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
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.
----------------
Introduction
Lent: the yearly invitation to a desert experience
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.
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]
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.
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.
