Sunday Homily 3-13-11, 1st Lent
Readings: Genesis 2, 7-9, 3, 1-7; Psalm 51, Be Merciful, O Lord, for We have sinned; Romans 5, 12-19; Matthew 4, 1-11.
First Sunday in Lent 2011– Intro to Readings
Our first reading today comes from the Book of Genesis chapters two and three, and gives the second account of the creation of the world. This is actually the older of the two versions.
The first chapter creation story was written around the 5th century BCE and today’s one came from around the 8th century BCE. The story in today’s reading is primarily about the temptation by the serpent and the eviction from the garden. There are just a few points I would like to draw your attention to about these creation stories.
This material must be understood for what it is and is not. It is not accurate scientific information about the beginning of the world. It is myth. Now myth, properly understood, is not simply just make believe, but a style of writing which has a clear purpose. Myths are a society’s founding poetic narrative that provides the basic understanding of a society and its reason for being. There are very similar stories found in other even earlier cultures.
It is from St. Paul that we get the idea that this action by Adam and Eve of disobeying God was what we have come to know as Original Sin. There is nowhere in the rest of the Old Testament that we have any suggestion that the people viewed the event as being “Original Sin”. This idea was later taken up by St. Augustine and got its own legs from there.
If we pay close attention to the story, there are several things worth noting. The relationship between God and man, at the outset is perfect! Everything has been made for man’s enjoyment. Enter the serpent, and the temptation is “to be like God”. The relationship was broken by the decision, and from that moment the relationship changed. Remember that immediately after eating they hide from God. The humans made the gap between the two.
Our second reading takes up the same event, Paul to the Romans and this is where that idea of Original Sin is developed and then, as I mentioned above, greatly developed by Augustine and others.
First Sunday in Lent 2011 – Homily
Welcome to Lent, a time traditionally to ask, so what are you giving up for Lent. And my usual answer was something like, candy or homework! Today I am not sure that I am giving up anything, I am going to try to take up something instead. The original meaning of lent is Spring, and spring is a time of new beginnings.
Lent is also the time when those preparing for baptism and entry into the Church through the RCIA program begin their final steps, by signing the Book of the Elect. I am pretty sure that just as an athlete will train for a competitive event, so too the Church sees lent as a time for us to prepare for Easter.
Given that I have previously said just this past Easter that if you can understand the Resurrection you are probably committing some kind of heresy, then for me the easiest way to get my head around the whole death/resurrection event is to see it as some kind of sign of God’s unbelievable love for each one of us – and leave it at that.
The gospel today gives us some ideas for lent. It is the story of Jesus spending 40 days in the desert prior to beginning His public ministry. Remember so much of Matthew’s gospel points back to the Old Testament, and we will then recall the 40 years of wandering in the desert. At the end of the 40 days we are told he is faced with three temptations. The three temptations are best summarized as follows:
- Change the rocks into bread. It is a temptation to take the easy way out, there is no one else around, no one will see, no one will know. We too can be tempted in this way.
- Jump from the Temple, the place where surely God is most present. He will save you. How often do we tempt God? In our heads how often do we see, if God doesn’t want this to happen, then it won’t.
- Promise of power, if only Jesus will worship the devil. The danger of abuse of power, it is such a tempting thing to have power over others.
My plan for this lent is to focus on these three temptations, and reflect on my own life in terms of each of the temptations. Perhaps Lent should be a time of reflection on this journey we call life, a time for a thorough examination of conscience. Remember when NASA was sending rockets to the moon, there was a phrase used “a mid course correction”. Maybe by taking time during lent, taking a closer look at our own lives, maybe we too could use a mid course correction.
Picture 1: We begin
Picture 2: Leo
Picture 3: Emma
Picture 4: The Pastry Shoppe
Picture 5: Curtis & Mabel with Cindy