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14 Feb 2016 - First Sunday of Lent, Cycle C

Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For 40 wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when the time was up he was hungry. The Devil, playing on his hunger, gave the first test: “Since you’re God’s Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to really live.” For the second test he led him up and spread out all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once. Then the Devil said, “They’re yours in all their splendor to serve your pleasure. I’m in charge of them all and can turn them over to whomever I wish. Worship me and they’re yours.” Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.” For the third test the Devil took him to Jerusalem and put him on top of the Temple. He said, “If you are God’s Son, jump. It’s written, isn’t it, that ‘he has placed you in the care of angels to protect you; they will catch you; you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone’?” “Yes,” said Jesus, “and it’s also written, ‘Don’t you dare tempt the Lord your God.’” That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity (from Luke 4). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

Devil 40 days

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The inner word

19 Feb 2012 - Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

In Mark's gospel Jesus always seemed to be moving about with urgency. Even at the beginning of his ministry he was "driven" out into the desert for 40 days. Do you enter these days of Lent with a similar drive and zeal? What will you encounter in the desert this time? Do you feel the protecting Spirit of Christ, just as Jesus knew the ministering of angels?

Desert 40 days Lent

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Homily stories

18 Feb 2018 - First Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Dorothy singing "Over the Rainbow" to Toto remains one of the most magical moments recorded on film. It touched something deep within many people’s hearts. In many ways, the only thing more delicate and ethereal than the colors of a rainbow in the still-glistening sky, its darkness being overcome by the bright light of the sun, is the look on a child’s face when he or she sees a rainbow for the first time. What is it about a rainbow that is so special for young and old alike? How do we reconcile our beginning of this season of Lent—what is supposed to be an austere time of introspection, repentance, penance, and forgiveness—with the bright image of the rainbow? It is most unlikely for Jesus to see a rainbow as he prays in the desert. Like Jesus, our 40 days in the Lenten desert will be filled with temptations and wild beasts bent on drawing us away from the task of reconnecting ourselves with God. God promises that God’s loving presence will always be with us. God makes a covenant with us, and the rainbow is a sign of that promise. But when we go searching for rainbows we seldom find them. They seem, rather, to find us, to appear when we least expect them to. This Lent, perhaps it would be better not to spend our time in the desert scanning the horizon. We might be looking in vain for what is already present in our own hearts.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

rainbows covenant 40 days wizard of oz

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Homily stories

18 Feb 2018 - First Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

There’s an old joke about the young man who went to Confession and said he had been experiencing temptations. “Did you entertain them, my son?” asked the kindly confessor. “No, Father,” replied the confused penitent, “but they sure entertained me!” Being tempted isn’t a sin; it’s a spiritual opportunity. After all, Jesus was tempted throughout his 40 days in the desert. Wrestling with temptations helped clarify his mission and deepen his reliance on his Father. It’s good to remember, and also to instruct your children, that encountering temptation is not a sign of defeat. In fact facing temptation can mean you’re actually on the right path. Author Gregg Levoy writes, “At our first steps toward authenticity—or love or compassion or any high calling—every devil in hell will come out to meet us.” Even setbacks shouldn’t cause us to throw in the towel, but can lead to a deeper reliance on God and grace when future temptations come our way. The rest of the world is regularly telling us and our children that “we deserve a break today” or that there is a pill or product to cure our every ache or discomfort. Jesus shows a different way. He risked the harshness of the desert and thus discovered life. We need to avoid the temptation of seeking only security and comfort in our own lives or we may wind up with hearts that are as barren as deserts.

Authors Tom McGrath

Temptation 40 days

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In other words

18 Feb 2018 - First Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

At once, this same Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wild. For 40 wilderness days and nights he was tested by Satan. Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him. After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Message of God: “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message” (from Mark 1). From A New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2013).

