I SUNDAY OF LENT Homily A successful female executive was having lunch with an old college pal. She confided that her biggest problem was that she had three boyfriends, who were all madly in love with her, and who all wanted to marry her. She wanted to get married too, but she could not decide to which one: “I could live with any of them”, she said. “I’m sure that’s true”, replied her friend. “But your job is not to decide which man you can live with. You have to decide which one you can’t live without!”. The bottom line! That was Jesus’ 40 days in the desert was about. Sunday’s gospel says that the Spirit drove him into the desert. It was time to face the hard questions: “Jesus, who are you going to be? What is going to be the essence of you? What is it that you can’t live without?”. Those were though questions for a young man with all of Jesus’ talent and charisma: So many possibilities, so little time! The temptation to let ego make the decision was intense: “Jesus, think of the power, the fame, the glory that could be yours. You could be king! Not bad”, but not enough. Is there anything at all that I really couldn’t live without?”. He ponders for a long time, and then lets his heart speak, “There is one thing: My Father. I could not live without him, and I know what he wants. He wants me to bring life to all his children. He is so good; I’d rather die than let him down”. And so Jesus’ decision was made, and he was faithful to his Father to the very end. Whether we have ever really thought about it or not, every one of us has made a decision about what we can’t live without. The question is: Have we made the right one? Or have we just backed into a way of living that doesn’t really work? That happens all the time. Remember that mom who just couldn’t live without her daughter’s becoming prom queen, so she poisoned all her competitors! Think of all the murder-suicides by people who thought they just could not live without their fortune or their former spouse. Those are extreme examples, but they make the point: Too often, we give our hearts to things that can never satisfy us and will always let us down in the end. What Jesus learned out in the desert is that only one thing will ever fill us full and satisfy our longings, and that is our Father, and gathered around him, his big family. If we can get clear about that, and stay clear, our lives will work. And no matter what misfortunes or sorrows come our way, God’s peace will fill our hearts, and God’s love will warm us and light our way. Our Father and his big family. In the end, that is all there is! Lord, let me be wheat sown in the earth, to be harvested for you. I want to follow wherever you lead me. Give me fresh hope and joy in serving you all the days of my life. Amen.
Entrance Each of us is involved in a constant struggle against temptation. We see from the Gospel that Jesus too was tempted. Hence, he understands our weakness in the face of temptation. And because he was victorious over temptation, he can help us. Let us then approach him with confidence. • Lord, you strengthen us when we are weak. Lord, have mercy. • You lift us up when we fall. Christ, have mercy. • You seek us out when we are lost. Lord, have mercy. Prayer of the Faithful Let us now bring our needs before the Lord who guides us when we stray and raises us up when we fall. Lord, grant us in all our tasks your help, in all our doubts your guidance, in all our temptations your strength, in all our sorrows your consolation, and in all our dangers your protection. We ask this prayer through the same Christ our Lord.