St. Photina at Jacob's Well

The Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, by Annibale Carracci 1560 – 1609.

“When Jesus’ disciples returned from town, they were thunderstruck to find him conversing publically with a woman at Jacob’s well.” (Jn 4:27)

St. Photina at Jacob’s Well

March 27, 2011, 3rd Sunday of Lent
Exodus 17:3-7 Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 John 4:4-39

Ex 17:3-7 - Water from the rock

In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” The Lord answered Moses, “Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you, Lord.

Jn 4:4-39 - Water from Jacob’s well

Jesus and his disciples had to pass through Samaria and they came to a town named Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down at the well. It was high noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a cup of drink?” (A Jew would never use the same dish or cup that a Samaritan uses.)

Jesus answered, “If you only knew what a wonderful gift God has for you, and who I am, you would ask me for some living water!” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.“

Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!"

“I can see that you are a prophet,” the woman said.” Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans do not really know whom you worship; we Jews know whom we worship, because salvation comes from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Those are the kind of people the Father wants to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak with you am he.” When Jesus’ disciples returned from town, they were thunderstruck (ethumazon) to find him conversing publically with the woman at Jacob’s well. The woman then left her water jar behind and went back to town, and said to the people there, “Come and see someone who told me everything I have ever done! Could this not be the Messiah?” At that, they set out from the town to meet him. Many Samaritans from that town believed in him on the strength of the woman’s word of testimony that, “He told me everything I ever did!”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
Water & shade at Jacob’s well

As Jesus and the disciples were leaving Judea and were going back to Galilee they decided to go through unfriendly Samaria instead of around it. They came to a town called Sychar. Jacob’s well was there. It was high noon, and all were tired and thirsty. In Carracci’s painting a huge tree is stretching its branches over Jacob’s well, and in its heavenly shade and amid cool breezes the weary Jesus is speaking with the Samaritan woman, as the disciples are returning from buying food in town.

A rambling conversation

When the Samaritan woman comes to draw water from the well, Jesus asks her for some to drink. (Jn 4:7) After some conversation, she’s deeply impressed with Jesus, and soon the tables are turned: now she is asking Jesus for water to drink: “Sir, give me this water of yours!” (Jn 4:15) Out of the blue, Jesus tells the woman to go fetch her husband. It’s a ploy to turn the discussion toward the woman’s marital situation and her bad reputation in town. When she replies that she has no husband, Jesus responds, “You’re right, woman! You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband!” (Jn 4:17-18) Startled that Jesus knows so much about her past, the Samaritan woman exclaims, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet!” (Jn 4:19)

It’s a rambling conversation; out of the blue again, the woman brings up a religious bone of contention between Jesus and herself. “We Samaritans,” she tells Jesus, “worship here on Mt. Gerizim, but you Jews claim one must worship in the temple in Jerusalem.” (Jn 4:20) That, too, was a ploy; she wanted to turn the discussion away from her bad reputation.

Ancestral wells run deep.

At the ancestral well the Samaritan says to Jesus, “Sir, you do not have a bucket, and the well is deep.” (Jn 4:11) Ancestral wells run deep with the priorities and values with which we arrange our lives. Speaking of his ancestral well a friend writes, “I was raised in a conservative working class family in Cincinnati, Ohio. Being of German ancestry, I was taught from my earliest memory to challenge nothing that Holy Mother Church teaches. I was taught to respect all persons in positions of authority: teachers, parents, aunts, uncles, police, government officials, etc. I was taught to work for what I wanted and to wait until I had cash to buy it. I was taught that the Lord helps those who help themselves, and there is no excuse for being dirty because everyone can afford a bar of soap.” With such priorities and values my friend’s ancestral well ran deep.

