HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR

The season of Lent extends from Ash Wednesday up to the eve of Easter Sunday. The word "lent" comes from a German word meaning "spring." It is a time of purification and introspection in preparation for the renewal in spring. The first day of Lent occurs on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter Sunday. The number forty has much significance in relation to the mythic story of Jesus and the preparation of Lent. According to scripture and tradition, Jesus was forty hours in the tomb before his resurrection and forty days fasting in the wilderness before undertaking his public mission.

The forty days before Easter is a time for us to also fast from the outer world. In an agricultural society, Lent is the time in the year when the winter stores are dwindling and it becomes time to tighten one’s belt, until the food stores can be renewed in the spring. It represents a period of self-examination.oday the name of the game is: use what you have to get what you want. I am sure you have heard that before. Many people indeed take it as their philosophy of life. In our Gospel reading today, however, Jesus shows us that the principle of using whatever you have to get whatever you want is not always right. In fact, when that principle is applied without putting God first, it becomes a philosophy of the world, the devil's own philosophy, a philosophy that should be rejected even as Jesus did.ospel today is on the Temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Three temptations are recounted: to change stone into bread, to fall down and worship the devil, and to jump down from the pinnacle of the Temple. In each of these three temptations what the devil is saying to Jesus is, "Come on, use what you have to get what you want." And in each case Jesus overcomes the temptation by replying, "No, we can only use godly means to satisfy our God-given needs or to pursue our goals in life."

e first temptation, Jesus had fasted for forty days in the wilderness and at the end of it he was very hungry. The devil puts an idea into his head: "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread" (Luke 4:3). Notice that the first thing the devil does is sow a doubt in his mind: "if you are the Son of God." "Are you really sure God is with you?" The same thing happened in the garden of Eden. The first thing the Tempter said to Eve was, "Did God really say you should not eat of any fruit of the garden" (Genesis 3:1). Temptation always begins with a doubting thought. Did God really say this or is it one of those Sunday school fairy tales? Jesus overcame the temptations by refusing to entertain such doubts and by standing on the word of God.

secondly, that people are tempted only with what they need or want. After his fasting Jesus needed to eat. So the devil tempted him with food. It is not a sin for Jesus to eat after fasting. The sin may lie in how the food is obtained. Should he follow the normal way of obtaining bread or should he take the shortcut suggested by the devil to obtain instant bread? Jesus refuses to take the devil's shortcut. The means we employ to satisfy our needs must be in accordance with the word of God. Feeding on God's word is ultimately more important than feeding on bread. "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone'" (verse 4).

Note, secondly, that people are tempted only with what they need or want. After his fasting Jesus needed to eat. So the devil tempted him with food

In the second temptation the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and promises to give him authority over them if only Jesus would worship him. Remember that Jesus was about to begin his public life and was looking for a way to get the whole world to know him and accept his message. Again the devil tempts him to use what he has (his heart, his soul) to get what he wants (the loyalty of the whole world). Again Jesus says no. The end does not justify the means. "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him'" (verse 8).

third temptation the devil asks Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple as a way to prove that he was the Son of God. Remember that the people were asking Jesus for a sign to prove that he was the Messiah. Jesus wanted to convince them that he was the one. But how do you do it! The devil suggested this sensational sky jump without a parachute. Again, use what you have to get what you want. Use your supernatural power to get the people to recognize you and believe in you as the Son of God, the Messiah. And again Jesus says no. The God of Jesus Christ is not a God of the sensational but a God who works through the ordinary, everyday things of life. "Do not put the Lord your God to the test" (verse 12).

Jesus shows us that we should never trade off our faith in God or our moral principles to obtain anything in this world, because faithfulness to God is more precious than anything in this world. we are the most religious people in the world when it comes to church attendance, prayer and identifying ourselves as believers,” they say, “but why does our religiosity not translate itself into right conduct and fair business practice.” OUR country, as you know, is said to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Is true religion only a matter of the heart and of the lips? This is the question that comes to mind as we hear Paul’s words to the Romans in today’s second reading: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Is true Christianity, then, simply a matter of believing in the heart and confessing with the lips? Are the hands and feet not involved? Does it matter how we lead our lives so long as we believe in our heart and confess with our lips? What is Paul teaching us here?

To understand what Paul is saying and what this means in our daily lives we need to see it in the context of the early Christians in Rome. The Roman church was a severely persecuted church. Christians were persecuted not for what they said and did but for what they refused to say and do. You see, starting from the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor had adopted a divine status. At his death the emperor was deified and proclaimed to be a god, while his living successor was declared to be the son of a god (divi filius). Sacrifices and incense were offered in public worship to the emperor gods. They were invoked and addressed as “lord” (dominus).

the early Christians believed that the only person to have walked this earth who deserved to be addressed and worshipped as God is none other than Jesus Christ. They, therefore, transferred to Jesus the title and the homage that emperor worshippers has conferred on the emperor. They called Jesus the true Son of God and addressed him as Lord while refusing to recognize the divine status of the emperors, even under threat of death. Of course some of them, out of fear of death, would deny their Christian faith and confess Caesar to be the Lord. Paul is not happy with that. In today’s reading he encourages them to remain strong in their faith in the Resurrected One and to confess him as Lord even if that would cost them their lives, for that is the way to attain salvation.

one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved” (10:10). By secretly believing in Jesus in the privacy of their hearts, Christians are justified. This is not enough, however. Ultimate and final salvation comes only when one has the courage on one’s conviction to openly confess Christ as Lord with one’s lips. Against this background we can see that Paul is not telling them that believing in Christ in the heart alone is all that saves the Christian. Far from that, he is encouraging them to translate their faith into concrete and public action, even if that action is only to declare publicly that Jesus is the Lord. For that was the challenge of the faith in those days

It is the challenge of the faith in our own day? The tendency to regard the Christian faith as a private matter is still a concern for us today. In many places it is not politically correct to identify ourselves as Christians either as individuals or as communities. France has banned the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in schools. The United States frowns at the public display of Christian symbols on government property, like the Ten Commandments monument in a Kentucky courthouse. In places like Kenya where public display of religion is allowed, people display it but fail to follow through with the implication of faith in their day to day lives. Paul urges us today to think the thought (in out hearts), to talk the talk (with our lips) and to walk the walk ( in our actions).

Again, in today’s gospel, we hear the account of the beginning of Jesus’ journey. Baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus finds it necessary to prepare himself for the mission to which God entrusts him. To do this he wanders out into the barren wasteland, away from all the distractions of everyday life to be by himself. He empties himself by fasting and praying. Yet, even after 40 days of fasting and praying, he is still not empty enough. It is then that he encounters that dark part of human nature which drives so many human beings to sacrifice everything, including significant human relationships, in order to pursue power, prestige, and the satisfaction of all bodily wants and desires. The devil uses all his charm, his wit, his knowledge, and his guile to coax and seduce a very tired and hungry Jesus to succumb to the dark side of his human nature. Despite the exhaustion he is experiencing, Jesus is able to ward off these attempts by the devil. In doing so, he succeeds in emptying himself completely of all that might have stood in the way of his mission. Vanquished this time, Luke concludes that the devil departed from Jesus for a while. And, Jesus, filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, begins his mission of preaching to and healing a very wounded, broken humanity.

It is not enough for just Jesus to make the journey through this lonesome valley. The journey belongs to each and every one of us. At the moment of our conception, we were entrusted with a mission by God. And, as unique and different as we are from one another, so our mission and our journey is equally unique and different, so that only I can make my journey and complete my mission, and only you, can make and complete yours. Just as Jesus, after his baptism in the Jordan, was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, so, we, too, who have been baptized, are led by the Holy Spirit out into the desert.

Throughout the gospels, we hear Jesus say, “Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.” Like Jesus, we need to lose ourselves in that desert place. We need to empty our lives of all that might hinder and distract us from the mission to which we have been entrusted. From the time of our birth, we pick up and learn so much along the way. The desert time is one in which to sift through all we have acquired and been taught by our families, our communities, and, our society. It is necessary, by using those time honored and effective tools of fasting, praying, and penance, to expand and strengthen all that builds up our human nature, and reject and discard all that is so destructive of our human nature. As we empty ourselves, we will encounter that dark side of our human nature, unpleasant, twisted, ugly, and perhaps even hideous and be tempted to run away from it or despair ever being free from it. It is at this point, we can call on Jesus to come and comfort us, encourage us, strengthen us, inspire us, and help us draw upon the grace which God has given us, in order to confront that dark side of our human nature and be free. All we need to do is call to Jesus for help and he will come to us. As one who has already made that journey through the lonesome valley, he knows the walk and knows how best to help us.

