Homily for February 29, 2004
Year C - Cycle II
1st Sunday of Lent
by Fr. John Carney
Topic:  The Purpose and Structure of Lent
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Gospel Reading: 
Luke 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 forty 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 by 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 of 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."

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I love Lent.  I’ve always liked Lent.  I don’t know why.  The Church says it’s a joyful season, but it’s also a penitential season.  But I’ll have to be honest with you, I didn’t understand the structure of Lent until this year.  I’m fifty eight, and I finally get it.  I read an article last week about the structure of Lent, and I wanted to share it with you.  It helped me, and it may be of some use to you.  So, to wholly participate in Lent you have to do more than just go to Mass on Sunday.  To get the full benefit of this holy season, it would be great if you could read the daily readings of the Church.  It would be better to go to daily Mass, but most of you can’t do that, although many in this parish do.  But, the readings are published in the bulletin.  I encourage you to get your Bibles out, blow the dust off them, and read these scriptures for Lent. 

Here’s the structure.  There are two parts of Lent – from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday of the third week, and then from the Monday of the fourth week until Holy Thursday.  Now the first section, the first part of Lent, we hear about in Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Synoptic Gospels.  They call them “synoptic” because, while they are not synonymous, they are very similar.  What we read in those daily readings is a challenge – a gospel challenge.  We read the very challenges of the Gospel, indeed, the demands of the Gospel.  And then, in the second period, we hear from John’s Gospel.  John obviously has written the most beautiful, the most poetic of the Gospels.  He doesn’t talk about the demands of the Gospel; rather, he focuses on the person of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  That first period is intended to prepare us for the second period.  The first period calls us to a life of Gospel conversion, and it’s intended to bring us to compunction.  Now, that’s a fancy word, but its root is “puncture” – it is intended to puncture our ego; to challenge any self-deceit we have about ourselves, and to confront us with our self-illusions.

Let me explain some of these challenges and demands you will read.  We started on Ash Wednesday with prayer, fasting and almsgiving; that’s pretty simple.  Today we are told to resist all temptation.  Then you’ll read things like, “If he asks for your shirt, give him your coat.  If you’re pressed into service to go one mile, go two miles.”  You’re told to love your enemies.  Now think about that.  “Bless those who curse you.”  Are you serious?  “If someone strikes you on your left cheek, show him your right.”  I’ve never done that in my life.  I don’t think I can.  There’s an instinct in me to fight back.  It’s tough. 

“Pray for those who persecute you.”  Now, I get a lot of confessions, not as many as I should, but a lot, and many people feel persecuted, especially at work, especially in this town.  But I don’t think anyone comes from the Lab and goes to the chapel after they have been persecuted by their boss, and goes, “Oh, I lift him up in prayer, Lord.  I love him.  I bless him, because he curses me.”  No.  They get more difficult. 

Jesus teaches, “You have heard it is a sin to murder.  I tell you, it is a sin to be angry with your brother.  For the one who is angry with his brother has committed murder in his heart.”  Uh, oh!  And here’s another one – lust.  “You’ve heard it is a sin to commit adultery.  I tell you, he who lusts in his heart after a woman commits adultery with her.”  Are you in trouble yet? These are commands from the Gospel, and at the end, Jesus tells us if we want to live for Him to die to ourselves.  Then He says, “If you want to follow me, give up everything and follow me.” 

This part of Lent is intended to trouble us, because it makes demands that we fail in.  Indeed, it makes demands, frankly, that are beyond us.  That’s right – beyond us.  It’s as if God told Roger Bannister to run a four-minute mile, and when he broke the four-minute mile, he looks up and says, “I did it,” and God said, “Make it three-and-a-half, Roger.”  And the reason is simple.  Jesus tells us, “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”, and you cannot be.  You can’t get to heaven unless you are perfect, because you will not spend eternity looking at God unless you have achieved the state of perfection.  And we can’t, so we’re in trouble.  I love that Psalm – it is the mantra of my life.  “Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.”

So, Lent is not intended to confirm our virtue, our value.  It is intended to help us to understand our radical need for a Savior, because only Jesus can save us.  We‘ll never be perfect, but we can hide in His wounds, and be presented to the Father in Him.  That’s our only way of achieving salvation, to be joined to the Savior.  That’s why it is often more effective if we fail in our Lenten resolutions – because it reminds us, week after week, that we need a Savior. The worst thing that could happen for Lent is that you can have a resolution and at the end say, “I did it.  I did it – I’m good.”  That’s the opposite of what Lent is intended to do. 

When I was Vocation Director, I interviewed a lot of men for the priesthood.  I was Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe for nine years.  And I’d say for every man I accepted, I rejected four or five.  And you know the type that scared me the most?  It was the perfect candidate, the “goody, goody two shoes” guy.  Thirty-three years old, with no record of sin.  What does he know about God’s mercy?  How’s he going to hear confessions?  “You did what!?  Oh, my goodness!”  You need a priest in confession that says, “I know, I know.  I understand.”  And, you’ve got one of them in this parish.  My fear was that when they did fall, they would fall a long way.  Indeed, I think if you look at the problem in the Catholic clergy, we can look back at the way seminary formation used to occur.  We would take fourteen-year-old boys and put them in a high school seminary.  They’d go through their puberty and life experiences sheltered in a seminary.  And many got in trouble. 

Anyway, that’s the purpose of the first part of Lent.  It softens us up.  It puts us on the road.  The scriptures work us with body punches, and then, in the later rounds of Lent, we’re ready.  We’re ready to grab onto that Savior.  So, John focuses on the personhood of Christ, as Savior, as Redeemer, as our only hope and our only way.  Jesus is redemptive healer, life-giver.  You heard today from Romans 10:10, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  That’s because we can’t do it ourselves, but when we say, “Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble,” that’s calling on His name.  Because He says, “Yes, I’m your Savior.  You’re forgiven.  Stay close to me and all will be well.” 

So, Lent shifts from the ethical to the Christological – from our sin to Him, from us to Him, our Savior and Redeemer.  Lent reminds who we are – weak, vulnerable, sinful, unworthy.  And it reminds us who Christ is.  You know, we can’t understand who Christ is unless we understand who we are – if we think we’re God, then we are in competition with Him. If we realize who we are, then we can accept Him as our Savior, and as our God.  Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned.  That’s why there can be no elitists among Christians.  We don’t have gurus or experts.  We cannot have gurus or experts, because we’re all part of the same stock.  The Great Alexander Solovienski says, “If only there were evil people somewhere, committing evil deeds, and only if we were able to separate them from the rest of us, and to destroy them; but the dividing line of good and evil cuts through the heart of every human person.”  How true that is.

Lent.  I hope you use it well.  I hope I use this Lent well.  Let’s really enter into it, and read the readings, and take time in prayer and almsgiving and fasting, because if we do that, we’ll move from sin to grace, we’ll move from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom.  Perhaps, for some of us, this will be the first true Lenten experience.  Certainly, for someone this will be the last.  But for everyone, this focus is beneficial in a holy and joyful time.