"FIRST IMPRESSIONS" FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT -C-

Deuteronomy 26:4-10 Psalm 91 Romans 10: 8-13 Luke 4: 1-13

By: Jude Siciliano, OP

Dear Preachers:

As we begin Lent we need to remember who we are and who God is for us. The Book of Deuteronomy starts us off with a reminder of both, lest we forget. The faithful Jew, offering the first fruits of the harvest to God, recites the ancient lines of remembrance, "My father was a wandering Aramean...." Their beginnings were humble, and God chose these people, not because of their greatness, but because of their need. They were slaves under Egypt and they, "cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression." We remember with the Jews, what God has done for us. This gives us courage and confidence to enter Lent, for what is recalled here is the grace of God who rescued a people unable to help themselves. What God was once able to do, God is able to do again.

Today, in this first reading, we are reminded that we have a God who sees our affliction and misplaced affections and comes to rescue us too. We need to be reminded of this God, so that we can enter Lent with the right focus. While we recall our sinfulness, we don't stay focused on our wanderings and sinful deeds, but on the mercy assured us by God. It is to this God that we offer the gifts. Like the ancient Jews offering the gift of their first fruits, we are reminded of who God has been for us and we place hope in God's ongoing presence for us, always ready to lead us back.

This passage from Deuteronomy is part of the long instruction Moses delivers to the people of Israel as they are about to enter the Promise Land. He is telling them about the feast of the first fruits. Here are both the ceremony and words to be said to celebrate God's gifts. The gifts they are to offer, "the first fruits of the products of the soil", come from their daily labors as farmers. Two ends of the spectrum of their lives are united--their work and their worship. Here's something to think about during Lent. How can we keep in perspective the unity of our lives? Why divide our lives into portions and make two compartments: what is "sacred" from what is "secular"? What if we saw our daily labors more in relation to God and as ways to offer to God the gifts God has already given us? What if we saw what we labor at each day as an opportunity to worship God? We say we go to "the daily grind"; "another day, another dollar", we say. Not to overly romanticize some unhealthy working conditions, but nevertheless, isn't there someway we can serve God there?

We turn to Luke. First of all let's take him at his word--Jesus was tempted, really tempted. And the temptation takes a particular shape, it's about his identity as "Son of God". Mary was told that her son would be called, "son of the Most High; and the voice at his baptism addresses him as, "my beloved Son". Two of the temptations begin in exactly those terms, "If you are the Son of God...". What will it mean to be a child of God? What can a child of God expect from the Parent? How will a special "beloved" child go through life? The temptations are real and test him in his identity and expectations as the "Son of God". Had he given into the temptations he would not have been a beloved child of God but a rebellious one. Because of him, we rebellious children are reconciled with God, for we through Jesus, we learn again that we too are the beloved children in whom God is well pleased.

The temptation story really summarizes the entire ministry of Jesus. How many times, as he observed the obstinacy of the religious establishment, the fickleness of the crowds and the density of his closest companions, was he tempted to do something really big to wow them all and convince them that he was the genuine article? His zealot followers would have loved him to assume a political messiahship and gain "all this power and glory." Others wanted him to do some really stupendous, incontrovertible sign to overwhelm them into belief ("throw yourself down" from the temple parapet and be saved by God—in the sight of all). There certainly were enough hungry people, Jesus included, who would have been helped by daily miracles of stones into bread ("command this stone to become bread.").

Where did this temptation take place? At what geographical coordinates? What longitude and latitude? We don't know. But, while we don't know the physical place, we do know the location. It was in the same place we experience the temptations that shake our own resolve, threaten our identity as Jesus' community and tug us away from our life's true course. They happened in Jesus' mind and soul. The wilderness we inhabit seems much less threatening than the one Jesus entered. For many of us it is a world of commuting, homework assignments, deadlines, financial stress, shopping malls, job security, medical bills, tv programs, etc. These places can be both places of holiness, reflecting our Gospel commitment, or they can be the wilderness where we are tempted.

Our temptation don't seems as dramatic as the ones described in this gospel scene. They are quiet, ordinary and frequently happen a little at a time--- each day, for a long time. Yet, they threaten to do to us what they would have done to Jesus—steer us off course. We go about our routines: go to work or school, build our careers, raise our families, celebrate the joys of engagements and weddings, graduations, birthday parties, new schools, sports events and watch tv. We grieve our losses, feel overwhelmed by greater powers around us. There are the more subtle powers that tempt us to small compromises, little lies, short cuts, over indulgence and waste. These too have the cumulative effect of wilderness voices that little by little would take us away from the path of our baptismal commitment in which we promised to resist evil in all its forms. Remember those questions asked at our baptism? "Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God's children? Do you reject the glamor of evil?"

