_{Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Homilies}

 FIRST SUNDAY  OF LENT ( C ) 2010

The congenial Pope John XXIII, affectionately known as "La Papa", was 77 years old when he was elected to the papacy in 1958.  He realized that his time as Pope would probably be brief because of his age, but he faced the possibility without hesitation.  He used to say, "I keep my bags packed."  He was ready to begin his journey into eternal life whenever God chose to call him.

Before Jesus began his public ministry, he went into the desert to prepare himself for his spiritual journey.  In the desert Jesus, so to speak, emptied his bags of the temptations which became part of him when he entered our human condition. 

First, he threw out selfishness.  The devil tempted him to use his power for himself, for his own convenience, by turning stone into bread.  But Jesus patiently was awaiting the day when he would turn bread into his body and wine into his blood as the living memorial of his sacrifice on the cross for our sake.

Next Jesus threw out the false worship which is known as materialism.  The devil promised him the power and the glory of the kingdoms of the world if only he would fall down and worship the devil.  But Jesus was preparing to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God, not that of Satan.

Finally, Jesus emptied his bags of pride.  The devil tempted Jesus to throw himself off the parapet of the temple in a spectacular show of his power before the crowds who had gathered for a Jewish feast.  But Jesus was about to proclaim the doctrine of humility, simplicity, and service as the characteristics of those who would become like little children in the Kingdom of God their Father.

Having emptied his bags of all the self-centered junk, Jesus who was himself already full of the Holy Spirit, filled his bags with gifts of the Holy Spirit for us, such as faith, hope, and love.  Then he set out on the journey of his public ministry, a journey to be completed in the city of Jerusalem.  There he would suffer, die, and be raised up on the third day.

We began our journey when we were baptized.  We were given the grace to throw sin into the trash can and fill our bags with the gifts of faith, hope, and love; but throughout life we seem to keep making the mistake of putting the wrong stuff back into our bags.  Because he experienced temptation, Jesus knows how powerful it can be and sympathizes with us.  He knows how easy it is to be swept away by temptation in a moment of weakness or passion. 

God is patient with us and our mistakes.  Every year he gives us the season of Lent as our opportunity to reject the wrong values and to choose the right ones.  Lent is the time for looking into our bags where we keep what is most important to us and to decide what we will throw out and what we will put in.

Today’s readings teach two important points about Jesus that we must never lose sight of.  First, he is someone to whom we can relate.  He became one of us.  He took upon himself our humanity and all that goes with being human.  He did not pretend to be human; he became human in every way except sin.  Second, because he became fully human, Jesus suffered as we do.  He became cold, thirsty, hungry and tempted.  Therefore, he is someone we can turn to for inspiration and encouragement.

Listen to these words from Hebrews 4:15-16:  "Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy with our weaknesses.  On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.  Let us be brave, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace.  There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it."

Pope John XXIII, who kept his bags packed, had much in common with Jesus, even though when Jesus began his public ministry he was about 47 years younger than the Pope was when he began his papacy.  Whatever our age, Lent means going on a journey toward Easter and the celebration of the Paschal Mystery.  It is a journey we will take every year until we finally pass through the doors of death and enter eternal life!  Let’s use this Lent to make sure our bags are cleaned out and properly packed!