"Him Alone Shall You Serve" - First Sunday in Lent Year C

Lent originally began as a final retreat for catechumens preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil. The retreat was centered on today's Gospel text of Jesus' forty days in the desert. Just as Jesus passed through three trials, so the catechumen would pass through three scrutinies in final preparation to received the baptismal waters, the oil of confirmation, and the body and blood of Jesus. These rituals are preserved in our modern day Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. However, Lent eventually came to be understood as a retreat for the entire Church to pass through in preparation for the celebration of the Great Pasch, a time when we will renew our baptismal vows and recommit our lives to Christ. Today's readings provide us with the beginnings of our retreat.

In the first reading from Deuteronomy, the people of Israel recall their time in the desert where they passed from slavery to freedom. The first fruits offering would remind the people of their total dependence on God and how the offering signified their total dedication to Him. Unfortunately, the people of Israel would often forget these events, and the first fruits offerings would become a mere empty ritual. It no longer had meaning and it could not save the people from what truly enslaved them - sin.

Paul reminds us in the second reading from the letter to the Romans that it is faith in Christ that alone has the power to save us. Pope Paul VI expressed this sentiment well in the following prayer: "O Jesus, we believe in your love and your goodness; we believe that you are our Savior, that you can do what is closed to and unrealizable for any one else. We believe you are the light, the truth, the life; we have only one desire: to remain united to you, and to be Christians not only in name, but Christians who are convinced, apostolic, and full of zeal" (Pope Paul VI, Teachings, v. 4).

The temptations of Jesus in the desert, we should remember, occur after Jesus was baptized. St. John Chrysostom explains that "As Our Lord did everything for our instruction, so he wished to be led out into the wilderness and there to enter into combat with the devil. He did this in order that the baptized should not be troubled if after Baptism they suffer still greater temptations, as though such were not to be expected" (Homilies on St. Matthew, 13, 1). Jesus suffered the very same temptations that the people of Israel experienced in the desert so many centuries ago: hunger for bread, worship of a false god, and lust for power. Jesus overcomes these temptations and shows us that through baptism and the faith that comes with it we can overcome all the temptations that the devil will throw our way - both individually and collectively.

The devil won't come to us with offers of bread, idols, and power in the same way. Very often we encounter these temptations in more subtle ways, and sadly we so often succumb for mere trifles compared to what was offered to Jesus. Lent, however, is our time to repent, recommit, and return once again to the path on which Jesus walks. Let us pray for strength, using the words of Blessed John XXIII:

"O Lord Jesus, who at the beginning of your public life withdrew into the desert, we beg you to teach all men that recollection of mind which is the beginning of conversion and salvation. Leaving your home at Nazareth and your sweet Mother, you wished to experience solitude, weariness, and hunger. To the tempter who proposed to you the trial of miracles, you replied with the strength of eternal wisdom, in itself a miracle of heavenly grace. It is Lent. O Lord, do not let us turn to 'broken cisterns' that can hold no water or imitate the unfaithful steward or the foolish virgins; do not let us be so blinded by the enjoyment of the good things of earth that our hearts become insensible to the cry of the poor, of the sick, of orphan children, and of those innumerable brothers of ours who still lack the necessary minimum to eat, to clothe their nakedness, and to gather their family together under one roof" (John XXIII, Prayers and Devotions, March 15).

Blessings and Woes - 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Frederick Nietzsche argued that there were only two ethical systems: hero ethics and slave ethics. Hero ethics was the ethics of ancient Greece and Rome where the strong man was the ideal: courageous, strong, and powerful. By definition only a very few could be virtuous in such a system. The other system of ethics according to Nietzsche is slave ethics, the ethics of Judaism and Christianity where service and love for others is the ideal, a system where anyone could become a saint. Nietzsche unfortunately rejected slave ethics, exalted hero ethics and his notion of the superman that brought us the horrors of Naziism. Our readings today present us with a similar contrast.

The first reading from the prophet Jeremiah is a traditional Jewish lament prayer where woes and curses begin the prayer, followed by resolution and blessings. In this case, the curse is upon the one who chooses to follow other human beings, and their woe is misery and lack all their days. By contrast, the prayer exalts those who follow the Lord, for their blessing will be prosperity all their days. The prophet uses this contrast in an attempt to get Israel to repent of following human beings and to follow God. Perhaps if the people do so the the coming destruction will not befall them. However, they failed to listen and punishment came.

In today's Gospel Jesus reverses the order of the traditional lament prayer, and in so doing changes the understanding of who is blessed and who is cursed. Jesus' prayer begins with the blessing and ends with a curse, thus overturning the traditional theology of his day. That theology saw God's favor bestowed on those who were rich, satisfied, and merry, not unlike the prosperity Gospel of our own day. However, Jesus calls the poor, hungry, and sad the blessed of God. Why? The prophetic tradition of Israel provides the answer: fidelity to God results in persecution, poverty, and hunger, while the false prophets of every age are rich, satisfied, and mirthful.

The passage from Paul' first letter to the Corinthians shows us that following Christ does indeed lead to persecution and death, but ultimately those faithful to Christ will rise with Christ. The ultimate victory and vindication from God lies not in wealth but in rising with Christ. Our hope and joy are both here in following Christ and in the promised fulfillment of future glory. As Saint Augustine prayed many centuries ago, "Now, as long as I am in the body, I am far from you, Lord, since I go forward through faith and not through sight. The time will come when I shall see what I believe without seeing, and when I see what I now believe, I shall be happy...Then the reality of what I now hope for will come...Now I lament, as I go about searching for a secure refuge where I can be safe; now, seeing myself sick, I have recourse to the doctor...Now in the time of hope, of tears, in the time of humility, sorrow, and sickness...I have become an object of wonder for many...because I believe what I do not see. In fact, those who are happy in what they see take their delight in drink and in pleasure...in greed and wealth and rapine and worldly honors...they delight in these things. But I walk by a different path, paying no heed to present reality and fearing success in this life, I find security in nothing except in your promises, O my God. I live happily in my hope, because you, O Lord, are true to your promises; yet since I do not yet possess you, I groan under the sting of desire. Make me persevere in this desire until what you have promised comes: then will my lamentation cease and only praise will ring out" (Commentary on the Psalms, 70, 8-9; 148: 1).

The prosperity Gospel - the gospel of Nietzsche - ultimately leads to ruin and desolation. The true Gospel of prosperity is to follow Christ wherever he leads on this earth, for we know that His way will lead us to heaven. Let us then serve the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted in our world so that we may journey to the reign of God with Jesus, who served unto death that leads to a blessed resurrection.

Here I am, Lord. Send Me - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

When a person finds the love of their life, they will go to any lengths to be with that love. They will follow that love wherever it goes or wherever love calls that person to be. Today's readings present us with three people who fall in love and follow that love wherever that love asks: Isaiah, Paul, and Peter. In reflecting upon their calls from God, we can better appreciate the calling each of us has from God, described so well in Lumen Gentium: "All the faithful, whatever, their condition or state - through each in his own way - are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which our heavenly Father himself is perfect. By means of their special vocation, it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairms and directing them according to God's will" (#11, 31).

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah receives his call to be a prophet of God in the midst of great trials in the land of Israel. King Uzziah had died and the nation would once again drift into idolatry and injustice. The task of the prophet was a difficult one, and Isaiah did not feel worthy to receive the call. Yet, God cleansed him from his sins and encouraged Isaiah to move forward with the mission entrusted to him. This encounter with God gave the prophet the strength he needed to carry out God's will in his own time.

Similarly, Paul recounts for us how he had been called by the Lord to be an apostle of the new Christian community. He too felt unworthy of the call, even as he writes about it in the midst of his mission. Yet, Paul did not let his imperfections prevent him from following Jesus and performing the works of the kingdom of God. We too should not let our weaknesses prevent us from fulfilling the vocation to which we are called. John Henry Cardinal Newman describes well this feeling: "God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work for me to which he has not committed to another...Somehow, I am necessary for his purposes...if, indeed, I fail, he can raise another, as he could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do his work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep his commandments and serve him in my calling" (Meditations on Christian Doctrine, I: 2).

Finally, we meet Peter in today's Gospel. Peter had already been called by Jesus to follow him. Here, however, Peter finds out just what it means to be a disciple. He had been out all night fishing and caught nothing, even though night is the best time for fishermen to succeed in their work. Jesus comes along and asks Peter to put out his nets in the middle of the day, the most unlikely time for a huge catch. Peter knows that from a human point of view this request cannot possibly bring forth success. Yet, he obeys and brings forth a great catch of fish, and Peter realizes that the works of light are superior to the works of darkness. The supernatural outlook of the reign of God breaks forth in him, and while Peter too feels unworthy to be part of Jesus' mission, nevertheless the Lord encourages him to press on: the catch of fish is but a foretaste of a greater mission and success in the life of Peter.

The same is true for us in our own ministry. We cannot become discouraged at our sins and those of others. The essential aspects of ministry are found within these readings: we acknowledge our weaknesses and failings, we abandon ourselves completely to God, and we carry on the work God has called us to perform. May we be strengthened by the prayer of St. Ambrose: "Master, we have toiled all night and have caught nothing, but at your word, I will let down the nets. I, too, Lord, know that it is like night for me when you do not speak...I have sent out my voice like a dart...and have not yet captured anyone. I have called out all day; now I await your order; at your word I will cast my net. O empty presumption, O fruitful humility! Those who formerly caught nothing, Lord, now catch huge quantities of fish. This is not the fruit of human eloquence, but the result of a call from heaven. Amen" (Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, IV, 76).