Homily for the First Sunday of Lent
Homily delivered by Fr Nicholas King SJ
There is a “sad brightness” in our long Lenten journey to Easter; it is a journey, however, that is never done alone; we must remember that it is done by all of us together, as we each grow closer to Christ. And we have to remember the tension between God’s generous and beautiful creation, and the mess that we have made of it by our bad decisions. But there is a deeper point to notice, and to hold onto through all of Lent, namely that God is not going to be defeated by any mess that we may have made.
There are various ways of making a mess of Lent: we could, for example, paint our faces dark and miserable, and mutter that “it’s days since I last had a gin”; “I just can’t manage another week with no chocolate”; or, worse still, “I have kept my rigorous austerities going for three whole days; God is very lucky to have me in the team”. For Lent is not my story, of success or failure, but the story of God and the PoG.
That’s what happens in today’s readings. Genesis offers two beautifully-told stories, not about individuals, but about the PoG, the creation of humanity. Introduced to three characters as symbols of how things are going.
Adam-dust; breath à life, and we should feel great gratitude. Not only that, but we are told of a wonderful garden, “in Eden, in the East”, w. beautiful trees and a tree (of life/K good & evil)
“the woman”: who got things wrong, in a perfectly understandable way.
“serpent”: did God really say…? “Death”. Serpent “bcs God (NB never calls him “the Lord”) K that you’ll be like gods”. The woman saw it was beautiful & good to eat she ate it; gave to her husband. Realised they were “naked” (= “cunning”). Useless piece of information à “sewed fig-leaves together and made for themselves loin-cloths”. They are in a mess; and as we listen, we wonder how they are to get out of it? Or is God after all going to put them to death?
Psalm: God is not like that, and God is in charge. This psalm is often sung during Lent: on the lips of David after the episode of Bathsheba. God’s generosity is greater than our transgression. “Create new heart in me, O God” is the prayer that should be on our lips.
2nd reading: Paul retelling the story of Adam & story of Jesus; Adam’s part in the catastrophe of Sin & Death; astonishing gift of life and justification/being made right. The great thing that God has done for us in Xt, sorting out the mess that we have made; the point is that God’s generosity is greater than what we have done wrong. Hard to understand precisely what Paul is saying, but clearly God’s love has triumphed.
Gospel: 3 temptations: (one story or three?): “led up by the Sp for forty days of fasting (more than most of us will manage in these six and a half weeks of Lent). First two start w. question of identity
“if you are SoG” à loaves of bread. “Not by bread alone” (greed) & conjuring tricks
Pinnacle: “If you are SoG” à throw down & Scr. Quotation. (Ps 91); (spectacular gesture). Effortless response by Jesus: “Not tempt LyG”
“all these I’ll give you if you fall and worship”. “The LyG shall you worship; him alone adore”. The story of God & PoG: the temptation to worship what is not God à disaster. Worship in Mt. What do you worship?
We have known all these temptations: our longing for easy access to food, to success and to power. Every time we have resisted them, we have made the world a better place. Jesus has been there before us, and always resisted the easy seduction, and so our world is not the mess that it might have been. But every time we have given in, the world turns into a worse place.
End of story: Devil left him: defeat; then “behold angels came & served” (only then – but the victory is clear).
What about you, this Lent? It is not your story or mine, the readings that we have heard today. It is the story of God and the People of God, and an invitation to be converted to Jesus. Are you up for it? Today? Sad brightness?