As we make this journey, we will find that we are not doing this in total isolation. Our journey, our lonesome valley may be unique to each and every one of us, but we journey in solidarity with one another as a faith community. We will find that our faith community is not confined to just to our own Valley of Tears. In truth, our faith community is world wide as evidenced by the Rice Bowls you saw at the entrance of the church when you arrived. By simply picking up one of the rice bowls as we leave, we will find ourselves in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ in other places of the world.

In closing, I encourage all of us as we leave today to find that desert place in which to lose ourselves in order to find our true selves. Not all of us are able to expend either the money or the time away from our family and work to go off to a retreat center for an extended time of fasting, prayer, and penance. However, we are all able, within ourselves, and, within our homes, to create that desert place to find our true self, the person God intended us to be. We have all the necessary tools in order to make the journey.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by the devil. Three times the devil tempted him but he did not give in to the devil’s demands because his food (desire, mission) is to do the will of God (John 4:31f). Before this temptation, Mathew in his gospel has the story of the Baptism of Jesus in which a heavenly voice declared of him saying: “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). You may recall that the “son of God” was the position he (Lucifer) lost by his disobedience.   As such he is not happy that Jesus is the son of God. He wants history to repeat itself in Jesus Christ. This is why he is sets out to tempt him in every way to make him fall.

            So in the first temptation, Jesus was asked, “If you are the son of God, turn this stone into bread”.   The devil knew that Jesus had the power and mission to multiply bread, which he did at the appointed time when he fed over 5000 people with five barley loaves and two fish (John 6:1-15). The devil knows that Jesus is a miracle worker and that he is going to do this as the servant of Yahweh; not as a wonder worker, but he tempted Jesus with wonder working and failed.   Again, he knows that after 40 days, Jesus would be greatly hungry, and then he tempted him with food which is the greatest need at that time. Note that the devil does not just tempt his victims anyhow; he is very calculative and cunning. He uses the greatest needs of the moment to tempt his victims.   This is what happened to Esau who lost his birthright when tempted with food by Jacob when he was very hungry (Genesis 25:31). Watch it when you are the bread winner of your family, or have no money or job. Or you are sick or homeless or seeking position of authority. The desperation to satisfy these needs here and now can cause a person make the greatest mistakes of his or her life and lose future blessings.

            In the second temptation the devil showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world, and said, “I will give you all their authority and splendor if you worship me”. Remember that Jesus came to redeem this kingdom which Adam and Eve handed over to Satan through their disobedience (Luke 4:6). And now the devil is willing to hand it to Jesus by asking him to use his loyalty to obtain it, but Jesus said to him that the end does not justify the means; that we can only use godly means to satisfy our needs. But again here that at the appointed time, Jesus won the kingdom and told his disciples: “Be of good cheers for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Watch it also when friends tell you to use what you have to obtain what you want, especially when the means to achieving such wants are sinful.

            In the third temptation, the devil offered Jesus a chance to prove his power as God’s son by throwing himself down the hill. He reminded Jesus that he could do it without any hurt as recorded in Psalm 91:11-12. Though Jesus could do it, yet he did not do what he was commanded until the appointed time when he fell from the Cross and was buried but rose triumphantly on the third day.

            In these temptations two things stand out very clearly for our considerations, namely, that a person is tempted according to his mission to redirect him or her or stop the mission from being accomplished; and secondly that we are tempted with our greatest needs of the moment. As in the case of Jesus, the devil is never happy that we are children of God.   He lost the kingdom and does not want God’s children to enjoy it. This is why he “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, resist him and strong in faith” (1 Peter 5:8).

So, temptation can never come to an end; we will experience it as long as we live.   Jesus shows us today that to be a child of God is to surrender oneself to Him unconditionally and in all situations, and to allow the knowledge we have about God to influence our choices and decisions in the face of temptations as he did by saying “it is written…”

By Rt. Rev. Bishop Kasomo Daniel. PhD.D.Sc.

Bishop Kasomo Daniel is a Roman Catholic Bishop of the Society of St. Peter and Paul (SSPP).