It runs deep with sexism

Not only does Jacob’s well run deep in today’s gospel, so does the ancestral well. It runs deep with sexism. When the disciples go into town to buy food, Jesus remains behind at the well. Suddenly the Samaritan woman comes to fetch water. She comes to the well at high noon precisely because of her public shame. In order to avoid the gossip and cruelty of other women, she comes in the heat of high noon rather in the cool of early morning when many other women would be there fetching water.
At the well Jesus and the woman meet, and they launch off into a lengthy conversation. For a respectable Jewish man to speak to a woman in public was a breach of social custom. Many Jewish men wouldn’t even speak to their wives in public! To put men and women on an equal footing was shocking in the patriarchal society of Jesus’ day (and is shocking still in today’s patriarchal societies). No wonder then, when the disciples return after shopping for food in town, they are “thunderstruck to find Jesus conversing publically with the woman.” (Jn 4:27) Where in the world did that first “college of apostles” (and that Samaritan woman herself) get their sexism? Where do all cultures and religions get their sexism? Why, of course, they imbibe it at the ancestral well.

Jesus refused to drink from His Jewish ancestral well. Instead, He stood right out there in the open for all to see, and with a woman He held the longest private conversation recorded in the New Testament; it runs for 20 verses. (Jn 4:6-26) By speaking at great length with the Samaritan woman and not to her, Jesus restored her human dignity and recognized her right to have her spiritual needs met.

It runs deep also with sectarianism

In today’s gospel the ancestral well runs deep also with sectarianism. Where in the world did Samaritans get their claim that Mt. Gerizim is the only right place to worship God? They imbibed it at their ancestral well. “My Samaritan ancestors have always worshipped here on this mountain,” the woman tells Jesus. (Jn 4: 20) That’s her unquestioning proof that Mt. Gerizim is the right place to worship God. -- Where in the world did Jews get their claim that Jerusalem is the only right place to worship God? They imbibed it at their ancestral well. Where in the world do Muslims get their claim that Medina and Mecca in Saudi Arabia are the only right places to worship God? They imbibe it at their ancestral well.

Refusing to drink from any ancestral well, Jesus assures the Samaritan woman that it does not matter where one worships, whether on Mt. Gerizim or in Jerusalem or in Medina and Mecca or even in St. Peter’s in Rome. What matters is how we worship God. What matters is that we “worship God in spirit and truth.”(Jn 4:21-23)

Turning the tables

When the lengthy conversation at the well opens, it is the woman who has cool clear water to offer, and it is the Lord who is thirsty and asking for some to drink. In the course of the rambling conversation, we find ourselves exclaiming, “For God's sake, give the thirsty Lord a drink of cool water! He’s dying of thirst!" Nowhere in the whole account do we read that Jesus ever received a cup of water from the Samaritan woman. No material transaction is related; there is only spiritual transaction in which the tables are turned. At the end of the day, it is now Jesus who has living water to offer, and it is the woman who is thirsty and is asking for some to drink.

Jesus offers her living water. She drinks deeply of it and is converted from her meandering life. Overwhelmed by her encounter with the Lord,, the woman takes off in such a hurry that she forgets to take her water jar! (Jn 4:28) She runs off to tell her people in town about Jesus, and invites them to come and see for themselves. Because of her testimony many Samaritans come to believe in Jesus. (Jn 4:39)

Conclusion
St. Photina - equal-to-the-apostles

The Orthodox Church has a long and rich tradition about the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. Sermons from the fourth to the fourteenth centuries call her “apostle” and “evangelist,” and characterize her as “equal-to-the-apostles!” (No sexism here.) At her baptism, that unnamed Samaritan woman received the name of Photina! `Phos ‘in Greek means light, and `Photina’ is `the enlightened one’ and `the enlightener.’ She took the light she received at the well of Jacob and at the feet of Jesus, and she ran to enlighten her people in town. Then she went on zealous apostolic journeys to bring that light to distant lands like Carthage and Smyrna in Asia Minor. On her feast day, February 28, the Orthodox Church sings this hymn to the Samaritan woman:

By the well of Jacob, O holy one,

thou didst find the water of eternal and blessed life.

And having partaken thereof, O wise Photina,

thou went forth proclaiming Christ,

the Anointed One and the Light of the World.
Great Photina, equal-to-the-Apostles,
pray to Christ for the salvation of our souls.

