third sunday of lent

Posted on by Cassie

Our Gospel passage has two parts today.  The first is a conversation between Jesus and “some people” regarding two recent tragedies, and the second is a parable concerning repentance.

Jesus is told about some people from Galilee who were killed by Pilate in order to see how Jesus, a Galilean Himself, might react.  Jesus immediately addresses Himself to an underlying presupposition that there must have been something wrong with those Galileans to have been put to death.  Jesus says: “No, unless  you repent you will all perish as they did.”

The word repent as used by Saint Luke means a turning from sin in order to accept the gift of salvation being presented in the preaching of Jesus. It is not enough to be embarrassed by our sin; we must turn away from it and receive what Jesus is offering to us.

Jesus moves the conversation from the Galileans who were killed by Pilate to those who were killed by the accidental collapse of a tower in Jerusalem.  He wants to make His point: we cannot see in such events a punishment of God upon those who particularly deserve it.  Jesus says: “Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?”  Again in exactly the same words we hear the call to repentance.

In the second part of Saint Luke’s text we have a parable of Jesus that is most likely included to help us (the readers of another generation) to understand that God is still waiting for our repentance.

We are the fig tree in God’s vineyard.  We were created to bear fruit in our lives.  Jesus, the vine dresser has died for our sins and opened up the gates of Heaven for us.  He is calling us to bear good fruit in our life.  How will we respond?  Let us use the Season of Lent to strive hard to bear good fruit.  God is inviting each of us to turn from sin and accept the gift of salvation.  May we all Repent and Believe the Good News.  May we all bear the fruit of eternal life.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

second sunday of lent

Posted on by Cassie

Before Jesus embarks on His journey to Jerusalem, where He would suffer and die, He takes Peter, James and John up a mountain.  Here we experience the Transfiguration, which illumines for us in a profound way just who Jesus is.

It is interesting to note that Jesus went up on the mount on the “eighth day.”  The only Jewish Feast which lasts eight days is the Feast of Tabernacles.  This Feast commemorates Gods’ protection for Israel in the desert wanderings after Sinai.  This took place in the time of Moses.

Part of the celebration required the building of  booths, to symbolize God’s sheltering presence with the glory cloud from the sun (see Isaiah 4:5-6).  In Luke’s story of the Transfiguration a cloud comes and overshadows the group around Jesus.  When you consider Peter’s comment about building three tents it is obvious that Peter is thinking of the Feast of Tabernacles.  This Jewish Feast remembers the journey of the people of Israel in the desert.

Luke is the only Gospel to include the topic of conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration.  They spoke of “His exodus, that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem” (verse 31).  The suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus will be a new exodus – He is the new Moses for the new Israel, the Church.

Jesus’ exodus is His departure from this world enslaved to sin, to the new promised land of Heaven.  When Moses promised the Israelites that God would raise up a prophet like himself, he said, “to Him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15) with Peter James and John, let us “listen to Him” (verse 35).

Lent is a wonderful time to learn how to listen to Jesus.  We need to pay more attention to what Jesus wants to say to us and less attention to what we can do for Him.

Our God is generous and loving.  He wants to share His life with us.  However, sometimes we are just too busy serving Him to receive Him.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

first sunday of lent

Posted on by Cassie

Every year on the First Sunday of Lent we focus on the story of Jesus being tempted by the Devil in the Desert after His Baptism by Saint John.  This year we use St. Luke as our guide to what took place during the 40 days of fasting in the desert.

The account of Jesus’ temptations demonstrates that he overcame the three great vices: love of pleasure, love of possessions, and love of glory.  His refusal to be mastered by any of these vices shows us that Jesus is a great moral teacher.  He is for each of us an example of discipline and dedication to Gods’ will.

Alone in the desert, where no human could observe and where only God could see Him, Jesus showed Himself to be the obedient Son of God.  Throughout His life, even to the cross, Jesus showed Himself to be God’s humble servant.

In Baptism we become children of God, and we become His Holy Temple.  Lent is for us a time when we respond to the personal invitation of God to come back to Him with all our hearts.  We can use Lent to rediscover how much we are loved by God and share that love with each other.

Lent can be seen as the time when we cleanse ourselves as God’s Temple.  It is not unlike spring cleaning.  Despite our best intentions, and the best things we do, there can be our own life things  that are not of God-things that must be cleaned out.  In a sense, it is like the difference between everyday vacuuming and those times when we move the sofa and vacuum.  During Lent we “move the sofa” in our lives.  It is not just a question of dirt and sin, it is a question of realizing our thoughts and, by fasting and more intense prayer and more intense works of mercy, we begin to see things differently.  We begin to take another look at our lives.

What we do during Lent is not simply getting rid of the sinfulness in us.  It is also opening our hearts and minds to a fresh, deeper, fuller awareness of God within us and around us, and to His holy will.

As we begin our Lenten Retreat the Church takes us into the desert so we can learn from Jesus how to overcome the temptations of this world.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell