topleft05.jpg (18208 bytes)HOMILY
First Sunday in Lent (B)
09 March 03


 

During the past few months, television news programs have featured daily interviews with some of the ordinary men and womenthe “grunts” Navy commanders call themwho comprise our nation’s armed forces and now find themselves stationed in Kuwait.

Many of these soldiers have been training in the Kuwaiti desert and, in their interviews, have discussed the impact the desert has had upon them.  For example, they’ve seen nothing but a vast expanse of sand before them.  They’ve also felt the dramatic change in temperature as day turns into night and night turns into day.  And, they’ve come into contact with some rather strange critters whose home is the desert.

All of the soldiers I’ve seen interviewed agree that the desert is no place for a vacation.  For them, the desert is a place they’d rather be from than in.  And, they concur, the desert tests one’s sense of purpose and direction in life, one’s mettle and resolve, as well as one’s courage and conviction.

Based upon these interviews, I’d also add that the desert is a place where these soldiers are being tested to mature in two very important ways.

First, as they confront the “nothingness” of the desert, each soldier is tested to see what he or she really values in life.  Surely, their experience in the desert reminds the soldiers of the many “creature comforts” at home they may have become so accustomed to that they took many of those things for granted.  But, the desert also reminds the soldiers about  people and relationships.  Finding oneself somewhere out in the middle of a godforsaken desert, one’s spouse, children, family and relatives, friends, and acquaintances are distant by miles yet present in memories, perhaps frozen on a photograph carefully secured in one’s breast pocket.

The soldiers don’t know with any certainty whatsoever if they’ll ever enjoy those creature comforts or see any of those people again.  If and when they do, however, their testing in the desert may well teach the soldiers the importance of making sure that they invest themselves and their energy not so much in passing and transient creature comforts but in those relationships which add so much value to human existence, as short or long as that may be.

Second, the experience of the desert also tests each soldier’s sense of self and confidence.  I’m not talking about becoming more self-reliant and invincible, a veritable force unto oneself.  No, to be self-possessed means that an individual has clear insight into one’s talents and limitations and, most importantly, those bedrock values that challenge personal and spiritual maturity as well as nurture and sustain a meaningful existence.  Because of this, a self-possessed person does not fear stating what one believes or standing for what one believes unflinchingly and forthrightly.

Now, don’t confuse this type of confidence with arrogance.  True confidence is steeped in personal character and enables self-possessed people to speak the truth unflinchingly and forthrightly from their hearts and to stand up for the truth on their own two legs.  Less self-possessed peoplewho lack the depth of experience that would otherwise enable them to be in possession of their true selvesfear to state what’s in their hearts.  Instead, they reiterate what they believe others want to hear or what the crowd says.  They also stand for everything which really means that they stand for nothing.

Like our soldiers in the Kuwaiti desert, Jesus spent forty days in the Judean desert where his mettle and resolve as well as his courage and conviction were put to the test.  The gospel relates how Satanthe primal force of eviltested Jesus, just as the wild beaststhose odd crittersdid.  As a result of this extended period of testing, Jesus grew in self-possession and confidence and he emerged from the experience stating the truth unflinchingly and forthrightly.  He said: “This is the time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the good news.”

“This is time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.”

The truth Jesus learned in the desert and which took root deep in his heart through his forty days of testing was, actually, something quite simple.  Yet, as simple as that truth is it is very difficult to achieve in terms of integrating this truth into one’s character and one’s daily life as tests emerge time and again.  In our language, Jesus was saying: “Everything that God has promised is going to be fulfilled.  Get ready.  God’s reign is just around the corner.”

Think about it.

Jesus teaches us that everything which gives depth, meaning, and purpose to human existence will soon be ours.  What we hope for as a reward for living a virtuous life to be achieved beyond the grave is actually coming to fulfillment very soon.  We don’t have to die to get there!  To participate in this time of fulfillment as members of God’s kingdom, all we have to do, Jesus says is: “Repent, and believe in the good news.”

The repentance Jesus was preaching about was not that of “feeling sorry” for one’s sins.  No, Jesus was calling for something much deeper and something far more personally and spiritually challenging than that.  What Jesus is calling people to change is how they think about their lives and relationships and, in particular, to stop choosing evil over good when tested in the desert.  That is, when human beings sin, they fail a test and transform the gift of life that God has breathed into their soulsa life each human being is free to enjoy to the hiltinto a vast desert wasteland where nothing is enjoyed.

We all know how a hot temper or choleric disposition can explode and ruin a quiet moment in an all too busy day, a celebrative holiday gathering of family and relatives, or a peaceful meal as a family.  When an individual chooses to unleash the full fury of one’s anger, this person turns a home and the possibility of a rich and happy family life into a desert where everyone would rather be from than in.  What God has intended for spouses and for every child to enjoy, this individual’s turns into a desert.  If only that person would change the way he thinks and learn to control his hot temper or choleric disposition, all that God has promised spouses and childrenall that human hearts hope foris just around the corner.  This is what Jesus teaches.

We all know the power of pride.  When an individual chooses to be unwilling to admit that she is wrong, that individual allows his pride to transform her life into a lonely desert.  The prideful individual sets into motion an attitude through which her relationships with other people slowly but surely wither on the vine.  If only that person would change the way she thinks and choose to adopt a more humble view of herself, all that God has promised in terms of friends and memorable momentsand all that human hearts long forwould be just around the corner.  This is what Jesus teaches.

We all know that self-chosen acts like lying, breaking promises, and violating vows teach others that they cannot trust our word.  Yet, whenever an individual is tested to lie and fails to tell the truth, whenever an individual is tested to break a promise and fails to uphold one’s promise, or whenever an individual is tested to violate one’s sacred vows and fails to live according to those vows, he dupes himself into believing that he can get away with his duplicity.  This individual turns his life into a desert of his own making, a desert that is characterized by mistrust.  If only that individual would change the way he thinks and choose instead to adopt truth as his standard, all that God promises in terms of dynamic relationship characterized by mutual and lasting trust and fidelityonce again, all that the human heart longs forwould be just around the corner.  This is what Jesus teaches.

We all know that addictions to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and pornography lead self-made addicts to conclude that they can’t live without those things.  When tested, addicts choose to walk the pathway rendering them incapable of recognizing how they’ve grown dependent not free.  In reality, addicts are not really living even though they breathe!  Addicts turn their lives into deserts and their experience of life is parched, becomes lifeless and, ultimately, rots away into nothingness, eventually indistinguishable from the earth itself.  If addicts would only change the way they think, they would recognize that the freedom God has promised them as His sons and daughterswhat the human heart longs foris just around the corner.  This is what Jesus teaches.

By choosing to sinand we all do in one way or anotherwe transform the precious yet fleeting life that God has breathed into our souls into a desert.  This desert is no place for a vacation.  It is a place we would rather be from than in.  But, as the soldiers in the Kuwaiti desert remind us in their interviews, the desert is a place that tests one’s purpose and direction in life; it also tests one’s mettle and resolve; and, it tests one’s courage and conviction.

Like Jesus, we must learn lessons from our deserts as we contend with Satan and the wild beasts.  We need to examine those places in our lives where we’d rather not take a vacation and to be from rather than in and, ultimately, to realize how the choices we have made have transformed the gift of life that God has breathed into our souls into the desert in which we find ourselves and into which we’ve forced others.  In this vast, desolate, and lifeless space, we will be tested in order to strengthen our purpose and direction in life, to strengthen our mettle and resolve, and to strengthen our courage and conviction as well.  In each and every test, the choice is ours to make.

The good news is that while we may have been unfaithful to God and may have forsaken the gift of life that God has breathed into our souls, God has promised never to be unfaithful to us.

Today’s first reading from the Book of Genesis reminds us that God placed the rainbow in the sky after the flood.  He did so not to remind us of His promise never to destroy the world with another flood.  No, the text is explicit: God put the rainbow in the sky to remind Himself of His promise to us.  No matter how much we’ve turned our lives into a desert, God will never unleash His destruction upon us.  The only destruction that will visit us is that which we unleash upon ourselves and inflict upon others from our deserts as we freely allow the power of evil to rule our minds and hearts.

It’s so very easy to think about the season of Lent as a time to focus upon sin but, in light of the message conveyed in today’s scripture, it may well be a misdirected focus.  Lent is the time to concentrate upon our baptism and how God has already freed each and every one of us from the power of evil.  “Baptism,” St. Peter wrote in today’s epistle, “is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”  What needs to be tested in the desert is how we think and all of the reasons we’ve used to justify the evil choices which have caused our consciences not to be clear.  Then, through this time of testing, we will find ourselves strengthened to change how we think about things and to recommit ourselves to the pathway Christ has taught us.

In baptism, we embark upon a pathway and lifestyle that will keep our consciences clear.  The season of Lent provides time to review where we are now headed.  Is it toward the kingdom of God and the fullness of life that God has breathed into our souls and the promises He has made to us?  Or, do we find ourselves lost somewhere out in the middle of a desertparched, almost lifelessand losing hope in the promise made by God?  Do we find ourselves believing that God has a right to and will unleash his fury upon us for the lives we have destroyed by choosing evil?

Like each of us, Jesus was tested in the desert.  His testjust like ourswas not an enticement to sin.  Instead, it was a test that would reveal the guiding force in his life, the power of evil represented in Satan or the power of good represented in his Father.

When we are tested to choose evil in the deserts in which we find ourselves, it is a test not so much to sin but an opportunity to strengthen our purpose to live as Christians, to strengthen our resolve to act virtuously as Christians do, and to strength our conviction to be Christians in name and in fact.

What will prove to be the stronger power in our lives when we find ourselves tested in our desert, the power of evil or the power of good?  What is it we truly desire, creature comforts or a clear conscience?  If it is the latter, “Repent, and believe in the good news.” This is what Jesus teaches.

 

 

 

mail2.gif (2917 bytes)      Does today’s homily raise any question(s) that you would like
                   me to respond to? Mail your question(s) by double clicking on
               
    the mailbox. I will respond to your question(s) at my first
                   available opportunity.


   Double click on this button to return to the homily
                                         webpage.