On Top of Mt. Tabor

“And His clothes became dazzling white”
(Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520)

On Top of Mt. Tabor

March 20, 2011, 2nd Sunday of Lent: the Transfiguration of Christ
Genesis 12:1-4a II Timothy 1:8b-10 Matthew 17:1-9

The Lord said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” Abram went as the Lord directed him.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them: His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three shelters here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
First day of spring

Today March 20, 2011 is the first day of spring. It’s also called the Spring Equinox, that is to say, March 20 has 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. This season of spring continues until the Summer Solstice, June 21, 2011. That day will have 15 long hours of light and 9 short hours of darkness. With the increasing light and warmth, our spirits happily emerge from the tomb and doldrums of winter.

A religious experience on Tabor

On the first Sunday of Lent, the account of Jesus’ temptations in the desert is related in all three synoptic gospels. (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13) On the second Sunday of Lent, the account of Jesus’ transfiguration on a high mountain (called Mt. Tabor in Christian tradition) is also related in all three gospels. (Mt.17:1-8; Mk.9:2-9; Lk 9:28-36) On Mt. Tabor the apostles saw the Lord’s face shining like the sun, and His clothes became dazzling white. Out of a cloud they heard the voice of the Lord God proclaiming Jesus to be a beloved Son.The Transfiguration is mentioned also in Peter’s second letter: “My own eyes have seen His splendor and His glory. I was there on the holy mountain when He shone forth with the glory given Him by God His Father. I heard that glorious, majestic voice calling down from heaven, saying, `This is my very beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’” (II Peter 1:16-19)

A religious experience is happening on Mt. Tabor. Christians call it a Transfiguration and Catholics assign a special feast day for it: August 6, Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration. Not only is Mt. Tabor high, the apostle Peter is also `high.’ He is ecstatic; he is `beside himself.’ He exclaims, “Lord, how good it is for us to be here!” The experience is so powerful that Peter wants to dig in and hunker down on that lofty height forever. He says to Jesus, “If you wish, I will make three shelters up here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Mt 17:4)

Saul’s religious experience

A religious experience can happen not only on a breezy mountaintop but also in the sweaty valley of the human journey. Saul of Tarsus had his religious experience on the road to Damascus where he planned to arrest Christians. Suddenly a bright light from the sky flashed around him, and Saul heard a voice saying, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:1-22) (That experience converted Saul, the terrorist, into St. Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles.

Augustine’s religious experience

St. Augustine (354-430) had his religious experience in the garden of his villa. I n his youth he had strayed off into the teachings of Manichaeism and into the wayward paths of youth, begetting a son out of wedlock. One day in the garden of his villa, Augustine heard a voice coming from the other side of the wall, which kept saying, “Take and read! Take and read!” At first he thought it was the voice of some child playing a game. Then suddenly he was seized with an impulse to pick up the Scriptures which lay near at hand. They fell open to Romans: “Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day; no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality and debauchery, no fighting or jealousy. Rather, let us take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and let us stop concentrating on the flesh and gratifying its desires.” (Rom. 13: 13-14; Confessions Bk. VIII, ch. 12) That experience converted the `rounder’ Augustine into the great bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who by his voluminous writings would teach the Universal Church from the 5th to the 13th century.

Francis’ religious experience

St. Francis (1182-1224) had his religious experience before a very old crucifix in a dilapidated little chapel of San Damiano in Assisi. Praying there one day he beseeched the Lord to tell him what He wanted of him. Suddenly Francis heard a voice from the crucifix, saying to him, “Francis, repair my Church.” He thought the voice was calling him to repair the rickety little chapel. It was, in fact, calling him to become the father of the great Franciscan family which would repair the Universal Church corrupted by the Byzantine splendor and excesses of his day.

Jung anxiously expecting a religious experience

Saul had a religious experience on the road to Damascus. Augustine had a religious experience in the garden of his villa. Francis had a religious experience before the San Damiano crucifix. Where, if anywhere on God’s earth, should we expect to have a religious experience, if not in church? Where, if anywhere on God’s earth, should we be exclaiming, “Oh how good it is for us to be here,” if not in church?

That does not always happen. Karl Jung, the father of modern psychology, writes about the day of his first Holy Communion. Because of what he had been told, he was anxiously expecting something very special to happen on that occasion. The day finally dawned, and all peeled into church. In familiar robes his father, who was the minister of the celebration, stood behind the altar and read the prayers. On the white altar cloth lay large trays filled with small pieces of bread. (The bread came from the local baker.) He watched his father eat a piece of the bread and sip the wine. (The wine came from the local tavern.) Then he passed the cup to others.

Jung writes that all were stiff, solemn, and seemingly disinterested. Though he kept looking on in suspense, he could neither see nor guess that anything unusual was happening inside anyone. No one had joy on his face. After the final prayer, no one was heard to cry out, "Oh how good it is for us to be here! Let us build shelters up here and hunker down on this height forever.” Instead, Jung writes, "All peeled out of the church with faces that were neither depressed nor illumined with joy. Their faces seemed to say, `Well, that's that!'’” When the sun set on that long anticipated day of his first Holy Communion, Jung found himself exclaiming, "Oh, how bad it was for me to be there!" The day of Jung’s first Communion proved to be his last Communion; he never took Communion again. (Memories, Dreams, and Reflections)

Shopping for a religious experience

It is right and just to expect a Mt. Tabor experience in the practice of our religion. Never to expect a religious experience, or to feel no disappointment when one never happens, is to join that blah congregation which peeled out of Jung’s church with faces “which were neither depressed nor illumined with joy” but which simply seemed to say, “Well, that's that!” It was that disappointment with the lack of religious experience in the established churches which gave rise to Pentecostalism -- a movement within Christianity which places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism is perhaps the other extreme of the spectrum: instead of expecting no religious experience at all, it perhaps expects too much.

If our church never takes us up to Mt. Tabor (and there’s simply nothing we can personally do about it) then we should go shopping for a church that will. We take diligent effort to shop for a good house or a good car. There’s nothing very wrong (in fact, there’s something very right) about shopping for a `good church.’ That’s a church which takes us up to Mt. Tabor, and sets us exclaiming, “Oh how good it is for us to be here! That’s a church which has us determined to come back next Sunday. If our Sunday assembly never does that, then we should vote with our feet.

Conclusion
Tabor: not forever or for itself

The high of Mt. Tabor was not forever; Jesus and the apostles eventually had to get down from that lofty height and descend into the valley of real life. (Mt. 17:9) Neither is the high of Sunday Mass forever; we have to leave church and descend into the valley of our daily lives. The great `high’ of Mt. Tabor high was not for itself; it was for the great `low’ that awaited the apostles in the imminent death of Jesus. The great `high’ of Mt. Tabor was for the great `low’ of Mt. Calvary which lay ahead.

Neither is the Sunday `high’ for itself; it is for the `lows’ which lay ahead in the week ahead. Blessed is that church which sends its congregants pealing out of Sunday service, invigorated to take on the `lows’ that await them in the week ahead. Blessed is that church which sends it congregants forth, determined to return next Sunday to be reinvigorated to take on another week.

Lent: a Joyful Season

Led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted
(Mt. 4:6)

Lent: a Joyful Season
March 13, 2011, 1st Sunday of Lent, 2011
Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11

Second reading Romans

Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned. For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The Tempter approached and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” Then Jesus quoted Scripture to the Devil, saying, “It is written, `One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.[1]’”

After that, the Devil took Jesus to the Holy City, and made Him stand on the pinnacle of the Temple, and said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this height.” Then he quoted Scripture to Jesus, saying, it is written: `God will order his angels to take good care of you. They will hold you up with their hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones’.[2] Then Jesus quoted Scripture back to the Devil saying, “It is written: `You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.[3]’”

