First Sunday of Lent
Today’s scripture readings have the two stories – the story of the man and woman in the garden of Eden and the story of Jesus in the desert. There much to be explored, written, and said about the contrast and similarities between the two stories – between the garden and the desert, between the first humans and Jesus, the similarities in their temptations and the choices they made.
Today, I want to approach these passages from the perspective of two human traits – self-gratification and asceticism. Think of the self-gratification of Adam and Eve in the garden of plenty. And now, think of the self-denial, sacrifice, and asceticism of Jesus in a sparse desert. Especially, I would like to reflect on the value and need for asceticism in our contemporary world. If Lent is a time for conversion, then in order to experience the new life of Easter, I believe asceticism is critical.
Contemporary Living, Contemporary Spirituality
Contemporary living feels like an experiment in self-gratification. Here are a few examples. The smartphones we carry these days are 5G compatible. The difference between merely a few years back and 5G simply is that it connects virtually everyone and everything together and offers unprecedented download speeds. But this advantage comes at a risk – a denser concentration of 5G cell towers that emit hazardous and harmful carcinogenic Radio Frequency Radiation. Do the benefits and the risk add up?
Another example is AI or artificial intelligence. The tech community has warned us about the threats posed by artificial intelligence – massive unemployment because of the automation of jobs, imbalanced data being fed into algorithms leading to fake news and information, and AI-powered weaponry that can make today’s warfare look like a video game. But will the risk make us resist the temptation to adopt the technology despite the risks?
Another example is our grocery stores. They carry everything from toilet paper, cars, and every possible produce in and out of season. It simply is unnatural. We are hopeless self-gratifying consumers – of nonstop and instantaneous sports, entertainment, gaming, information, food and drink. But it is unsustainable. We simply cannot be self-gratifying, endless, and limitless consumers without hurting creation, without hurting ourselves, without destroying the planet and our children’s future.
The garden into which Adam and Eve were placed was a garden of plenty, but it was not meant to make them self-gratifying, mindless consumers. There was a tree from which they were not supposed eat. In the land of plenty, they also had to practice a certain asceticism. Similarly, we do not have to succumb to AI just because we can. The next thing does not have to be 6G. We do not have to consume endlessly simply because we can.
The impact of the self-gratifying and consumeristic culture on spirituality is not minimal. Often, we expect life and spirituality to be like online shopping. We expect life’s complexities to be resolved like home delivery. God becomes like the customer-service representative to whom we call only when we have issues. We pick and choose what is convenient to us in our faith tradition and discard that which makes demands on us. We expect prayers to be answered instantaneously and seamlessly. And when that does not happen, we question God and cry like children who for some reason cannot have their video games.
Asceticism: Choosing the Desert
The story of Jesus in the desert is a story of asceticism. Jesus enters the desert by choice. Remember that Jesus was not powerless in the desert. As Son of God, Jesus had the ability to transform even the harshest desert into a garden. Jesus had the power to turn stone in the desert into bread. But he chose not to give into the temptation even though he could. He did not succumb to the temptation of fame, wealth, power, and pleasure. He does not give into the self-gratification.
By rejecting the temptations and practicing asceticism, Jesus teaches us to give God God’s place in our lives. He teaches us that fame, wealth, power, and pleasure may have their place, but they cannot consume our lives. He teaches us that all that we have and can accomplish must never make us forget our origin and our destiny; that self-gratification through fame, wealth, power, and pleasure will not save us; that our origin, destiny, and salvation lie in God.
Self-denial, sacrifice, and asceticism are important to be a people of faith, character, and holiness. There is value in not succumbing to every technological possibility. There is value in not giving into every whim. There is value in not becoming endless, mindless, and self-gratifying consumers. There is power in asceticism.
The Need and Power of Asceticism
Both Self-gratification and asceticism have implications. Self-gratification made Adam and Eve lose sight of God’s will, God’s vision, and God’s plan. It led to humanity’s sinful state, to death, and destruction. Moreover, self-gratification made Adam and even very selfish and self-centered people. After the first sin, they refused to take responsibility for their action and blamed each other. Self-also gratification destroys character. It destroys the virtues that make us human - patience, perseverance, endurance, fortitude, and diligence. However, the greatest implication of self-gratification is that it does not prepare us to deal with the complexities and uncertainties of human life. When challenges come our way, we easily crumble.
On the contrary, Jesus’ asceticism, self-denial, and sacrifice helped him keep his eyes on God’s will, God’s vision his own mission in God’s plan for humanity. It helped him live a very selfless life. His focus was not on his own need but rather the needs of others. But the greatest implication of Jesus’ asceticism is that when human redemption was as stake, he did not succumb to weakness, but bore the suffering with dignity, courage, and fortitude. Jesus’ asceticism in the desert prepared him for the greatest victory – the cross. It led to human redemption.
I am proposing that we enter Lent in the spirit of asceticism. Let us take our ordinary practices such as not eating meat on Friday, abstaining from some habits or addictions, and try to develop a spirit of asceticism. Never underestimate the power of small daily acts of asceticism. It is our small acts of asceticism that prepare us for the greater challenges of life. For example, think about how much time we spend on our phones and gadgets. And how much do we spend it prayer, talking someone out for coffee, or caring about the lonely in our nursing homes? Think about that sucker sitting in every office or bank we visit. Do we really need all that sugar? Think about asceticism in our speech – resisting filthy talk, gossip, and hate speech. Look at the things in your home. Do we really need everything we have bought? The next time you go grocery shopping think about the impact of buying things that are not in season or that things that are produced unsustainably.
I am also proposing that we adopt a spirit of asceticism not just for Lent, but as a way of life, so that we might convert ourselves from self-gratifying, endless, mindless consumers into people who care about God and God’s will, about others, and about God’s creation.
Every Eucharist is a reminder of Jesus self-denial, his sacrifice, and his asceticism that brought about our redemption. May our participation in the Eucharist make us approach life with the mind and heart of Jesus. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph