My friends, Lent is upon us once again, and for some, that may be a negative thing, while others may feel more positive about these 40 days.  Robert usually remembers each year his childhood and of having to pray the rosary each night and of the long church services, especially during Holy Week, and also, the joy he felt when on Good Friday, everyone would get up to venerate the cross—a little movement to get a break in the “endless” prayers, that for a child were hard to take. 

   So, today, I’d like to look a bit then through the chosen readings at just what our humanity calls us to during these 40 days, and perhaps in a more positive way.  The gospel today from Luke shows us the devil tempting our brother Jesus directly through his humanity—in the ways that we are all, at times, tempted.  Jesus has gone into the hills to be alone and prepare for the start of his public ministry through prayer and fasting.  Thus, the devil tempts him with physical food.  Next Jesus is tempted with power – to control everything – to be in charge if only he will bow down before the devil.  And finally, when neither of these work on Jesus – the devil’s temptation hits at his divinity – his indestructibleness. 

   With each temptation – Jesus goes to Scripture to justify his response to the devil.  “Not on bread alone will we live.”  “You will do homage to God alone.”  “You will not put the Most High to the test.”  We should not miss my friends, Jesus’ actions in each of these three temptations – he goes to Scripture to find his way forward.  The lesson for us is to always, “follow in Jesus’ footsteps.”

   Additionally, I think we do well to “study” how Jesus lives out his humanity, to then respond in like manner.  In other words, we need to let Jesus “be human” – otherwise we will miss the great gift that our God gave us in “risking,” as John Shea says in his beautiful Creed that we use here at All Are One, that the Godself would become human.

   Now, some might say that the Godself is perfect, so how then can he/she be capable of “risking?” Without knowing what the theologian/storyteller, John Shea might have been thinking, I can only surmise that he wants us to get away from the merely, “black and white” images that we may have been living with to understand in a greater way just how much we are loved by the Godself, to use Shea’s term for God.

   Just think my friends, that our God loved us enough to for a time dispense with the powers of divinity (all perfect-ness – no flaws) “risking” Jesus, begotten of God to come among us, completely human with all that it implies. 

   Paul’s 2^nd chapter of the letter to the Philippians, that we will use later in Lent, speaks so well to this idea: “His state was divine, yet he did not cling to it, but became human…and was humbled” …as we are.

   I believe we have all experienced a time in our lives, when we loved someone fully with our hearts and minds, and this could be with a mate, a sibling, or a friend, and that love wasn’t returned, or perhaps not in the same way.  We “risked” loving another, became vulnerable before that love – only to not have it be returned, or perhaps abused. 

   Unless we can allow Jesus to be completely human and risk loving all of us, even if rejected by some, then I submit, he can’t really be of much help to us in our journeys to God.  I think this may be what Shea is saying in his Creed, and again, not knowing for sure.

   Before Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time, Scripture tells us that he “wept over” [the city] – a purely human act from a human/God who “risked” everything, only to be misunderstood in the end.  We can each turn to our human brother Jesus with all that troubles us in our human journeys because he lived it too, and knows the pain of loss, rejection, of not being good enough for some, of being misunderstood and taken for granted.

   I have spent time today, my friends, during this homily lifting up with you the possibility of God “risking” in sending Jesus because over the years, using this Creed, some have found the word, “risking” both interesting and for some, unbelievable.  I believe if we can allow God to so, be, one-with-us, and believe that God would fully immerse into humanity, right down to our weakness, then our God becomes so much more interesting, full, and thus, loveable.  To me, it is in the act of “risking” that I can see how truly God’s love is over-the-top!

   Now we might wonder why for so many, many years of Church history, we were taught that Jesus came to save us from our sins, instead of, as John Shea seems to suggest in his beautiful Creed, that it was really because of love for us, to show us how to navigate the ups and downs of being human, to be completely human as we are, in order to show us how to do it ourselves. I think our Church history gives us such an unloving view of our good God, because they just couldn’t believe that God would love us that much. 

   So, during Lent, my friends, I would invite each of us to take this, perhaps new concept, that of God “risking” in Jesus, “to the basement of our hearts” and see what we might discover there.  I have shared in the past a piece by Hospice chaplain, Janet Harney, entitled The Basement of my Heart, and have left some copies on the back table for your reflection.  As you know, I often suggest taking things to our hearts when trying to decide the best way to go.  Besides looking at new concepts, we might find, as the article suggests, there are other things that can be addressed, “in the basement of our hearts” with our God who is waiting there for us, and that Lent is a good time to do this.  As Moses suggests in the 1^st reading from Deuteronomy to the People of God, a good response to this God of ours, for always being there for us, is, “gratitude.” 

