As we begin our holy season of Lent, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness to his promises. The Israelites grew in number in Egypt, where they were oppressed by the Egyptians and put into bondage. The Lord heard their cries. He saw their suffering and pain. He led them out of slavery from Egypt to a land he promised them. God fulfilled his promises to the people of Israel. He did not abandon them, even when they strayed and were. In response to God’s fidelity, the Israelites provided God the first fruits of the harvest as a sign of gratitude and thankfulness.
Remembering God’s faithfulness to us. Responding with gratitude and thanksgiving. That is a good message to hear on this first Sunday of Lent. Hopefully that will help set the tone for our Lenten journey. Each year, it edifies me to see all the people who come to Mass on Ash Wednesday, eager to receive the smudge of ash on their forehead, wanting to come to church to start this holy season of repentance, renewal, and conversion. I am very thankful that the staff and I planned four Masses on Ash Wednesday, since our Masses were very well attended and there was a great energy of faith and devotion coming from all of you. We also had very good attendance at the two stations of the cross we had on Friday, including the evening stations of the cross with our traditional Knights of Columbus fish fry. Were the churches full because of the last two years of trying to deal with the pandemic, of wanting to get back to church and back to our community during this season of Lent? Irregardless of the pandemic, perhaps people are wanting to connect with the divine in a more intense way during Lent, to feel God’s presence in a direct personal way with our fellow Catholics, to show God by the outward sign of the ash on our foreheads that we truly want to be his disciples, that we want to renew our faith.
Our Gospel reading on the first Sunday of Lent is always about Jesus and his forty days in the desert, since that is the model of our Lenten journey. Jesus faced temptations in the desert just like the Israelites faced trials and temptations on their journey in the desert to the promised land, just like each one of us faces temptations on our journey of faith. Jesus’ faithfulness and his resistance of temptation should bring us courage and hope. The desert is a place of trial and temptation, just as our journey through life is filled with many trials and temptations. But the desert is also the place of God’s revelation to Moses, the place where God presented the ten commandments to his people. We confront our temptations and our sins in the desert of Lent, but we also have a special encounter with God during the desert of Lent as well.
I chose gratitude and thanksgiving as a theme for us at St Jude during Lent this year because perhaps we need to think more about showing thanks and gratitude in our lives in different ways. Also, this reflects my practice of the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola in Spain several years ago, which emphasizes the importance of gratitude and thanksgiving on our journey of faith. Therese of Liseaux, Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church who died of tuberculosis in her Carmelite monastery at the age of 24, wrote this: “Jesus does not demand great action from us but simply surrender and gratitude.” So often we are focused on the big things we are attempting to do in life. But as Therese says, our focus should be on surrendering to God, being obedient to God, and giving thanks and gratitude to God. If we surrender to God in obedience and gratitude, then we will be able to accomplish his will. I want to encourage you to look at the contemplative examen prayer in the tradition of the spirituality of St Ignatius of Loyola that we are sending out in Flocknote emails and in handouts each week during Lent. The examen prayer has five simple steps, beginning with giving thanks to God, praying for God’s guidance to help us review our day, seeing God in the reality of our day, looking at the I have failed during the day, and then looking to the next day. It is a wonderful prayer for which we can review our day and see God’s presence it. Our suggested gratitude activity today is to do an act of kindness toward someone today to reflect the gratitude you have in your heart. In the light of today’s Gospel, let us respond to God’s faithfulness with gratitude and thanksgiving.
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