Through the Desert

 

First Sunday of Lent

Gn 9:8-15, Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 1 Pt 3:18-22, Mk 1:12-15

The Spirit Drove Christ into the Desert

St. Mark tells us that the Spirit drove Christ into the Desert to be tempted by the Devil?  Why would God do that to himself?

The Desert is a place of Death

We have in our parish this beautiful poster of the Desert - it is at either Sunrise or Sunset - it seems to be a place of quiet, solitude, and beauty. Looking at this poster - you might be thinking to yourself - “I get it.  Jesus is about to begin His public ministry, so he is going to catch some rays and relax before getting busy saving the world.”  Nothing could be further from reality.

The Source of Death is our decision to Sin

St. Mark also tells us that Christ was driven into the desert to be tempted by Satan.  That tells us a bit about the reality of the Desert - it is the place of death.  There is no water, no shelter, no protection, everything is exposed, dries out and dies.  

The Israelites went into the Desert to Die to Slavery

When the Israelites went into the Desert it was so that they could die to the life of slavery in Egypt and so begin to live life as the chosen people of God.

The Desert is a dangerous place

The Desert is where we are alone, unprotected from the wild-beasts who are all scrambling to find their next meal - which if we are unprotected could be us.  The desert is populated with poisonous things - Snakes, Scorpions and the like - not a place where we could lie down and rest…

Why then does the Church send us into the Desert of Lent?

As I said - the desert is the place of lifelessness.  It is the place of Death.  For each of us, the desert is the place in our hearts where we choose sin, we choose to kill our relationship with God - that is the desert that we are called to enter into so that we can have a holy Lent.

The Desert of Lent is where we die to the Slavery of Sin

The Church sends us out into the Desert of Lent each year so that we can die to the slavery of Sin in our lives.  She does not send us into the desert unprepared, but sends us into the desert armed with the season of grace (God’s Love), and the weapons against the enemy - Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.

On Ash Wednesday this past week the parish was packed with people, wall to wall.  The parking-lot was packed - and everyone was excited to be here.  In my experience of Lent, I know that this is early days, everyone is still enthusiastic about this journey - we have yet to stumble, fall or fail at our lenten disciplines - but that too is coming.

What is Sin?  What is Temptation?

All of us are sinners, we all commit sin.  There is nothing more embarrassing than to be a committed Christian and to recognize in your life that you are addicted to sin.  Even though you make a firm resolution in confession to avoid temptation to sin and the sin itself I still find myself committing sin in my life.  

Sin is when I freely take an action that is of grave matter that is directly opposed to the will of God.  Scripture tells us that the wages of Sin is death.  It also tells us the topics that make up grave matter.  The first 3 relate to God

1.  God Alone

2.  God’s name is Holy

3.  Take time to worship God on the Sabbath.

The last 7 are how we relate to one another.

4.  Honor your Parents

5.  Do not kill

6.  Do not commit adultery

7.  Do not steal

8.  Do not lie

9.  Do not covet your neighbor's wife

10. Do not covet your neighbor's goods.

That recognition leads me to the realization that I cannot escape Sin under my own power - that I am weak and that I need help. 

Sin kills our friendship with God - Sin is the Desert

God gave us the commandments (in the desert) to help us to live a good and holy life.  Yet all of us, find ourselves from time to time where we choose to break one or more of these commandments.  In that moment we choose to make ourselves God, and say to the Lord - you don’t know what is good for me - and instead to break the commandment - which kills off our ability to recognize the love of God.

When we do that we find ourselves in the midst of a spiritual desert - a place devoid of life and without the presence of God.  We truly are exposed to the wild beasts and vulnerable to death.  What can we do?

Psalm 107 - The Desert will become a place of springs

In Psalm 107 the Lord says that he will turn the “desert into streams, thirsty ground into springs of water…”.  The desert that the psalm refers to is the place of death that we find ourselves in this Lent.  It is the desert into which Christ preceded us to do battle with temptation by the Devil.  

Christ goes into our Deserts to help us win over sin

Christ goes into the desert - into the place in my life, your life where we choose to sin, where we exclude God from our life and where we begin to die to rescue us from the wages of Sin and Death.  That is what this Lenten season is about.  The Church equips us with Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving to give us the tools of conversion - so that we can die to the slavery to Sin and rise into the newness of life.

Prayer expresses our need for help

Prayer helps us to verbalize our need for God’s help.  Prayer in which we can begin to understand the depths of God’s love for us - that we can drive out temptation to make ourselves God and instead remember that God loves us completely, deeply, profoundly, totally.

Fasting helps us subdue impulsiveness

Fasting - where we do battle with the impulsive nature of our will.  Satan often tries to get us not through our logical nature - “Hey wouldn’t it be a great idea if you forgo eternity in communion with God for an Icecream cone?  No rather it is through our impulsive nature - I want, I am compelled, I desire…  Fasting helps to strengthen ourselves against our more impulsive desires - because at its heart most habitual sin is just that - we have become so comfortable in our sin that it is a habit and we are not even thinking about it any more…

Almsgiving is an imitation of Christ

Almsgiving - reminds us that everything we have been given is a gift from God, and so therefore we should share the gifts that God has given us with those in need. Almsgiving is a powerful weapon in Lent because not only does it help us to recognize God’s gifts, but it teaches us to imitate God by imitating His generosity - in sharing the gifts that God has given us..

Christ waits to be invited into your desert

Christ wants us to know that the desert is not a place that is foreign to Him, that is devoid of Him - that he is too embarrassed to go to.  No, rather God is compelled by His love for us to enter into the Desert for our conversion.

To bring about a flood of grace

And what of these Springs of Water that God desires to release into the Desert?  The springs of Water are best symbolized by the water of Baptism - in which God’s grace gives life and light to the world - in which we are reborn from Sinners into children of God - vessels of God’s grace welling up in us and through us into the world.  

See that God saves you this Lent

When we allow Christ into our Desert he brings his grace to cure the barrenness of Sin, and to bring about a new life of grace in our midst.  With all of the saints who were great sinners, the desert becomes a place of springs because it is the place where they can clearly see God’s love for them conquering sin and death in their lives.

St. Peter says in the second reading today…

Beloved:  Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.  Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit… 

In which a few persons… were saved through water.  This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.  It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience,

Repent (Change your mind) and believe in the Gospel

A clear conscience through which God’s love can permeate our lives and through our lives transform the world.  That is why the Gospel today ends in this way - Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."  Christ has gone before us - it is up to us to follow Him…

Time to grow in Holiness

 

Ash Wednesday

1 Joel 2:12-18, Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17, 2 Cor 5:20—6:2, Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Lent is a time of Preparation for Easter

Lent is for the Church a time of retreat - a time where we make a focused effort to grow closer to God, a time where we set aside the things of the world and turn our hearts to the things of God.  The reason why we do this is so that we are better able to understand, better able to comprehend God’s love for us when we celebrate His victory over sin and death this coming Easter.

La Cuaresma es para la Iglesia un tiempo de retiro: un tiempo en el que hacemos un esfuerzo concentrado para acercarnos a Dios, un tiempo en el que dejamos de lado las cosas del mundo y volvemos nuestro corazón a las cosas de Dios. La razón por la que hacemos esto es para que podamos comprender mejor el amor de Dios por nosotros cuando celebremos Su victoria sobre el pecado y la muerte en la próxima Pascua.

We begin by being attentive to the barriers to Christ

How do we prepare our hearts for this celebration?  We begin by recognizing all of the ways that we fall short of the mission that God created us for.  We begin by confronting our own failings, weaknesses and difficulties.  We begin by paying attention to where Christ has put the cross in our lives and then seeking to embrace that cross.

¿Cómo preparamos nuestro corazón para esta celebración? Comenzamos reconociendo todas las formas en que no cumplimos con la misión para la que Dios nos creó. Comenzamos confrontando nuestros propios fracasos, debilidades y dificultades. Comenzamos prestando atención a dónde Cristo puso la cruz en nuestras vidas y luego buscamos abrazar esa cruz.

Enter into the Desert to find the Cross

When he went into the Desert for 40 days to fast it was because he had set his eyes on Jerusalem, and the mission that the Father had for him there.  How do we identify the cross that Christ calls us to embrace as His disciples?

Cuando fue al Desierto por cuarenta días para ayunar fue porque había puesto sus ojos en Jerusalén, y en la misión que el Padre tenía para él allí. ¿Cómo identificamos la cruz que Cristo nos llama a abrazar como sus discípulos?

What is your Cross?

