Temptation in the Desert

1st Sunday of Lent

As we begin the season of Lent today's first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy reminds us to look back and reflect on who we are and where we came from. It doesn't take much of an imagination for us to realize how close we are to the Israelites in the time of Moses. After bringing up their offerings to the altar, Moses tells them to declare:

My father was a wandering Aramean
who went down to Egypt with a small household
and lived there as an alien.   

Most of us are descendants of immigrants who came to America in the last two centuries. Like the Israelites, our ancestors were fleeing oppression and hunger at home and they thought that America was a "land flowing with milk and honey." Like the Israelites they brought their God and their religion with them even though both encountered prejudice and opposition. They built families, homes, schools, and churches and handed down to their children a better life than they had ever known. They became in the words of the Bible a "nation great, strong and numerous." 

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There was always the danger that success might tempt us to turn our backs on God and our religion and make us forget where we came from and where we are going. Temptation is the subject of today's gospel. Even though the gospel readings go through a three year cycle, the reading for the first Sunday of Lent is always the account of our Lord's temptation in the desert. 

Luke begins this account by noting that Jesus, "filled with the Holy Spirit," returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil." This episode then follows almost immediately upon the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan where a voice from Heaven had proclaimed, "Thou art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased." 

Luke says that Jesus fasted for 40 days and then the devil appeared to Him and presented Him with three different temptations. Lucky for us that we are such small fry or such easy marks that the devil doesn't have to personally bother with us. Our temptations are not so dramatic. One of the greatest Christian authors of the last century, C.S. Lewis, wrote a book entitled, "The Screwtape Letters," in which he described how a petty bureaucrat from Hell tried to tempt a young man with the mundane, ordinary temptations that we all experience in our lives.

Nevertheless, the Devil tempts Jesus in ways that we all can understand. Please note however that despite all attempts today to glamorize the Devil, our tradition has always believed that he is a liar. In fact, he cannot help but lie or otherwise distort the Truth. Even when he quotes Scripture, as he does here, he cannot help but twist the meaning. By the way all of our Lord's responses are quotes from the Book of Deuteronomy, the source of today's first reading. Our Lord is the Truth, the Devil represents the complete absence of Truth. 

The first temptation deals with our basic human needs. Of course, it's not just about food and hunger. It's about all the things that we think that we must have to sustain our standard of living. Maybe we don't all want to be millionaires but we all know how the frantic search for the things of this world can destroy our basic human relationships. As our Lord said, "One does not live on bread alone."

The second temptation deals with the search for "power and glory." Lying again, the Devil claims that all the kingdoms in the world have been given to him and that he will give them to Jesus "if you worship me." Every day in the newspapers we read about some politician, CEO, athlete or entertainer who is in trouble with the law. Most of us are not such big shots but we know of the power struggles that go on in our own families, our schoolyards, our businesses and even in our churches. 

At the Jordan John the Baptist said that he must diminish so that the Lord could increase. It is just the opposite with the search for "power and glory." Again from Deuteronomy;

You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you serve." What more incentive do we need to attend Mass this Lent!

In the third temptation the Devil takes our Lord to the top of the Temple in Jerusalem looking down over the parapet 450 feet straight down to the Kidron valley. He says prove your faith in God by throwing yourself down for doesn't Scripture say angels will support you. He quotes the Psalm we used in today's Mass and from which the popular hymn "On Eagles' wings" is taken. Jesus says that spectacular stunts are not the way we prove our faith. Do not tempt the Lord your God.

About faith it would be good to go back to today's second reading from St. Paul.

"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.

It doesn't matter whether we're Jew or Greek, or whether our ancestors came from a county in Ireland, or a town in Italy, or a tribe in Africa, or a village in Asia, for "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

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Reading 1. Deuteronomy 26: 4-10

Reading II. Romans 10: 8-13

Gospel. Luke 4: 1-13 (Temptation in the Desert)

Love Walked In

                                    4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                                    

George Gershwin: Love Walked In *

Today's first reading is from the beginning of the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. It is Jeremiah's call to be a prophet:

            But do you gird your loins;

            stand up and tell them

            all that I command you.

