Second Sunday of Lent

Gn 12:1-4a
2 Tm 1:8b-10
Mt 17:1-9

To come face to face with the Glory of God. To see God as God is. How awe-full, how frightening. Seeing God as God is, this just isn’t something that we mere mortals are ready for. We simply are not ready to handle such glory, yet. But is that not our ultimate goal? To see God face to face? To see God as God truly is? Some will teach that Heaven is sharing in that beatific vision. Peter, James and John get the opportunity to catch just the merest glimpse of that vision and find themselves terrified, prostrate on the ground. Jesus takes them to the mountain top, and there Jesus is changed, transfigured before their undoubtedly amazed eyes. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. As if all of this weren’t frightening enough, Moses and Elijah appear and speak to the transfigured Christ. To top everything off and really do in our intrepid trio, a bright cloud overshadows them from which comes a voice proclaiming, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” They fall to the ground, no longer looking at anything, I am sure. Then the Christ touches them, and assures them, rise, and do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Easier said than done, perhaps. But, in all honesty, why should they have been afraid, and why should we? This is our goal, this is what we seek, to be with God, to see God as God is, to see the real glory that is our salvation. Seeing God as God is not reason to fear, but reason to celebrate! This is what we want, it is that we just aren’t quite ready yet. We need first to do what is asked by the voice coming from the cloud, listen to Him, listen to the Christ. Listening, then acting on what we hear, that will make us ready, one day, ready to bask in the transfigured glory of the Christ, ready to see God as God is, and know that we are home.

Deacon John
Second Sunday of Lent
Feb. 17, 2007

First Sunday of Lent

Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Rom 5:12-19 or 5:12, 17-19
Mt 4:1-11

Temptation. Today we are presented with two tales of temptation. Today we are presented with two responses to temptation. In the first reading we learn of the existence of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of all the trees in the garden only the fruit of this tree is not to be eaten. Anything else they wanted was theirs, just not this tree’s fruit. I don’t know how many times you have been told that you can’t do something. Unfortunately our response to that statement is often a defiant decision to do exactly what we have been told not to do. So when our intrepid couple encounters the serpent, they are already at the tree. They failed to do what we used to call in the old days avoiding the occasion of sin. Getting them to take the fruit isn’t a tough sell. That they fail to understand the command given them is demonstrated when the woman replies that they are not to eat of or even touch the fruit of the tree lest they die. They are easily convinced that they will not die, surely! They were ready to jump, with both feet. So they did. You know the rest.
The Christ is led into the wilderness by the Spirit in order to prepare for public ministry through fasting and prayer. At the end of the fast, Jesus was hungry. So the temptations begin. Hungry? Just turn that rock into bread, after all if any one is going to benefit from who you are, why shouldn’t it be you? Jump off that building, God won’t let anything bad happen to you. Just worship me, and all the wealth, all the power, all the things of the world are yours. The temptations escalate, getting harder and harder to resist. Yet resist them Christ does. Not because the Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ has, after all a human nature, as subject to temptation as we are. No, Christ resists because of reliance on the Spirit. The Spirit gives strength, guidance, assistance to Christ as Christ faces these temptations.
Our response to temptation all too often mirrors that of our intrepid couple in the Garden. We didn’t really work hard enough to avoid it in the first place, so when we give in it really isn’t much of as surprise. We have a tendency to want to do the very things we know we shouldn’t. So how can we, weak mortal beings that we are, resist these impulses? Just as the Christ did. We can rely on the Spirit. The same Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness, the same Spirit that aided Christ in resisting temptation, is there for us. It is the same Spirit that dwells in each of us, the same Spirit that we receive in Baptism. It is in the power of the Spirit that we find the power to resist. On our own, maybe we can fight off these impulses, sometimes, occasionally, maybe. It is in the power of the Spirit that we are able to say, “get away,” that we are able to turn from that occasion of sin and walk away.

Deacon John
First Sunday of Lent
Feb. 10, 2008

Ash Wednesday

Jl 2:12-18
2 Cor 5:20—6:2
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. We’ve always been taught to look at Lent as a time of penitence, a time of self-denial and sacrifice, designed to make us ready for Easter. There is nothing wrong with that, indeed being aware of and sorry for our sins is something we should do all the time. Being human, however, we have a hard time doing that, keeping something in the forefront of our thoughts all the time is nearly impossible for us. So we have a time like Lent. I want us to look at Lent just a bit differently this year. Beyond being a time of penance I want us to look at Lent as a time of invitation. Lent is a time when we are being invited to recommit ourselves to what we believe in, to turn once again to God with our whole heart. This Ash Wednesday we mark ourselves with dust, a reminder of the times we have been selfish, the times we fail to love. The ashes mark us in the sign of our salvation, the ashes are an invitation for us to embrace that sign, to embrace that salvation. Ash Wednesday invites us to do as the prophet Joel proclaimed, “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart.” This Ash Wednesday, this Lent, seize that invitation and turn to the Lord who waits for your return.

Deacon John
Ash Wednesday
Feb. 6, 2008

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zep 2:3; 3:12-13
1 Cor 1:26-31
Mt 5:1-12a

“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth,” cries out the prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah calls out to the people to seek justice and humility in so that they may be a remnant left by the Lord, those who were protected on the day of the Lord’s anger. Do no wrong, speak no lies, be humble and be that remnant. Well, all of that is easy to say, yet difficult to do. How does one remain humble? How does one consistently avoid being deceitful? It sounds simple and straightforward, but is it really that simple? If we examine our own lives, honestly, I don’t believe that there is any doubt we would find instances when we failed to be humble, when we were deceitful. Unfortunately, those things seem to come to us all too easily. We need guidance, a map, a way to follow that helps us avoid these pitfalls. We need a way to live. In the Gospel Jesus provides the very map we need. People who mourn, who are meek, who hunger for righteousness, who are merciful, who are clean of heart, who are peacemakers, who are persecuted, all are blessed by God. Should we strive to be all of those things? Of course we should. Will we always succeed? Of course we won’t. That does not mean that we should not try. This is not, however, about rules. It is about living, seeking to live out the love that Christ calls us to live. It is about being working at being humble, working at not being deceitful. It is about being that remnant. It is about seeking the Lord.

Deacon John
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Feb. 3, 2008