God, with our brothers and sisters, and with ourselves. All of you should have received a link to the FORGIVEN video series on the FORMED website which we help us delve into the sacrament of reconciliation during this Lenten season. We will be discussing the FORGIVEN series in our homilies during Lent as well. We encourage you to discuss the FORGIVEN series in your small faith groups or watch it and discuss it as a family. They are very lively videos that are easy to watch. There is a study guide on the FORMED website that helps guide us through this series as well.
Just as the Holy Spirit led Jesus to the desert period of preparation in order to get him ready for his mission, God seeks us out too, especially in those times when we stray or when we sin. We need to hear God calling us to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Just as God calls us to accompany Jesus in his 40 days in the desert, God calls us to reconciliation as well. Another thing that helps us be nudged to this sacrament is guilt. We live in a society where we want to rationalize our actions, even when we know those actions are wrong. We want to place the blame on something else or something else. But, then we hear God calling us to another path. Our guilt helps us look inside ourselves: at our own actions and our own responsibility. Guilt help us respond, to make amends, and to take action. Guilt helps us grow. These are some of the takeaways from this first session of FORGIVEN. I want to invite all of you to watch it, to think about it, to pray about it, and discuss it amongst your family or your small faith groups.
Let us use these 40 days with Jesus in the desert to call us to conversion and renewal in our lives. Let us use these 40 days as a time of reconciliation.
No comments:
Post a Comment