Saturday, February 13, 2016

Homily: 1st Sunday of Lent 2016 - Lenten Preparation for Easter

The two most important feasts of the Church year, Easter and Christmas, are both preceded by periods of preparation.  The season of Advent helps us to prepare for Jesus’ coming and the celebration of his birth at Christmas.  And the season of Lent helps us to prepare for the new life available to us through Jesus’ Passion Death and Resurrection celebrated at Easter. 

As Catholics we take preparation very seriously. In the life of the Catholic there are periods of preparation preceding the reception of the sacraments of initiation.  An adult preparing for baptism goes through a lengthy process of learning the Church’s doctrine, learning about the prayer life of the Church, learning about our moral teachings before they are made members of the Church in the sacrament of baptism. 

Hopefully, it isn’t too distant of a memory, but when you were preparing for your first holy communion, you learned about the Mass, you learned about how the Lord nourishes us with His body and blood in the eucharist. And as young people you also prepared for the sacrament of confirmation; you learned about the gifts of the holy spirit: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, piety, fortitude, which are strengthened in you in Confirmation.

The seminarian preparing for Holy Orders, prepares 8 or 9 years for the life of ministry as an ordained priest.  Christians preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage meet with a priest over several months: they discuss healthy communication and conflict resolution, raising children, they attend a pre-Cana day, and examine the scriptural foundations for Christian marriage and the Church’s doctrine.

Before every Mass, we are to come to Church a few minutes early in order to prepare: we kneel down in our pews, in silent prayer, to prepare for the great mystery we are about to celebrate.  Even better, is to prepare for Sunday Mass by reading and reflecting on the Scripture readings during the week.
We take preparation very seriously? Why? 

For one reason, I think, so we know what we are getting into.  The adult preparing for baptism needs to know what being a Christian entails.  He needs to know the demands that are going to be made of him, he needs to know that being a Christian involves sharing in the Lord’s cross.  We don’t hide the fact that Jesus promised that we would be persecuted for the faith; and that temptation continues after baptism, in fact, the temptations of the devil may be even greater for Christians trying to follow Jesus. Jesus, himself, as we heard in the Gospel was tempted, so we can certainly expect temptation in the Christian life.

The priest preparing for Holy Orders needs to be prepared for the challenges of ministry.  He needs to know his theology, he needs to gain some skill in ministering to the sick and the dying and the doubtful, he needs to be firm in his commitment to lifelong celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of God.
The couple engaged for marriage needs to be prepared for the challenges of being a married couple in the 21st century.  They need to be realistic that marriage isn’t always smooth sailing, is it? There are still temptations after marriage: temptations to be selfish and impolite and impatient. There are temptations to set aside the faith when things get hectic. There’s the temptation to use contraception. The temptation even to call it quits when things get difficult.

Preparing helps us to be realistic. And, Lent helps us to live out our Easter faith all year round: and there are some serious demands, temptations, and challenges there. The Christian faith really isn’t for the lazy; or rather, it IS, to help the lazy person, the timid person, the person beset with temptation and sin, to become the person God made them to be.

So we prepare during Lent by getting back to basics: practicing prayer, fasting, and acts of charity, learning the Church’s teaching, and growing in awareness of the ways we are tempted. 
Secondly, I think we take preparing very seriously, so that we can come to a greater understanding of how God works through the Sacraments.
The adults I’ve worked with in preparing for baptism have told me that they have a profound encounter with God working in their life; God giving them something that they previously lacked. They’ve shared with me that through the Sacraments they had a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus forgiving their sins and infusing them with his divine life.
Even the 2nd graders preparing for Holy Communion experience something very special in preparing for the Eucharist.  They grow in excitement as the day of their first Holy Communion comes, and many of them speak of profound moments of grace when they receive the Lord in the Sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time. Personally, I’ll never forgot that moment, and the closeness I felt to Jesus upon receiving him for the first time.
Nor will I ever forget laying down on the cold marble of the Cathedral, and kneeling before the bishop with my hands in his, swearing obedience to him and his successors, promising to remain celibate, to pray daily for the Church, when I was ordained a priest.  I will never forget celebrating Mass for the first time as a priest, and saying the words of institution: “this is my body, this is my blood”. 
Nor, do married couples ever forget their wedding vows.   The profound experience of being bound by God to another person in an indissoluble link.

Lent too can help us come to a new experience of God working in our life.  There are sins that God wants to free us from this Lent as we practice Lenten fasting.  There is a new level of intimacy into which God wants to bring us as we practice Lenten prayer. And there is a new level of selflessness and charity God wants to teach us as we practice Lenten almsgiving.

In the Gospel, Jesus prepared for his public ministry by going off into the desert; he prayed, and fasted and experienced temptation.  We journey with Him by going into the Lenten desert to pray and fast and combat our temptations.


If you haven’t already, spend today coming up with some concrete ways of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving this Lent.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discover not just want you want to do, but what God is calling you to do this Lent, that you may be open to receiving his gifts this Easter, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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