We begin by reflecting on the nature of the cross - it is the thing you would not wish on your worst enemy, and yet it is the thing that God places in your life to help you to grow in Holiness, to surrender to God and in embracing your cross to become more like Christ - to love without counting the cost, and to forgive without flinching at the hurt.

For some, our cross is the relationship with your children, our spouse, or our parents.  For others with a Sibling.  For some it is an illness, and for others a loneliness.  In all these cases the cross is something we are called to embrace this Lent with Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.

Comenzamos reflexionando sobre la naturaleza de la cruz: es lo que no le desearías a tu peor enemigo y, sin embargo, es lo que Dios coloca en tu vida para ayudarte a crecer en santidad, a rendirte a Dios y en abrazar tu cruz para parecerte más a Cristo: amar sin contar el costo y perdonar sin retroceder ante el dolor.

Para algunos, nuestra cruz es la relación con sus hijos, nuestro cónyuge o nuestros padres. Para otros con un hermano. Para algunos es una enfermedad y para otros una soledad. En todos estos casos la cruz es algo que estamos llamados a abrazar esta Cuaresma con oración, ayuno y limosna.

What are the barriers to taking up the Cross?

What prevents me from embracing my Cross?  Sin, Selfishness, Distraction.  That is why this Lent begins with the appeal from Joel - “Return to me with your WHOLE heart.  Rend your hearts not your garments”  

How do we return back to God?  It is not through the surrender of chocolate - but to the surrender of Sin.  The Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are meant to turn our hearts back to God, so that we can listen to His voice and become more Christ-like in our souls.

¿Qué me impide abrazar mi Cruz? Pecado, Egoísmo, Distracción. Por eso esta Cuaresma comienza con el llamado de Joel: “Vuelve a mí con TODO tu corazón. Rasgan vuestros corazones, no vuestras vestiduras”

¿Cómo volvemos a Dios? No es a través de la entrega del chocolate, sino de la entrega del pecado. Las disciplinas cuaresmales de oración, ayuno y limosna tienen como objetivo hacer que nuestros corazones vuelvan a Dios, para que podamos escuchar Su voz y llegar a ser más semejantes a Cristo en nuestras almas.

Lent is a time to do battle with sin

In Lent we journey into the desert, to be stripped down to the essentials of who we are so that we are able to recognize our weakness in Sin and selfishness.  That we can be converted into disciples of Christ.  That is why in the Gospel today Christ invites us to make our Prayer, our Fasting and our Almsgiving in secret - so we can be honest about where we need to grow with Christ.

En Cuaresma viajamos al desierto, para ser despojados de lo esencial de quiénes somos, para que seamos capaces de reconocer nuestra debilidad en el pecado y el egoísmo. Que podamos convertirnos en discípulos de Cristo. Es por eso que en el Evangelio de hoy Cristo nos invita a hacer nuestra oración, nuestro ayuno y nuestra limosna en secreto, para que podamos ser honestos acerca de dónde necesitamos crecer con Cristo.

2 ways to identify sin in your life

For this Lent I invite you to reflect on what distracts you the most from God.  There are two ways to reflect on this question.  The first way to think about it is what am I thinking about while I am in Mass?  Am I thinking about work - what I need to do next?  Am I thinking about my favorite Sports team who will play next?  Am I thinking about a movie or show that I am going to watch, or what is going on with my social media feed.  Why is that more attractive to you than the one who created you for love?

The second way is to think about the sin you confess the most in confession.  I want to invite you to adopt a special prayer for the grace to recognize the temptation that leads you to commit that sin this Lent.  Ask for the Holy Spirit to point out to you the ways that you are weak towards that sin and then ask God for the grace to resist that temptation.

Para esta Cuaresma te invito a reflexionar sobre lo que más te distrae de Dios. Hay dos maneras de reflexionar sobre esta cuestión. La primera manera de pensarlo es ¿en qué estoy pensando mientras estoy en Misa? ¿Estoy pensando en el trabajo? ¿Qué debo hacer a continuación? ¿Estoy pensando en mi equipo deportivo favorito que jugará a continuación? ¿Estoy pensando en una película o programa que voy a ver, o en lo que está pasando en mis redes sociales? ¿Por qué te resulta más atractivo que aquel que te creó por amor?

La segunda forma es pensar en el pecado que más confiesas en la confesión. Quiero invitarte a adoptar una oración especial pidiendo la gracia de reconocer la tentación que te lleva a cometer ese pecado en esta Cuaresma. Pídele al Espíritu Santo que te indique las formas en que eres débil ante ese pecado y luego pídele a Dios la gracia para resistir esa tentación.

