Homily
Cycle A 03-01-2020
My
Mom (more times) than I care to count corrected me by saying, “Son, you are not
the center of the universe.” Cosmologists
tell us today that the universe has no center; my Mom anticipated that discovery
because she sometimes reprimanded this way, “Young man the world doesn’t
revolve around you.”
She,
of course, was correct our focus should be on God and not on self. On Ash Wednesday many of us received ashes
with the reminder, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
Lent
provides us an opportunity to review our lives, our priorities; how we are
living as Christians. Think about what
is MOST important in your life, why is it most important and should it be?
In
our 1st reading we are reminded that God made us, and we are
responsible for our actions, for what we say, for what we do and for how we
live our life.
St.
Paul tells us that the gift of grace is given so we can learn that Jesus is the
Christ, the Messiah, Jesus is TRUE MAN and TRUE GOD.
In
our Gospel Matthew tells us about Jesus’ 40 days in prayer and fasting in the
desert. Matthew reminds us that we
should take a seriously our journey here on earth.
What
changes can we begin during Lent that we help us be better people and better
disciples; changes that will become part of us after Lent? Jesus’ temptations focused on three areas:
food, honor and power.
Take
some time during Lent to think about the areas in your life where temptations appear
and recognize that with God’s grace you can avoid sinning in those areas.
Comic
with two Monks, “Fasting doesn’t mean fast food.” [below]
Who
is God in my life?
Is
God – God?
Or
am I God?
We
live in a me first culture; my Mom was counter-cultural many years ago, when she
said to me, “Young man the world doesn’t revolve around you.” Our lives should revolve around, and center
on Jesus Christ.
Maybe
this “Peanut’s” comic can help us, Marcie called Charlie
Brown: "Guess
what, Chuck...the first day of school, and I got sent to the principal's
office.
It was your fault, Chuck."
"My fault?" Charlie Brown
replies surprised.
"How could it be MY fault?
Why
do you always say everything is MY fault!"
"You're
my friend, aren't you, Chuck? You should
have been a better influence on me!"
[Sermons, David E. Leininger, Collected
Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc].
What
kind of influence are you on your family, your friends and the people you meet?
Could
you reflect the Gospel values more clearly and more fully?
Listen
to this poem by the Scottish poet and minister John Philip Newell,
“In
the morning light, O God,
may
I glimpse again your image deep within me
the
threads of eternal glory
woven
into the fabric of every man and woman.
Again
may I catch sight of the mystery of the human soul
fashioned
in your likeness
deeper
than knowing
more
enduring than time.
And
in glimpsing these threads of light
amidst
the weakness and distortions of my life
let
me be recalled
to
the strength and beauty deep in my soul.
Let
me be recalled
to
the strength and beauty of your image in every living soul.”
[From Celtic Christian Spirituality:
Essential Writings]
For
a few minutes, in silence, resolve to be a better you, so Christ’s light shines
more clearly through you.
May
God Be Praised!
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