Jeremiah is going to be a prophet not in the sense that he is going to foretell the future but in the sense that he is going to remind the people of their past and their covenant with God, and bring them back into a true relationship with their God. How often have they forgotten that they are a chosen people, a people with a mission to bring all the nations to God. Jeremiah is warned that it will not be an easy task. His own people, Judah's kings and princes, priests and people, will fight against him.

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This reading sets the scene for the continuation of Luke's gospel account of the return of Jesus to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth which we began last week. The first verse of today's gospel reading actually repeats the ending of last week's reading. Remember, Jesus had read a passage from Isaiah about the Lord's anointed or chosen one and then said, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

Today's reading gives us the peoples' reaction. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, urged his followers to try to visualize the scenes of the gospel, even see them in their minds as if they were part of the scene itself. Let's put ourselves in this scene. We're in the church, we're impressed with the eloquent words of Jesus but then we remember that He is only  one of us. "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"  Maybe we're thinking, "Wait a minute, who does this guy think he is?"

Jesus hears and says, "no prophet is accepted in his own native place." More than that he tells us that in the past other prophets had been rejected by us, and could only do their healing among foreigners, even enemies. "There were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." Israel, Syria, the names are still with us today in the most strife torn region of the world. Naaman himself was a Syrian warlord. 

OK, we're still in the scene and we can imagine our reaction. "When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury." We surge along with the crowd as we drive Him to the outskirts of the little hill town to throw Him over a cliff. However, He passes through our midst and goes away, leaving His home town of Nazareth behind.

St. Paul himself was no stranger to angry mobs. Before his conversion he had participated in the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr. He was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians there when he encountered the risen Christ and received his own call to prophesy--to bring the gospel to all nations. In today's second reading we find that he is finding it no easier than Jeremiah. 

He had established a Christian community in the leading Greek city of Corinth but after leaving them to continue on his missionary journeys, he has heard that they have begun to bicker among themselves. In the last two weeks we got a sense of what they were arguing about. Some felt that they were better than others--that they had received greater spiritual gifts. Christians of Jewish or Greek ancestry could not put away their traditional hostility to each other. So Paul has had to remind them that all our gifts or abilities come from Christ, that we all are part of His Mystical Body, and that we all have a role to play in the mission of Christ.

Even today there are many who don't like Paul especially when he tells women to be silent in Church or reminds them to be subservient to their husbands. We'll have to talk about those remarks some other day but for now it is enough to say that the same Paul wrote in today's reading the most beautiful and eloquent words that have ever been written on the subject of Love.

We're in the season of love, the time of the year when we celebrate St. Valentine's day.  We know that our culture today has cheapened and debased the gift of love. We only have to watch TV to see that our culture is seeking after the lesser gifts. Paul tells us to "strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts." He boils them down to three:

            So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

            but the greatest of these is love."

What is love?

            Love is patient, love is kind.

            It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

            it is not inflated, it is not rude,

            it does not seek its own interests,

            it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

            it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

            but rejoices with the truth.

            It bears all things, believes all things,

            hopes all things, endures all things.

Let's hope that we don't share the fate of the crowd at Nazareth when Love "passed through the midst of them and went away."

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Reading 1. Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19

Reading II. I Corinthians 12: 31--13:13

Gospel. Luke 4: 21-30 (the son of Joseph?)

* The lyrics of George Gershwin's romantic ballad, "Love Walked In" have a special relevance to today's readings. Click on this link for a fine rendition by legendary Jazz singer, Chris Connor. 

The Synagogue at Nazareth

                                    3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

                                    

Today's first reading from the Book of Nehemiah gives us a glimpse of an ancient Jewish religious practice. The whole assembly of the people of God come together on one of the high holy days to hear the word of God. The scribe stands on a high platform similar to our pulpit, opens a scroll since books were not yet invented, and commences to read "plainly from the book of the law of God." The purpose of the reading which lasts from daybreak to midday is to remind them of the law, their inheritance.

This first reading today obviously ties in with the Gospel reading from St. Luke. Every three years when we come to Cycle C in the readings we will find that most of the gospel readings come from St. Luke. Although not one of the original apostles, Luke was a disciple of St. Paul. Shortly before his death Paul wrote to Timothy, "Make haste to come to me; for Demas has deserted me, loving this world...Luke only is with me." Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles which is mainly an account of St. Paul's missionary journeys. 

Christian artists have usually used four symbols to depict the four Evangelists. St. John is depicted as an Eagle since theologians regarded him as reaching closer to the heavens because his gospel seems to be the most mystical. St. Matthew is portrayed as a winged Man because his gospel begins with the human genealogy of Christ. St. Mark is portrayed as a winged Lion because his gospel begins with John the Baptist, a voice crying out or roaring in the desert. Luke is portrayed as a winged Ox because theologians believed that his gospel emphasized the sacrificial nature of Christ's mission.

At the outset of his gospel Luke states his credentials. His information comes from "eyewitnesses from the beginning," and from "ministers of the word" who have handed the teaching down. After "investigating everything accurately anew" he proposes to write down his own narrative "in an orderly sequence" 

            so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings

            you have received.

After this brief introduction today's reading jumps to chapter 4 in Luke's gospel. We skip over the story of our Lord's infancy (which we heard at Christmas), and the Temptation in the Desert which the Church saves until the first Sunday in Lent. In chapter 4  we find Jesus at the outset of his public life. He has returned to Galilee "in the power of the Spirit" and the whole region is aware of Him. "He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all."

Then one day on the Sabbath he went into the synagogue at Nazareth (according to his custom) and like Ezra in the first reading He stood up to read. He was handed a scroll and we can picture Him unrolling it until he came to the specific passage from Isaiah that He wanted to read, a passage that outlines His sacrificial mission:

            The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

            because he has anointed me

            to bring glad tidings to the poor.

            He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

            and recovery of sight to the blind,

            to let the oppressed go free,

            and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

This mission is His but as members of His Mystical Body it is also ours. St. Paul reminds us in today's reading from Corinthians that we, whatever our rank or station, are all parts of the Body of Christ.

            For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,

            whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,

            and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Not only do we all have our individual roles to play, we also have to be concerned for one another.

            If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it;

            if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.

This is one of the reasons why it is so important for us to come together here just as the Israelites did in the time of Nehemiah. Every hour of every day a Mass is being celebrated somewhere in the world by people of every race and culture. No society on Earth is as diverse as our Church. Male, female, young, old, families, celibate monks and nuns, all are welcome. All it takes for membership is Baptism. 

It is so important for us to see each other here. For our young people what better example can they see than an elderly couple walking out of Church still holding hands after years of love and devotion to each other? It is equally important for our elderly to see young people here who can carry on the tradition and work of the Church. All of us are the sons and daughters of immigrants. What more inspiring sight can we have to see our brothers and sisters from Africa, Latin America, and Asia joining us every Sunday in one Spirit?

So what if we are not all apostles, teachers, or prophets. We all have our work to do. We all have our role to play in the Body of Christ. We just can't stay home and try to do it on our own. We need each other.

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Reading 1. Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Reading II. I Corinthians 12: 12-30

Gospel. Luke 1:1-4; 4: 14-21 (In the synagogue)

Marriage Feast at Cana

                                    2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

                                   

Stained Glass Window
Assumption Church
Fairfield, CT *

In the first reading Isaiah speaks of a time when Jerusalem or Zion will no longer be called forsaken or desolate. Whenever we hear the words Jerusalem or Zion we should know that they refer to the whole people of God. So when the prophet says,

            As a young man marries a virgin,

            your Builder shall marry you;

            and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride

            so shall you God rejoice in you,

he is talking about the restoration of ourselves to God through the work of the Lord.

