First Sunday of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

There is this very dear and darling lady in my parish who has an amazing sense of humor for her age. The other day she came up to after mass and said, “I am giving you up for Lent.” I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Humor aside, is it not true that for many people Lent is about “giving up” something in penance? And tragically, sometimes Lent remains at the level. Surely there is more to Lent than acts of penance. Today’s readings take us to the depths of the spirituality of Lent. The story of the Great Flood and God’s subsequent covenant with Noah is a great story of human-divine relationship. On the one hand, God is described in very human terms in the story. The author tells us that God’s heart grieved at the sight human sinfulness and that it was God’s sadness that led God to bring in the destructive flood (Scripture). The language used here makes God look very human. On the other hand, this story tells us much about God. Today’s reading is not so much about the actual act of God making a covenant. Rather, this Covenant tells us about a faithful God. It tells us about the kind of fidelity that only God can have. Here is a God who does not disown creation no matter what. This covenant tells us about a God who loves people in spite of their sin and beyond their sin. It may seem to us at first reading that God’s Covenant with Noah was about not destroying creation ever again. On a deeper reading we realize that this Covenant was really about saving creation. This Covenant was about because of God’s fidelity and love.

Today’s gospel reading is a continuation of that original Covenant God made with Noah. And just as in the Noah story God is portrayed as human and divine, so too in the gospel Jesus fasting for fourty days has human and divine elements. On the one hand, Jesus in the desert is God’s fidelity in concrete human form. Jesus in the desert is God’s love in a real, concrete person. Jesus in the desert is God’s saving love in action. Jesus in the desert is the fulfillment of that original Covenant with creation. Jesus in the desert is who God really “is.” On the other hand, in Jesus we see human beings as they should be – as fidelity and love. Jesus in the desert is who human beings really “are.”

Note that at the end of the Gospel passage, Jesus proclaims these words: “The Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15). We can conclude from today’s readings that the Kingdom of God is where God and human being dwell in perfect fidelity and love. This is the Kingdom that Jesus proclaims. His fasting and prayer for fourty days will prepare him to make the Kingdom of God real in the world. The cross will become the place where God and humanity will dwell in perfect love and fidelity.
So here we are on the very first Sunday in Lent. And perhaps we are wondering how we can make this Lent meaningful. And perhaps we have made resolutions to give up our pet peeves in penance. I want to recognize these penances as precious in God’s eyes. However, let us take these penances a little deeper. Let me propose three ways to make our Lent more meaningful.

Let me propose three ways in which this Lent can be particularly meaningful.

1. I would like you to imagine these fourty days of Lent as your personal journey with Jesus in the desert. In other words, many times during the day, imagine yourself shadowing Jesus as he spends time alone with God. What do you think he prays? What do you think he feels? What do you think he says to himself? In what aspect is he very human? How does he live his divinity? What do you pray as you walk with Jesus? What do you feel? What would you say to yourself? What would you say to Jesus? What could we see about our own humanity and our divine image?

2. I said earlier that it is in the desert that we discover both who God really is and who we really are. I also said that it is in the desert that we discover God’s love and fidelity and our own love and fidelity. As we journey in the desert with Jesus, the great gift that we can ask for is a full realization the extent of God’s love and fidelity. Let us ask God to give us a deep experience of this love and fidelity. On the other hand, an equally great gift would be for the spirit of God to inspire in us deep love and fidelity for God. Let us pray this lent that in our hearts there might be tremendous love for God. Let us then not hesitate to get into the desert with Jesus. Spend much time in prayer these fourty days.

3. In the desert we must discover the kingdom of God that Jesus talks about. My dear friends, the Kingdom of God must first take shape in the human heart. When Jesus proclaims, “The Kingdom of God is at hand, “he is first and foremost talking about the human heart. So I am suggesting that we consciously allow the Kingdom of God to become as real as it can in our hearts. Because we are baptized, because we have faith in God the kingdom already exists in us. But for the Kingdom to become fully alive we must allow our hearts to become the place where God and we can dwell in perfect fidelity and love.

Let our participation in this Eucharist prepare us to spend our time with Jesus in the desert. Let us this week be a time where human and divine fidelity and love meet in our hearts. May the kingdom become a reality in our lives. Amen.

- Fr. Satish Joseph