Do you need to go to Confession?

For some of us it has been many years since we have been to confession - if that is you - then I want you to hear St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians - “Now is an acceptable time!”  Take a moment this week and make a good confession.  We have confession here at the parish every Saturday from 10 to 11:30 in the morning.  

Para algunos de nosotros han pasado muchos años desde que nos confesamos; si ese es usted, entonces quiero que escuche la carta de San Pablo a los Corintios: “¡Ahora es un tiempo aceptable!” Tómate un momento esta semana y haz una buena confesión. Nos confesamos aquí en la parroquia todos los sábados de 10 a 11:30 de la mañana.

Grow in your ability to accept God’s Love

The goal of Lent is for us to grow in our ability to be filled with God’s love - that means we need to acknowledge the thing that we do that our barriers to receiving His love and take some positive steps towards them. 

El objetivo de la Cuaresma es que crezcamos en nuestra capacidad de estar llenos del amor de Dios; eso significa que debemos reconocer lo que hacemos que son nuestras barreras para recibir Su amor y dar algunos pasos positivos hacia ellas.

Prayer / Oración

For Prayer - Take some time in the morning or in the evening to begin the day with prayer from the Scriptures.  I recommend Psalm 51, which we prayed today as a psalm to pray as you pray for conversion away from sin.  Also consider coming to the Stations of the Cross here on Fridays at 7 PM.  

Para la oración: tómate un tiempo en la mañana o en la tarde para comenzar el día con oración de las Escrituras. Recomiendo el Salmo cincuenta y una, que oramos hoy como un salmo para orar mientras oras por la conversión lejos del pecado. También considere venir al Vía Crucis aquí los viernes a las 7 p.m.

Fasting

For Fasting - Today and Good Friday are days of fasting.  Every Friday during lent are days of abstinence from meat.  St. John Chrysostom says “Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism for what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes but bite and devour our brothers.”  Fasting teaches us that the needs of the body are temporary while the needs for the soul are greater.  It quiets down our body so that we can pray with a deeper sense of need.

Para el ayuno - Hoy y el Viernes Santo son días de ayuno. Todos los viernes durante la cuaresma son días de abstinencia de carne. San Juan Crisóstomo dice: “Dejad que la boca ayune de malas palabras y críticas injustas, porque ¿de qué sirve abstenernos de aves y peces, sino morder y devorar a nuestros hermanos?” El ayuno nos enseña que las necesidades del cuerpo son temporales mientras que las necesidades del alma son mayores. Calma nuestro cuerpo para que podamos orar con un sentimiento de necesidad más profundo.

Almsgiving

Finally, almsgiving.  Christ teaches us that we have a need to give to others - because Christ is both fully God and fully man.  He gives himself to us fully, so we too have a need to give of ourselves to others.

Share the gifts that God has entrusted to you with those in need.  Take a moment and think about the times and places that you give alms.  For the next 6 weeks seek to double the alms that you give - with a generous heart.  

Finalmente, limosna. Cristo nos enseña que tenemos la necesidad de dar a los demás, porque Cristo es plenamente Dios y plenamente hombre. Él se entrega plenamente a nosotros, por lo que también nosotros tenemos la necesidad de darnos a los demás.

Comparte los dones que Dios te ha confiado con los necesitados. Tómate un momento y piensa en los momentos y lugares en los que das limosna. Durante las próximas 6 semanas, busca duplicar las limosnas que das, con un corazón generoso.

San Pablo nos recuerda nuestra misión en esta cuaresma: convertirnos en Embajadores de Cristo. Convertirnos en Hombres y Mujeres que reflejen el amor de Dios en el mundo. No sólo aquí en la Iglesia, sino también en nuestros hogares, nuestros trabajos, nuestras escuelas y nuestra comunidad. No dejéis que se desperdicie esta temporada de gracia. ¡Ahora es el momento aceptable!

The mission of Lent - to become an Ambassador for Christ

St. Paul reminds us of our mission this lent - to become Ambassadors for Christ.  To become Men and Women who reflect the love of God into the world.  Not just here in the Church - but in our homes, our jobs, our schools and our community.  Do not let this season of grace go to waste.  Now is the acceptable time!