In this second Sunday in Ordinary time we have in the marriage feast at Cana a third epiphany of the Lord. Two weeks ago we had the great feast of the Epiphany itself where the new born Lord appears to the world in the visit of the Magi. Last week, we saw a second epiphany at the Baptism of the Lord. "Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.'"

For most of Cycle C, the gospel reading will be taken from St. Luke's gospel but for this Sunday the Church uses the Gospel of St. John to recall the first of the signs or miracles that Jesus worked: the changing of the water into wine at the wedding at Cana. Is there a more famous or well known story than this one in all the gospels? St. John notes that the mother of Jesus was at the wedding and that Jesus and his disciples were also invited. Then as the wine ran short at the feast, Mary utters her only words recorded in the Gospel other than those at her Annunciation and Visitation. She tells her Son, "They have no wine." He hesitates, "Woman, how does your concern affect me?" Nevertheless, she says to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

In most of the miracles of Jesus someone approaches him with the belief that he can help them or someone they love. In this case it's his own Mother who seeks his help for the young married couple. He proceeds to turn six huge jars of water into wine. Someone once said that the same God that sends the rain that waters the vines that nourish the grapes that produce the wine merely sped up the process at Cana. John concludes that this first miracle was also an epiphany or appearance of the Lord.

             "Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee

              and so revealed his glory,

              and his disciples began to believe in him."

Two weeks ago it was the Magi who came to believe in Him, last week it was John the Baptist, and now its his disciples. What are they to believe? That He is the One come to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy. This is a central theme in St. John's gospel, that God has sent His Son into the world to heal its wounds, to make all things new, and to the restore the relationship or marriage between God and His people.

By now most of us even if we have not read the books or seen the movies must be aware of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, the Lord of the Rings. In that great masterpiece there is also a kingdom that is desolate, forsaken, and on its last legs. Against incredibly powerful and evil enemies a fellowship is formed to restore the kingdom. Although they appear to be weak, each of the members of the fellowship will discover on their journey that they each have strengths or gifts that are needed if the fellowship is to succeed. 

At first they are unaware of their own gifts or strengths. They even distrust or deprecate the gifts of the others. Dwarves don't like elves, and vice versa. The hobbits, half the size of men, are regarded as useless in the quest. They themselves would prefer to just remain in their comfortable homes or hobbit holes and avoid dangerous adventures. Yet in the end each one's gifts will be necessary in the struggle to restore the Kingdom.

Isn't this what St. Paul is saying to us today in today's second reading? 

            There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit.

            there are different forms of service but the same Lord

            there are different workings but the same God

            who produces all of them in everyone.

We err when we think that our gifts are better than someone else's. We also err when we think that our gifts are our own doing and not gifts from God at all. Who will remember the athlete celebrating his own triumph or lording it over a defeated rival? Who will ever forget the picture of the football player falling to his knees and making the sign of the Cross after catching the winning pass even though the TV cameras quickly moved away?

However, we also err when we undervalue our gifts or when we fail to recognize that we have them, or when we refuse to use them--what our Lord called hiding your light under a bushel. Worse is when we envy the gifts of others and wish that they had been given to us. 

If we haven't made our New Year's resolutions already, we still have time to go back to our comfortable hobbit holes and take stock of what the Lord has given us, what strengths or weapons we have as we set out to do our part in restoring the Kingdom. Scripture is the word of God and when St. Paul speaks to the Corinthians he speaks to us.

 "To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit." 

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*Image by Melissa DeStefano

Reading 1. Isaiah 62: 1-5

Reading II. I Corinthians 12: 4-11

Gospel. John 2: 1-11 (Wedding at Cana in Galilee)