What's wrong with Jesus seeing to his comforts, ("command these stones to turn to bread"); using political power to achieve his ends ("I will give you all this power...."); or calling on God to prove he is specially loved and protected ("that you may never stumble on a stone")? Had Jesus given into these temptations he would have wiggled his way around our human condition, escaped pain, dependence and mortality. He certainly would have won a big following by his spectacular signs. Super stars have lots of fans; wonder workers are mobbed---but not followed in failure and death.

His real signs were significantly less spectacular, and they would be grasped only with the eyes of faith. His followers would see him in the vulnerable, and poor; in the small and insignificant community of believers. They would trust his presence when no quick relief came for burdens, sickness and trials; even when his mission would end not in rave reviews, but in the failure of the cross. He is easy to miss and most of the world does miss him. He does not run away from his own humanity, but sees it through to its bitter end. He invites us to say "yes" to his way, not because it's a big show and accompanied by fanfare, but because we sense in him what it is like to be a "child of God"--one who accepts humanity and who is not thrown into chaos when struggle or limitations come, one who trusts in God all the way up to and through our own deaths. And, when you come right down to it, where else would we ever get the real power we need to deal with the powerful forces we face?

In Luke, John the Baptist had promised "one more powerful than I is coming". We do need the help of one with great power, but the surprise is that his power shows itself through love, forgiveness, and compassion. It didn't look like much to the tempter that day in the desert, nor to the forces who opposed Jesus. In fact, they thought they had defeated him. But death had won just that round; the ultimate victory belonged to the One who was "full of the Spirit" and who put his ultimate trust in God. He gives us the same Spirit and invokes us to trust in God, each step of our own desert journey.

QUOTABLE:

(Here's a quote from a wonderful book that sets the physical and spiritual scene of the Sunday gospels. Whenever a place is mentioned in the stories, the authors describe and reflect on the history and significance of the location.)

"The desert is exquisitely beautiful, although hot, dry, desolate, harsh unforgiving. The desert is a place where people always live in a survival mode, looking for water and food, a place where one is utterly alone and very vulnerable. One's fears emerge: fear of heights, of darkness, of illness, of being lost, of not being in control. The desert, the wilderness, is a place each of us has experienced sometime, perhaps many times, in our life. The wilderness is the perfect place to prepare for a new coming of God into our world, not because God lives in the wilderness but because the wilderness strips one of self-sustaining supports, leaving one open to God's initiative."

---Marianne Race & Laurie Brink. In this Place: Reflections on the Land of the Gospels for the Liturgical Cycles. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1998. Page 37, $19.95, paper.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. CD Available: "FIRST IMPRESSIONS: PREACHING REFLECTIONS ON LITURGICAL YEAR C" This compilation, from past "First Impressions," includes two reflections on almost all Sundays and major feasts for this liturgical year. For more information and to purchase go to: http://judeop.ispraleigh.com/

2. I get notes from people responding to these reflections. Sometimes they tell how they use "First Impressions" in their ministry and for personal use. Others respond to the reflections, make suggestions and additions. I think our readers would benefit from these additional thoughts. If you drop me a BRIEF note, I will be happy to add your thoughts and reflections to my own. (Judeop@Juno.com)

3. Our webpage address: http://judeop.ispraleigh.com/

(Where you will find "Preachers' Exchange," which includes "First Impressions" and "Homilias Dominicales," as well as articles, book reviews and quotes pertinent to preaching.)

4. "Homilias Dominicales"-- these Spanish reflections are written by three friars of the Southern Dominican Province, Leobardo Almazan, Juan Torres, OP , Wilmo Candanedo, OP and two Dominican sisters, Regina Mc Carthy, OP and Doris Regan, OP. Like "First Impressions", "Homilias Dominicales" are a preacher's early reflections on the upcoming Sunday readings and liturgy. So, if you or a friend would like to receive "Homilias Dominicales" drop a note to John Boll, O.P. at: Jboll@opsouth.org or jboll@preacherexchange.org

5. "First Impressions" is a service to preachers and those wishing to prepare for Sunday worship. It is sponsored by the Southern Dominican Province, U.S.A. If you would like "First Impressions" sent weekly to a friend, send a note to John Boll at the above Email address.

DONATIONS

If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to Jude Siciliano, O.P., whose address is listed below. Make checks to: Dominican Friars of Raleigh. Or, go to our webpage to make an online donation: http://judeop.ispraleigh.com

Thank you.

Blessings on your preaching,

Jude Siciliano, O.P., Promoter of Preaching, Southern Dominican Province, USA

P.O. Box 12927, Raleigh, N.C. 27605, (919) 833-1893, Email: judeop@juno.com