40 days

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Exploring the word

25 Feb 2018 - Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Let’s have a show of hands: Who gave up something for Lent this year? For many Catholics, the Lenten sacrifice is part and parcel of these 40 days. It’s another reason to wear penitential purple: 40 days without chocolate. Without dessert. Without coffee. But we know that sacrifice doesn’t necessarily involve the rejection of material things. This year, some of us may be giving up gossip or using cuss words or spending the evening parked in front of the TV or complaining. These are good practices that hopefully will take root in Lent and become standard behavior. Some people may have decided to go all out and give up large sums of money in a generous demonstration of Christian charity. We could certainly use more of those! But some folks have given up on “giving up” as a spiritual practice. They are trying instead to do something positive and proactive: spending more time in prayer or with their kids or caring for their health in exercise or pledging involvement with social concerns. The “giving up” business focused too hard on the negative for these people, and they are trying a new approach to the disciplines of Lent. But what if we stopped thinking of ourselves altogether? What if we gave up thinking about Lent as a kind of moral self-improvement program and considered the root meaning of sacrifice? The ancient practice of sacrifice Sacrifice shares a root with the word sacred. A sacrifice is an act that makes one holy—that is, a sharer in the nature of God. Every religious tradition includes sacrificial practices intended to bring worshipers closer to the Divine. The goal is not to become better people but to experience union with God. All ancient sacrifice involved offering a gift of some kind, and the gift invariably was alive. Life, understood to reside in the blood, was offered to God because it is the most precious thing there is. Every sacrifice therefore consisted of an animal sacrifice, plus grains and “first fruits” to set a full banquet before the Lord. When the blood was poured, sprinkled, or splashed against the altar, the sacrifice was considered complete. Sacrifices came in different varieties, depending on the occasion. Some were peace offerings, celebratory events of the good relationship between God and the community. In this celebration, after the spattering of the blood, everyone enjoyed the ritual meal. Other sacrifices were intended as sin or guilt offerings; no one but the priests ate the partially burnt meal, which they did for God by proxy to express its acceptance. A third kind of sacrifice was the “whole burnt offering.” This was a supreme form of adoration. In this ritual, God accepted the entire gift in thanks for blessings received or anticipated. The whole burnt offering was suitable on the occasion of a leper being declared clean, at the consecration of priests, to consecrate the new temple, or at the sealing ceremony for the covenant at Sinai, among others. Human sacrifices, rare even in ancient cultures, fell into the third category as whole burnt offerings. The ultimate gift was rendered to God as a testimony of perfect confidence and praise. That business at Moriah Every parent I know shrinks at the story of Abraham and Isaac in the land of Moriah. What kind of father agrees to sacrifice his child to God in cold blood, under any conceivable circumstances? It does not help matters to point out that God sent an angel at the last minute to stop the sacrifice, nor to compare this event with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. No parent, the compassionate heart insists, should be called upon to kill his or her child. Period. The story of the sacrifice of Isaac was told, in fact, to underscore that very idea. This God, Abraham’s God, was after something very different from what other gods may have been looking for from their adherents. Abraham, we recall, started out life as a pagan in Ur of the Chaldees. Though he agreed in later years to follow a new God with singular loyalty, a good part of his life had been surrendered to the pursuit of other gods and their demands. We can imagine the temptation to prove himself and his fidelity to this exclusive God would have been strong. Strong enough to offer the life of his long-awaited son? The storyteller styles this event as a test of Abraham’s character before God. But the story was most likely told to later generations as an example of God’s character before humanity. The God of Abraham was not looking for the supreme sacrifice of life from us. God had higher dreams for human life than to see it splashed against an altar. Related scripture links The blood is the life: Lev. 17:11 Complete laws regarding sacrifice: Lev. chs. 1-7 God’s servant as lamb of sacrifice: Isa. 53; John 1:29 Jesus as the sacrifice: Heb. 9:11-10:18 Christian life as sacrifice: Rom. 12:1; Phil. 2:17, 4:18 Catechism links Images of God: CCC 35; 203; 210; 214221; 284; 369370 Transfiguration: CCC 554556; 568

Authors Alice Camille

sacrifices Abraham 40 days offerings

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In other words

10 Mar 2019 - First Sunday of Lent, Cycle C

Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For 40 wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when the time was up he was hungry. The Devil, playing on his hunger, gave the first test: “Since you’re God’s Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to really live.” For the second test he led him up and spread out all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once. Then the Devil said, “They’re yours in all their splendor to serve your pleasure. I’m in charge of them all and can turn them over to whomever I wish. Worship me and they’re yours, the whole works.” Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.” For the third test the Devil took him to Jerusalem and put him on top of the Temple. He said, “If you are God’s Son, jump. It’s written, isn’t it, that ‘he has placed you in the care of angels to protect you; they will catch you; you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone’?” “Yes,” said Jesus, “and it’s also written, ‘Don’t you dare tempt the Lord your God.’ ” That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity (from Luke 4). From A New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2013).

40 days desert wilderness

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