The Devil tried again: he took Jesus up to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and said to Him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan!” Then He quoted Scripture to the Devil, saying, “It is written: `The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’”[4] At this the Devil left Jesus, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
Lent: the yearly invitation to a desert experience

On Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011, we liturgically left Ordinary Time and entered the Extraordinary Time of Lent. The liturgical color green is now exchanged for purple -- the centuries-old liturgical color for repentance and penance. In honor of the forty days Jesus spent in the desert fasting, the Council of Laodicea in 360 AD prescribed a penitential season of forty days in preparation for Easter. This year Easter is April 24; counting back forty fast-days from April 24 (Sundays not counted) makes Wednesday, March 9, the first day of Lent this year of 2011. Something remarkable always happens on Ash Wednesday: though it’s not a Sunday or holyday of obligation, the churches are packed! Ash Wednesday mysteriously fascinates us! We go flocking to church to have our clean faces smudged with ashes -- to be reminded (what we always try in subtle ways to forget) that “we are dust and unto dust we shall return. “ More positively, Lent, which commemorates the forty days which Jesus spent in the desert, is the yearly invitation for us to undergo a `desert experience’ and take stock of our spiritual lives.

We not only liturgically leave Ordinary Time, but today we also leave Standard Time and go into Daylight Saving Time, as we set our clocks ahead 1 hour, in order to give ourselves more daylight at the end of the day.

On quoting Scripture at each other

In the gospel for this first Sunday of Lent, it is interesting to notice how the Devil and Jesus are quoting Scripture at each other. The Devil tempting Jesus to cast Himself off the Temple pinnacle quotes Scripture at Him, saying, “It is written: `God will order his angels to take good care of you. They will hold you up with their hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones below.’”

Not only does the Devil quote Scripture, so does the Rev. Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. He and his little gang declare that “God hates fags and buries them in hell.” For proof Phelps quotes Scripture left and right: Romans 1:18-32; 9:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, Jude 7, etc.

A letter which was posted on the internet (source unidentified) is addressed to an evangelical preacher who also likes to quote Scripture at people. The letter proceeds (with tongue-in-cheek) to quote Scripture back to the preacher. The letter reads in part:[5]

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s law. I have learned a great deal from you, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be abomination—end of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s laws and how to follow them.

Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not to Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness (Lev. 15: 1924). The problem is: how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35: 2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

I know from Leviticus 11: 6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves? Etc, etc.

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matter, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

So much for quoting Scripture!

Scripture’s three temptations

Jesus’ forty-day ordeal of fasting and being tempted in the desert is always recounted on the first Sunday of Lent in all three liturgical cycles. (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13) The first temptation is simple enough to understand. Jesus has been fasting for 40 days, and Satan offers Him a fast-fix for his hunger: turn the bread-shaped stones scattered on the desert floor into loaves of bread, and that’ll save Jesus a trip into town to buy bread at the local bakery. (Mt 4:1-4) Is the first temptation of Jesus about our yen for the fast-fix?

When that first temptation of Jesus fails, the Devil takes Him to the pinnacle of the Temple and challenges Him to prove He’s the Son of God by bungee-jumping from that height, and counting on God’s angels to snatch Him up before hitting rock bottom. (Mt 4: 5-7) Is the second temptation about our yen for the spectacular?

When that temptation of Jesus fails, the Devil takes Him to a very high mountain, shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and promises to give it all to Jesus, if He would only fall down and worship him. (Mt 4: 8-9) Is the third temptation about our yen for authority and power?

In Dostoyevsky’s novel Brothers Karamazov, the Grand Inquisitor asks Jesus, “Dost thou think that all the combined wisdom of the world could have invented anything in depth and force equal to the three temptations put thee by the wise and mighty Spirit in the desert?” (Ch V, Bk V) Scripture’s account of the three temptations is, indeed, mystical, and there are as many interpretations of them as there are mystics and preachers.

