Homily

First Sunday of Lent - “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

The primary purpose of Lent is spiritual preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Church tries to achieve this goal by leading her children to “repentance” through fasting, prayer and acts of charity. In today’s Gospel passage we are told how Jesus, immediately after his baptism, spent forty days in prayer and fasting in the desert, he was tempted by Satan and how Jesus defeated him.  

Exegesis: While the Gospels of Matthew and Luke give detailed description of Jesus’ temptations, the Gospel of St. Mark has just one sentence about it - that he was tempted by Satan. Then Mark gives the first public words of Jesus: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Here Jesus gives us two important messages:   

1) “Repent.” Repentance, (metanoia) is a change of mind and heart, a lifelong process of transformation here and now. As a result, sinners receive forgiveness because of the supreme act of the self-giving love of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.  

2) “Believe in the gospel.” True faith demands of us a total commitment to the way of life presented in the Gospel and sharing its vision of life. Believing in the Gospel should lead us to conversion. Lent provides us with conversion opportunities, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Temptations are real: The Gospels tell us that temptations are real and even Jesus had to go through it. His temptations also were about the basic human needs such as food, desire for power and the temptation to lean toward Satan than to God, in other words, to choose evil against good.

A man instructed his son not to swim in the canal nearby their house, because it was very dangerous. "OK, Dad," the son assured him. But the very same evening the boy came home carrying a wet bathing suit. "Where have you been?" demanded the father. "Swimming in the canal," answered the boy. "Didn't I tell you not to swim there?" asked the father. "Well, Dad," he explained, "I had my bathing suit with me, and I couldn't resist the temptation."  "Why did you take the bathing suit with you?" he asked.  The boy’s reply was, "So I'd be prepared to swim, in case I was tempted." 

How do temptations happen in our lives? We know, our lives are filled with many competing priorities. It is in choosing one over another that we have temptations that we also call “distractions.” For example, we have family responsibilities. they cannot be called temptations. But they can sometimes pull us in directions that are not always the best from God’s perspective. 

One such instance is when we forego our Sunday Mass attendance because of other choices available on that day. Pursuits that pull us away from who we are called to be are called temptations. Like the little boy in the story, too many of us place ourselves in situations of sin as if prepared to do so. It is important6 for us to wisely discern our distractions and set our priorities right.

This is where the example of Jesus is so powerful. Even though he had all the power to do all that Satan had challenged him with, he did not and would not fall into his trap. He had always clearly in his mind his mission - to bring salvation to humanity. Even in the midst of the worst temptations, we need to remember who we are and what we ought to do. Therefore, 

Messages: 1) We need to make Lent a time of renewal of life by penance and prayer:  The six weeks of Lent is meant to be a time of penance as a way of purifying ourselves from our sinful habits and getting ready to celebrate the Paschal mystery (the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ), with a renewed commitment to follow Christ. 

2) We need to see Lent as a time for spiritual growth: a) by participating in Mass more frequently during the week;  b) by setting aside some part of our day for family prayer and reading the Scripture with other family members;  c) by receiving the sacrament of reconciliation in Lent and participating in the “Stations of the Cross” on Fridays;  d) by setting aside some money that we might spend on our for meals, entertainment or clothes and giving it to the parish Social Ministry or to any Catholic organization that takes care of the less fortunate in our society.