February 18, 2018

Homily: 1^st Sunday of Lent (B)

Lent…Finding Solitude…Fleeing Temptation

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

At his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus was anointed to bring Good News to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted and to preach the Kingdom. Yet, He does not rush to carry out this mission, but obedient to the impulse of the Holy Spirit, retreats into the solitude and silence of the desert where he remains forty days. This is the first thing that St. Mark tells us about Jesus.
 
In the Church’s history, there were many Christians who chose to imitate Jesus by retreating to the desert. In the East, many like St. Anthony the Abbot went into the deserts of Egypt and Palestine. In Europe, where deserts did not exist, we find people like St. Benedict who retreated to solitary places—mountains and remote valleys.
 
But the invitation to follow Jesus in the desert is not meant only for monks and hermits. It is meant for everyone. Our desert must be found in the space and time we give to solitude and silence. We need this in order to rediscover the way to our heart and to be in communion with God. This is the positive meaning of the desert. It is not only an arid place, a place without life or communication. The Lord says to his people through the prophet Hosea, “I will lead you into the desert and speak to your heart.”(2:16) Our lives are filled with so many activities that are not always healthy or of value. We need a bit of desert in our lives.
 
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa says, “If Lent did not exist, we would need to invent it today. We need a certain sobering from the intoxication of clamor and glitter. We are all a bit drunk of hustle and bustle. Every person who is conscious of having a spirit, a soul, feels the need for times of recollection and solitude. Even the spirit has a right to a vacation! Man launches satellites to the edge of the solar system, but so often fails to probe that which resides in his own heart.”
 
With Lent before us, let us resolve to find time for solitude and cultivate a bit of silence every day. Would that we could find it even here before and after the celebration of Mass! St. Teresa of Calcutta reminds us that God “cannot be found in noise and restlessness.” “God,” she says, “is the friend of silence.”
 
The second thing St. Mark tells us about our Lord is that he was tempted by Satan. We all deal with temptation. During my seminary days, a student asked a visiting bishop who gave a Lenten retreat, “Your Excellency, when do temptations end?” He replied, “About 20 minutes after you are in the grave.”
 
The first thing we should say about temptation—it is not in and of itself a sin. Otherwise, we would have to call Jesus a sinner! The sin of our first parents was not that they were tempted but that they succumbed to the temptation.
 
Temptation of itself is not a matter for sacramental confession. The matter to be raised in confession is what may result from the temptation. May the season which is before us draw us to places of solitude, silence and prayer so that we might be strengthened to resist the temptations that Satan so often throws into our path toward holiness of life.