First Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 24

Reading 1 Dt 26:4-10

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
"The priest shall receive the basket from you
and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God.
Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God,
'My father was a wandering Aramean
who went down to Egypt with a small household
and lived there as an alien.
But there he became a nation
great, strong, and numerous.
When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us,
imposing hard labor upon us,
we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers,
and he heard our cry
and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
He brought us out of Egypt
with his strong hand and outstretched arm,
with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;
and bringing us into this country,
he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.
Therefore, I have now brought you the firstfruits
of the products of the soil
which you, O LORD, have given me.'
And having set them before the Lord, your God,
you shall bow down in his presence."

Responsorial Psalm Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15.

R. (cf. 15b)  Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
say to the LORD, "My refuge and fortress,
my God in whom I trust."
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.
No evil shall befall you,
nor shall affliction come near your tent,
For to his angels he has given command about you,
that they guard you in all your ways.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.
Upon their hands they shall bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the asp and the viper;
you shall trample down the lion and the dragon.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.
Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress;
I will deliver him and glorify him.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Reading 2 Rom 10:8-13

Brothers and sisters:
What does Scripture say?
The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart
—that is, the word of faith that we preach—,
for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
For the Scripture says,
No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him.
For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Verse Before the Gospel Mt 4:4b

One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

Gospel Lk 4:1-13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days,
and when they were over he was hungry.
The devil said to him,
"If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread."
Jesus answered him,
"It is written, One does not live on bread alone."
Then he took him up and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
The devil said to him,
"I shall give to you all this power and glory;
for it has been handed over to me,
and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me."
Jesus said to him in reply,
"It is written:
You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve."
Then he led him to Jerusalem,
made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,
"If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down from here, for it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,
and:
With their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone."
Jesus said to him in reply,
"It also says,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test."
When the devil had finished every temptation,
he departed from him for a time.

for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

 We are united to Jesus Christ. Our suffering is His suffering. His suffering is our suffering. Jesus has told us that suffering is part of the Christian life and through it a very special grace can be encountered. We cannot lose focus of this when we are challenged in life or face some sort of obstacle that just might shake our faith. It is through these things that our faith is strengthened and our relationship with Jesus Christ becomes deeper.

As in all relationships, the more we spend interacting with Jesus Christ, the more familiar He will become to us. We will be able to feel His presence and His influence in our lives. This will take some effort on our part but Lent is the perfect time to recommit ourselves to this process of knowing Him.

 

It is during the Season of Lent that we encounter the Human Christ: The Word becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us. It is here where we can relate to Him as our brother and witness the wounds that were inflicted upon Him by those who refused to believe that one so weak and fragile could be the savior of the world. We too have suffered wounds from this world that have left us broken. Jesus knows this and shares in all our experiences. It is through this empathy that we are invited into a relationship with Him that becomes a shared experience. There is a unifying bond that is formed through suffering, and it is made stronger through a continuation of that suffering; being solidified completely by enduring it to the end and being participators in the celebration that follows. Together all involved are brought to the lowest of lows and then lifted up to the highest of heights. It is through this entire process, from beginning to the end, that we get to know ourselves better and know Jesus more.

 

The Christian Community becomes an important participator in this relationship with Jesus also.

 

The Apostle Paul tells us that, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This was the same message that was given to us through the Prophet Joel. Calling on His name comes after an awareness that He is there, and it can be either to Him as a friend or an act of desperation, depending on the relationship we have with Him. Depending on who we are and what is happening in our lives will dictate where we are going to meet Jesus and in what capacity. It is from there that the relationship will develop and change if we continue to experience it. Keeping Jesus Christ on our mouths and in our hearts means that there is a focus on the relationship and an effort to examine it. Through this examination comes familiarity and through familiarity comes closeness. We cannot get to the next phase of the relationship without going through each one in its particular order and level of intimacy. One follows the other in a progressive way.

 

The Season of Lent is forty days, which does not include Sundays because that is the Day of the Resurrection, and the focus should not be on suffering but on joy instead. The number 40 is reflective on several biblical events which we are invited into contemplating while we embark on our own journey of suffering and self-discovery. Noah and his family endured 40 days and nights of rain in the Ark during the Great Flood. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years until they reached the Promised Land. Jesus Christ endured 40 days of temptation and suffering in the desert by Satan. Just as those before us had their faith forged through events presented to them so we too have this opportunity to enter our own crucible to be transformed into a new creation and to become closer to God as a direct result.

 

Just as Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for our salvation, we now sacrifice something dear to ourselves to relate to Him and bring us closer to Him. We empty ourselves of earthly desires and replace them with a spiritual openness which then can be filled with the Love of God. When we find ourselves struggling with the loss of that which was earthly, we are then encouraged all the more to focus on the spiritual experience that we have made ourselves available. The exercise enables us to become more spiritually aware as the physical becomes less important and at times completely fades away. When less attention is placed on physical pleasures and necessity, the other parts of us (the mental and spiritual) become stronger and we become more familiar with them. What was then perceived as suffering actually becomes a liberating force which raises us up and strengthens us. It is here where we become more in tune with Jesus.

 

To truly experience our faith and allow it to become an important part of our life we must become familiar with that which is the central aspect of our faith: Jesus Christ. During Lent we as Christians are united in this effort to remove all earthly obstacles which prevent us from getting closer to Him. Joined together we enter a form of universal suffering which will then bring us into a period of universal celebration marked by the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Before we get to the light we must travel through the darkness, guided by the light that dwells within us. The journey is long and challenging but there is always light at the end of the darkness and the darkness can never conquer the light that Christ has put in every one of us.

 

Deacon Tom

 

 

 

 

 

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 84

Reading I

Sirach 27:4-7

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;
so do one’s faults when one speaks.
As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace,
so in tribulation is the test of the just.
The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had;
so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind.
Praise no one before he speaks,
for it is then that people are tested.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16

R (cf. 2a) Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
            to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn
            and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
            like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
            shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
            vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
            my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

Reading II

1 Corinthians 15:54-58

Brothers and sisters:
When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility
and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality,
then the word that is written shall come about:
            Death is swallowed up in victory.
                        Where, O death, is your victory?
                        Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters,
be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Alleluia

Philippians 2:15d, 16a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine like lights in the world
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 6:39-45

Jesus told his disciples a parable,
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite!  Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

What we say defines who we are as much as what we do. Our words can either condemn us or enforce the person we really are. The truth is a very powerful thing and is the one thing that remains unchanged by outside influences or actions. The ultimate truth, as we know, is God from where all good things flow. If all good things come from God and He is the ultimate truth, then all revelation must ultimately come from Him. The answer to all things has Him as its primary source. Understanding this should give us pause when we speak or when we do something. Is God at the center of what we say and do? As Christians, this should be something to contemplate. What is the guiding force in our lives? What motivates us daily? Words do have power. When something is said, it remains as a permanent record with us at its source. They are capable of shaping people’s perception of us and defining who we are, offering a window into our thoughts and what is important to us. Because speech is our major source of communication, it is the primary way of interaction with other people. They can either have a negative effect or a positive one based on how we use them. Wisdom dictates that we choose what we say carefully, knowing that they will leave a lasting impression. When we fail to communicate what we think or how we are feeling, we can become frustrated. A lack of temperance will develop which can lead to our emotions getting the best of us. Our thoughts become disorganized, whereupon an emotional response will develop instead of a logical one. This is where we start to say things that we do not mean and do things that we do not want to do or are not in our best interest. We become our worst enemy instead of our greatest advocate.

 

In Buddhism, one of the tenants of the Eightfold Path is Right Speech, which will lead to enlightenment and a proper life. It teaches that what is spoken should not be an untruth, harm others, or be for a negative purpose. In Sacred Scripture, the Wisdom Books speak of proper speech as much as proper conduct. Negative thoughts lead to negative emotions, which leads to negative speech and action. There will never be a positive result coming out of something that is rooted in the negative, regardless of the circumstances. As Jesus said,

 

“The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy.”

 

What we say reflects our soul and where we are in relationship with God. Are the teachings of Jesus and our relationship with Him guiding us or are we being dictated to by the allures of this world and what society offers? Keeping a chaste mind and heart leads to positive thoughts, words, and action. We can easily self-justify when we embrace that which is negative, but why do we have to self-justify it in the first place when it is arguably, in our eyes, the right thing to do? If we find ourselves defending something that we said or did, then we have already lost the argument.

 

Twice the analogy of a good tree bearing good fruit is used today, once in the Book of Sirach and once when Jesus is speaking to His disciples. Our soul is the center of our being. If it is aligned with God, then we are  in a State of Grace. This means that we are in a proper relationship with Him. It is here that we will be able to feel His love and react to it. This reaction means our thoughts and actions will be influenced by Him. What we say and do will bear good fruit and have positive results. We might have intrusive thoughts, but we can react to these properly, pushing them away in favor of being moved by the Holy Spirit. This process is known as Spiritual Warfare. If we keep focused on God, then victory over these things will result.

 

Jesus warns us that even by judging others instead of focusing on ourselves can lead to bad things. There is only one judge, who is the Father. In our arrogance, we all tend to judge others instead of directing our attention to our own shortcomings. Accepting that we are all works in progress and contemplating on where we can do better is part of us becoming new creations through Jesus Christ. Taking what we know and attempting to offer Good Counsel to those who may be falling short is the task that we should undertake. No one can stand up to judgement. Why should we then judge others without correcting our own actions first? We all have work to do. This starts with understanding that our words have power. Behind them should be actions that enforce what is said and expresses exactly where they are coming from, which is our heart. The condition of our heart is revelation as to the condition of our soul and where it stands with God.

 

Deacon Tom