We're in Year A, and the readings proposed for the Season of Lent are particularly helpful for reflection on the human condition. They are also prescribed as part of the tools for teaching catechumens, the men and women who have expressed a desire to join the Catholic Church and who will be baptised or received into full communion at the Easter Vigil. What words! What promise! Here then (or hear then) the homily for this weekend:
The most valuable relationship
For some months now, five adults in this community have been meeting weekly to learn about the Catholic faith. Some of them have never been baptised, but have expressed a desire to explore the possibility of a relationship with our God. Others have already begun their faith lives, in other Christian denominations and still others were baptised in the Catholic Church but have not yet completed all the Sacraments of Initiation. Over the past couple of months, they have been learning about the Church and deepening their faith with the help of a team of parishioners who continue to teach the lessons of faith and to share their own experiences of living in relationship with our loving God.
As it happens, we also have three children whose parents have come to the Church and asked us to share the Sacrament of Baptism with their children this weekend. For these children, and for the adults who will be baptised or received into full communion at the Easter Vigil, this is an important moment in their faith journey, and all of us who are gathered here this weekend are privileged to be able to share this graced time. The promise of life that is announced to these newcomers is the same promise that is given to each of us. Paul tells us that it is a promise of life in Christ, who by his act of righteousness won for us the abundance of grace.
In order to help us understand the depth of this grace, the scriptures proposed for this first Sunday of Lent take us back to the story of creation, and remind us that even from the earliest days of our existence human beings have always sought ways to play God, but the truth is that there can only ever be one God, and we are not Him. To play at being God is the root of all sin, and time has shown that the consequences of such sin are swiftly imposed, not to exclude us from God's love but to show us the seriousness of God's commitment, and the seriousness with which we too should accept our commitment to faith.
The Lenten season is a gift to the Church. As we prepare for the celebration of Easter, this period of grace allows us first to strip away all the layers of lies that we human beings can so easily get caught in when we try to justify ourselves. Some of us have become masters at deceiving others, thinking that we need always to be looking out for number one, but the truth is that we can't play this game with God. Oh, we can try to make room for him in our lives when we need him, and to deny his existence at other times in our lives, thinking that we're too busy or that there are other priorities which are more important, but if we classify faith as part of the disposable society, I'm afraid that we are setting ourselves up for the greatest of all deceptions.
When all is said and done, no other human being can know for sure the inner workings of another's heart. Only God can read hearts, but then again each of us will eventually have to account for our choices. The truth is that faith, which begins at baptism, must be nurtured daily. To do otherwise runs the risk of spiritual starvation. Only by working every day at our commitment to God, at practicing our faith will we know the strength it has to offer in times of need. If we haven't developed the habit of prayer, then when we're confronted with trial, the prospect of searching for answers can seem insurmountable.
The Season of Lent invites us to recognize a call to return to the basics, to renew or to strengthen the relationship between us and God. It was only because he had a living, active relationship with the Father that Jesus was able to detect the devil's deceptions. His conviction in the power of the Father's love allowed him then to refute Satan's temptations because he knew that the promises proposed were hollow. The same is true for us today. If we have nurtured a living faith between God and us, we too will be able to see through the lies that the devil puts before us. Without it, we might fall prey to the temptation to believe that eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in other words playing God, cannot harm us. We might be tempted to believe that empty promises can actually satiate our hunger for truth, or that the material riches this world has to offer can indeed provide security.
If however, we have discovered the value of a relationship of trust with our God, we are secure in the knowledge that only God can give us the special food that alone can satisfy our every hunger. The security of our relationship with the Father assures us that we will always be protected from harm, and that no amount of material wealth could ever satisfy like the wealth of a relationship of love with the One who is love.
The most valuable relationship
For some months now, five adults in this community have been meeting weekly to learn about the Catholic faith. Some of them have never been baptised, but have expressed a desire to explore the possibility of a relationship with our God. Others have already begun their faith lives, in other Christian denominations and still others were baptised in the Catholic Church but have not yet completed all the Sacraments of Initiation. Over the past couple of months, they have been learning about the Church and deepening their faith with the help of a team of parishioners who continue to teach the lessons of faith and to share their own experiences of living in relationship with our loving God.
As it happens, we also have three children whose parents have come to the Church and asked us to share the Sacrament of Baptism with their children this weekend. For these children, and for the adults who will be baptised or received into full communion at the Easter Vigil, this is an important moment in their faith journey, and all of us who are gathered here this weekend are privileged to be able to share this graced time. The promise of life that is announced to these newcomers is the same promise that is given to each of us. Paul tells us that it is a promise of life in Christ, who by his act of righteousness won for us the abundance of grace.
In order to help us understand the depth of this grace, the scriptures proposed for this first Sunday of Lent take us back to the story of creation, and remind us that even from the earliest days of our existence human beings have always sought ways to play God, but the truth is that there can only ever be one God, and we are not Him. To play at being God is the root of all sin, and time has shown that the consequences of such sin are swiftly imposed, not to exclude us from God's love but to show us the seriousness of God's commitment, and the seriousness with which we too should accept our commitment to faith.
The Lenten season is a gift to the Church. As we prepare for the celebration of Easter, this period of grace allows us first to strip away all the layers of lies that we human beings can so easily get caught in when we try to justify ourselves. Some of us have become masters at deceiving others, thinking that we need always to be looking out for number one, but the truth is that we can't play this game with God. Oh, we can try to make room for him in our lives when we need him, and to deny his existence at other times in our lives, thinking that we're too busy or that there are other priorities which are more important, but if we classify faith as part of the disposable society, I'm afraid that we are setting ourselves up for the greatest of all deceptions.
When all is said and done, no other human being can know for sure the inner workings of another's heart. Only God can read hearts, but then again each of us will eventually have to account for our choices. The truth is that faith, which begins at baptism, must be nurtured daily. To do otherwise runs the risk of spiritual starvation. Only by working every day at our commitment to God, at practicing our faith will we know the strength it has to offer in times of need. If we haven't developed the habit of prayer, then when we're confronted with trial, the prospect of searching for answers can seem insurmountable.
The Season of Lent invites us to recognize a call to return to the basics, to renew or to strengthen the relationship between us and God. It was only because he had a living, active relationship with the Father that Jesus was able to detect the devil's deceptions. His conviction in the power of the Father's love allowed him then to refute Satan's temptations because he knew that the promises proposed were hollow. The same is true for us today. If we have nurtured a living faith between God and us, we too will be able to see through the lies that the devil puts before us. Without it, we might fall prey to the temptation to believe that eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in other words playing God, cannot harm us. We might be tempted to believe that empty promises can actually satiate our hunger for truth, or that the material riches this world has to offer can indeed provide security.
If however, we have discovered the value of a relationship of trust with our God, we are secure in the knowledge that only God can give us the special food that alone can satisfy our every hunger. The security of our relationship with the Father assures us that we will always be protected from harm, and that no amount of material wealth could ever satisfy like the wealth of a relationship of love with the One who is love.
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