March 10, 2019

1st Sunday of Lent C
Deuteronomy 26: 4-10; Romans 10: 8-13; Luke 4: 1-13
We are beginning Lent, automatically we think, ‘What am I going to give up?’ Some other questions
could be, What am I going to think about each day? What disturbing, annoying habit can I address
positively during this season? How does God view me and what are His hopes for me? Could I
spend time just looking at the gifts that I have been blessed with and see if I am using these to their
fullest? In my past Lents I have made all sorts of resolutions, could I try this year dividing up Lent
into six weeks and look at one aspect of my life with God?
Some possible themes:
• my skepticism and my hope
• my self-centered wants and the common good of those I’m with
• my desire for worldly things and the permanence of the Kingdom of God
• opening my eyes to see God’s presence
• opening my ears to hear God’s voice
• opening my heart to worship God by offering unconditional merciful love to others.
In the first reading, Moses is addressing the assembled tribes of Israel. He is trying, as he so often
did, to motivate them to consistently remain loyal to God. They have been freed from Egypt. They
were on their way to a ‘land flowing with milk and honey’ and had encountered so many obstacles and
distractions. Moses is taking a positive approach asking them to remember the wonderful blessings
God has already delivered and what is ahead of them in the Promised Land, most especially the
abundance of their harvests. The problem to watch out for is the belief that they can do it all on their
own. Now that they are free they don’t need God. Moses said this would lose it all for them. The
remedy is to always be grateful. They can show this by bringing their first fruits at harvest time to
the priests. The slavery in Egypt happened because they had wandered from their faith. God is
always present and delivered them, they could not do it on their own. The ‘Promised Land’ will be
filled with abundance. The rich pastures will provide plenty of grazing land for their cows. The
many flowering fruit trees will provide abundant nectar for the bees. All this is a gift from God.
This gift can be lost so easily by becoming complacent in their relationship with God. Do I do the
same? How is it at the beginning of each year I make resolutions and at the beginning of Lent I try
to get on track with the Lord? What is it that distracts me and takes my focus away from God and
onto myself? God has blessed me, do I share my blessings and gifts or am I selective in sharing and
giving? This takes away from my gratitude. As Msgr. Chet Michael said so frequently: ‘Gratitude,
Gratitude, Gratitude…and more Gratitude.’ AM I LIVING THIS?
Pauls’ letter to the Romans has always held a special place since it is the longest and the most
systematic unfolding of his thinking. It is God who saves all who believe and this is directed to all
people. Paul wrote this letter from Greece, probably Corinth and planned to travel to Rome on his
way to Spain. Paul is recounting that very few Jews recognized that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet the
mercy of God has been a constant throughout their history. Despite Israel’s lack of faith in Jesus’
Death and Resurrection, Paul does not abandon hope for her salvation. The conversion of the
Gentiles is proof of the acceptance of Jesus as the prophets predicted. Paul is telling the Romans
that in recognizing the Messiah’s arrival, the Mosaic Law has been replaced. Now Faith in God’s
saving action in Jesus Christ now takes precedence. To profess faith in Jesus in the first century was
very hazardous. The footnote in the Catholic Study Bible states: “For a Jew it could mean disruption of
normal familial and other social relationships, including great economic sacrifice. In the face of penalties
imposed by the secular world, Christians are assured that no one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame.”
So Paul wants his readers to be spiritually mature. In their hearts they should continue to nurture
their believe in the resurrection of Jesus and in their actions they should profess their faith. Faith has
to be lived out…not just spoken about. If I believe, I have to live that belief. How can people love
God if they don’t see God’s love in me?
In the Gospel, Luke presents the temptations of Jesus in the Judean desert. From the last line, “When
the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him for a time” we can see that Jesus had to face
continued challenges and struggles throughout His ministry. Here the devil is tempting Jesus
through tests to prove that He is actually the Son of God. The devil starts with a “IF” clause
implying that Jesus ISN’T who He claims to be. Jesus isn’t being tempted to do something evil or
immoral, just to do what the devil tells Him. This refers to Deuteronomy 8:2-3, “Remember how for
forty years now the Lord, your God, has directed all our journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction
and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep HIs commandments. He therefore let you be afflicted
with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that
not by bread alone does man live but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.” Do I live
as the Lord says or do I like my own sweet way? The second temptation focuses on the devil
offering Jesus power and glory over the whole world. Jesus chooses to serve God over the devil. Do
I look after me as most important? The third temptation the devil wants Jesus to prove His
messiahship the devil’s way. Jesus will not do anything to prove His messiahship. Recognizing
Jesus as the Son of God can be achieved only through faith, which is a gift, never by extraordinary
acts of power. The devil loses this round, but will return later in the form of Judas.
So I reflect on:
• When has recalling a painful memory freed me to find hope and healing?
• What needs to change in my life to worship only God this Lent?
• What temptations have I faced recently and refused? What did I learn from this?
• What are my recent temptations, do they seem to follow a pattern?
• Does the pattern seem to drag me down as a person and distract me from feeling loved by God?
God loves me…the devil deals with hate…hating myself, others, God. Do I call on God to help?
Sacred Space 2019 states:
“Lord, You told of these temptations to Your disciples—how else would they have known? Can I put words on
my own temptations, the weaknesses or wickedness that draw me in particular? Can I see my temptations as
You did, against the backdrop of the vocation to which You call me?
Jesus, like Moses before Him, retreats into the wilderness where He fasts for forty days. Each temptation
involves a seizure of power: power over the elements of creation by turning stones into bread; political and
military power by gaining power over the kingdoms of the world; and the power to force God’s protection in an
inappropriate manner. That Jesus was tested throughout His ministry was widely held in early Christianity. The
letter to the Hebrews tells us, ‘For do we not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have One who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.’”