Kazantzakis’ fourth temptation: sex

In his novel The Last Temptation Nikos Kazantzakis added a fourth temptation to Scriptures’ three. In the novel Jesus is subject to every form of temptation that humans face: fear, doubt, depression and, yes, even lust! That’s the fourth and last of Jesus’ temptations. Kazantzakis’ book and the film depict Jesus being tempted by imagining Himself engaged in sexual activities. Struggling to do God’s will, Jesus does not give in to the temptation. Did Kazantzakis feel a need to `round off’ Scripture’s three temptations of Jesus with a clearly explicit temptation about sex?

“Sex: the sin of sins”

The very thought that Jesus could have sexual temptations caused an intense outcry among Christians. The Church put the novel on the list of forbidden books, and staunch believers picketed the movie. If the novel had depicted Jesus as a man tempted to scam investors of $50 billion (as Wall Street icon Bernard Madoff did), the reaction perhaps would not have been so intense. That strong reaction simply belies a populist morality which believes that “the sin of sins is sex!” That prurient mentality makes juicy headline news out of the sexual escapades of golfer Tiger Woods, former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, and now the latest: Republican Christopher Lee of South Carolina who sent emails and a shirtless photo of himself to a woman in response to a Craigslist dating advertisment.

All of the above

There are other temptations besides sex! There are other temptation greater than sex! Believe it! We’re tempted to be overly anxious and nervous about what we shall eat and what we shall drink, instead of trusting also in the heavenly Father who takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. (Mt 6:26) We’re tempted to give in to feelings of inferiority, instead of reminding ourselves that we’re “worth more than a whole flock of sparrows.” (Mt 10:31) We are tempted to despair in some impossible situation, instead of trusting, “That nothing is impossible with God.” (Lk 12:16-21)

We’re tempted to poison ourselves with hate for an enemy, instead of heeding the words of St. John that “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15); instead of heeding also the words of Martin Luther King that “Hate is too heavy a burden to bear.” We’re tempted to put God on a back-burner and get on with our very busy lives without Him, instead of loving the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. (Luke 10:27) The Lenten call to repentance is about “all of the above,” and more.

A new God for Lent

In the post-Vatican II era, the God of Lent is spelled out in a new way. The God of the old Lent was one who had gone into a deep pout because of our sins. He needed to be appeased with forty days of glum and gloom. At the end of the day, such a God is not much better than the angry gods of ancient Greece and Rome. The God of the new Lent is the God of the prophet Joel who in the first reading at Mass on Ash Wednesday is described as “rich in mercy, swift with forgiveness and slow with retribution.” (Joel 2:13)

A new fast for Lent

The fast of the new Lent is also spelled out differently. Before Vatican II the Lenten fast concentrated on food: on fasting (only one full meal a day) and on abstaining from meat. Vatican II greatly toned down this concentration on food as Lenten penance. The new Lent concentrates on a different and more costly kind of fasting and abstaining:

This is the kind of fasting I, the Lord, want from you: release those bound unjustly, untie the yoke of injustice and set free the oppressed. Share your food with the hungry, open your home to the homeless, clothe the naked, and do not turn your back on your own. (Is 58: 6-7)

Conclusion
A new Preface for Lent

A new God and a new fast for Lent necessitated the Church of Vatican II to write nine new Prefaces for Lent. Anyone looking for a clue in the liturgy to help understand the purpose of the new Lent should listen carefully to the first of the nine new Prefaces; it comes as a surprise to those accustomed to thinking of Lent in glum and gloomy terms:

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give You thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Each year You give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery with mind and heart renewed. You give us a spirit of loving reverence for You, our Father, and of willing service to our neighbor. As we recall the great events that gave us new life in Christ, You bring the image of Your Son to perfection within us.

Now, with angels and archangels, and the whole company of heaven, we sing the unending hymn of Your praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord,God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

[1] Dt 8:3
[2] Psalm 91:11-12
[3] Dt. 6: 16
[4] Dt. 6:13
[5] Garry Wills quotes this letter at greater length in his New York Times bestseller: What Jesus Meant, pages 33-35

Vacation - No Homily