March 2019

In the Old Testament the early encounters with God are based on the promise that the Lord who has revealed himself to His people will always be faithful to them. When God says to Moses, “I Am who I Am,” He is declaring that He is the one who will always be beside His people, leading and guiding them. It is this fidelity that sustains the people of Israel in their journey to the promised land. The people, of course, were not always faithful to God. Sometimes God seems to be willing to destroy them and needs to be persuaded otherwise by human representatives such as Moses and the prophets. At other times God declares that He will always be with His people, no matter how unfaithful their behavior. St. Paul wants us to take the events of the history of Israel as a warning as to what may happen to us Christians if we are not faithful to God and do not keep to God’s ways. Disasters, whether caused by nature or people, aren’t signs of God’s punishment. But when things go wrong, they are signs to us to reflect on our lives and ask ourselves whether we are producing the fruit that is asked of us.

One of the early Greek Fathers of the Church said that out three greatest temptations to sin are laziness, forgetfulness, and thoughtlessness. If thoughtlessness might be deemed the temptation of youth,  forgetfulness is certainly the habit of old age, and perhaps laziness belongs to both.

At the beginning of Lent we are presented with the familiar text of the temptation of Jesus. Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit, moves into new territory. This new space will be challenging but ultimately rewarding. The wilderness is a place where there are few signposts; the terrain is often monotonous and difficult to navigate. This is serious stuff, requiring commitment and spiritual preparation. Jesus is being sharpened and honed for the short and trying public ministry which lies ahead. Jesus encounters the old adversary, the devil, head-on. Tempted to misuse His power, Jesus has to think on His feet and be resolute in standing up against the father of lies. Worship of God alone; not putting God to the test; being satisfied solely with the bread of God’s word – these are the fundamental lessons that Jesus has learnt and will stand Him in good stead for the future. Because Jesus is strong in these areas, the devil has no way in and leaves Him.

This is 1st Sunday of Lent and so we have the opportunity once again to enter into the wilderness space that the Church opens up for us in her liturgical calendar. Lent gives us the chance to be adventurous and try something new. Decisions about prayer and being nourished by the word of God will need to be made. A firm resolve is always helpful in ensuring that we stick to our plans. So today is the day, if we have not done it already, to commit ourselves to stepping away from the familiar and onto this Lenten journey. Of course, all this is done with faith that blessings will be received. It might not be the physical lifting of a trophy, but it could be the ability to raise our hands aloft at the forthcoming feast with a renewed sense of all that God has done is doing for us in Christ.