More than a black cross on your forhead

Ash Wednesday

Jl 2:12-18 – Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17 - 2 Cor 5:20—6:2 - Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Peace Huts Retreat

Before I became a Deacon I helped out at a retreat center on the Colorado Prairie that was called the Peace Huts. The Peace Huts was really a “back-to-basics” kind of place. When I went on retreat we had to use an outhouse, cook on a wood-fired stove and walk a mile one way to fetch water.

Retreating is about getting into the basics of your faith


The beauty of taking a retreat is that they help us to focus on the basics of our faith; our relationship with God, our family and our friends. Taking a spiritual retreat enables us to leave the distractions behind, and to spend time focusing on our relationship with God. We do this with prayer, with listening, with serving one another and with fasting. The fruit of a good spiritual retreat is that it leads us closer to the heart of God.

Lent – The Church on Retreat


Lent is the time when all of us go on retreat. We stop our lives for a moment, so that we can take some time to grow in our relationship with Christ. Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular days of the Church year, because on Ash Wednesday the Church all over the world begins her retreat. Lent is the time when we work at our relationship with God.

Begin with Simplicity – Simplifying your life


When we go on retreat we need to begin in simplicity. Being on retreat means going to a quiet, out of the way place so that we can hear God. For us, for this Lent, it means that we need to take a mental inventory of the busyness in our life so that we can pare it down to what is essential. To help us to do this we begin Lent with fasting, abstaining from meat. Fasting helps us to focus on our prayer life, so that we can listen to Jesus with our heart.

Repent – Change your heart!


During Lent we are called to repent – which means to change your life so that you can fall more deeply in love with God.

Fasting and Abstinence


During Lent the Church calls us to abstain from eating meat on Fridays. (This means that we can only eat vegetables and fish – no chicken, no pork, no steak because eating simple food reminds us to change our lives.

Fasting is a way of quieting our stomach, of reminding our body that the needs of the soul (which will live forever) are more important than the needs of the body. Fasting allows us to listen to God. The first step to listening is ridding yourself of these things that distract you from Him. What is distracting you from God? Television? Video Games? Gambling? Alcohol? Lying? Pornography? Now is the time to change, repent, and make more room for God by trimming away one of the excesses in your life!

Pray All Ways


When we go on retreat we make an effort to spend time praying with God because prayer is an essential element of our relationship with God. We can pray the Rosary, the Psalms, the Scriptures, the Mass, spend time listening, or praising God in song.

Lent too is a time to increase our prayer life – to increase the time we spend with God. During Lent we are encouraged to take time to speak and listen to God. If you don’t know how to do this then come to the Church this Friday night at 6:00 PM for Soup Supper and the Stations of the Cross. We will share a simple meal and then spend time meditating on the Passion of Our Lord. Think of it as watching the Passion of the Christ from within your heart.

Conversion


During Lent it is important to receive the sacrament of penance. There will be time for confession every Wednesday and Thursday night. Many of us have not been to confession for a long time – do not worry – the Father’s here will help you to make a good confession, so that you can be freed from sin. In today’s reading God begs us to return to him with our whole heart – so that we are able to receive His blessing of love and healing.

God will heal your heart


Whenever we take time for a retreat God will heal us – sometimes in a small way, sometimes in a big way. He changes our hearts by stretching them a little. God stretches our hearts by filling with His love, and as a result we end up making more and more room for Him in our lives because we become more and more hungry for His love. The more our heart is filled with God’s love, the easier it is for us to avoid the sin’s that are killing us.

Peace Huts is more than a Burlap Sack – Ash Wednesday is more than a black cross on your forehead!

The retreats that I used to attend at the Peace Huts began with an exercise of simplicity – We would have to empty out the bag that we brought our stuff in and then pack what we NEEDED into a burlap sack. Over the years I learned that going on a retreat is not about packing all of my stuff into a burlap bag and walking out into the middle of the prairie, but rather it is about opening myself up to the possibility of God’s love. Going on a retreat is about setting aside our busy lives for a little while so that we can learn to listen to God. Going on a retreat is about getting rid of those habits that I have that are killing my relationship my creator.

In the same way Ash Wednesday is more than receiving a small black cross on our foreheads – it is about setting aside what we think we need for fasting, acts of charity and penance. Ash Wednesday is about allowing ourselves the opportunity to listen to God. Ash Wednesday is about making a little more room in our hearts with our prayers, our charity and our actions so that we can be filled with the love of God.