   In conclusion then my friends, from the time we may choose to spend, “in the basement of our hearts,” we may find a “renewed faith” as Paul speaks of it to the Romans in today’s 2^nd reading, which will give us the strength to move forward in our world that so needs true followers of Jesus to respond, “with justice toward all.  And also, let us be fortified that all we do for good in our world, we do not do alone — as we sang the beautiful psalmist’s words today, “Be with me God when I am in trouble,” and we know that God is indeed there. Amen? Amen!

   My friends, today is the last Sunday in Ordinary Time that we will celebrate until after the Lenten and Easter seasons.  This next Wednesday we begin the holy season of Lent, a time of 40 days that basically, in the most positive sense, invites us to look into our hearts to see what we find there and strive to become perhaps, a better version of ourselves.  These 40 days can be seen as an opportunity to be better, if we look at them through the eyes of faith, hope and love, rather than a time to punish ourselves for our failings.

   All the readings for this Sunday can prepare us well for our journey through Lent as I suggested above.  The 1^st reading from Sirach does a lovely job I feel of comparing our speech— “our talk,” that is, “to the sifting of grain, a kiln, and the pottery within, and an orchard, and the fruit that grows there.  Each example, Sirach suggests will be as good as the farmer, the potter, and “the keeper of the fruit” is good—doing their work to the best of their ability.  Our speech likewise will demonstrate, what is in our hearts—whether good or bad.  As Jesus says in today’s gospel: “All people speak from their heart’s abundance.” 

   Perhaps a bit of clarification: In my understanding of the function of our hearts in determining our actions, it seems that if we are “engaging” our hearts in any action that we do, then the result will be good, as our hearts are the “well” of where love resides.  When any of us do what we would consider “evil,” it would seem that we did not first lay that action on our hearts.

   The psalm choice today, 92, would seem to give us assurance for the good that we attempt to do in life: “The just flourish like a palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon, [even into] old age.”  Simply put then, it would seem that the 1^st reading and the psalm response are all about developing and demonstrating, “good character” within and for us, and as well for and toward others.

   Paul, in the 2^nd reading to the Corinthians encourages them [to be] “fully engaged in the work of Jesus.”  We must ask then—just what does that mean?  It’s all about love, I would suggest—taking whatever you are dealing with on any given day and laying it on your heart.  To me, it seems that, “engaging our hearts” will always give us a good outcome.  We may not be living within a stated law at times, but we will be doing, in a higher sense, the right thing.

   In these times in which we are living, when it seems too many in positions of power over others are choosing to live, not from their hearts, wherein they could see and hear the injustices that many are being asked to live with, but from their own selfish and greedy desires, the Scriptures are calling all believers to something bigger than themselves, to balance. 

   When we have balance in our lives, we can experience “righteous anger” over injustices in the lives of others, and work through words and actions to make a difference.  This past Thursday, over 25 people gathered at the Blue Heron Coffeehouse and wrote 300 postcards to Congress –both sides of the aisle suggesting and imploring them to work from their hearts for the betterment of all. 

    Jesus’ familiar words in today’s gospel from Luke of “removing the log from our own eyes, before seeing the speck in another’s eye” is a powerful piece to consider when we attempt to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.  “Righteous anger” can easily shift to “self-righteousness” and something to always be aware of.  I am sure that Jesus, being totally human as well as totally divine, was aware of this tendency within himself. 

   Another human tendency for each of us to remember is that of wanting to be accepted—appreciated, even loved by our peers, which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, but this tendency can sometimes get in the way of us being our best selves. 

   Scripture scholar, Diane Bergant speaks to this issue when she says, “we only have one chance to make a good first impression.”  The trouble with “good impressions” is the criteria used to determine what in fact is “good,” she says.  Our culture tends to look too much at externals to judge this, the clothes we wear, the shape of our bodies, gender, color of our skin, and so on—how unfortunate if we look no further or deeper.  Sirach and Jesus’ examples point to this—only a good tree produces good fruit—the product of the kiln shows the craft of the potter.  And only in living and through experience do we acquire the wisdom to truly know what others are made of –what we ourselves are made of. 

   I can speak to this tendency of putting great store in externals having grown up in a home that uplifted the importance of “what others will think.”  All my life since I broke free of that kind of measuring, I have had to struggle to beat down such thinking—that people are more than 1^st impressions might show us. 

   A bit more on the speck versus the log—self-righteousness and all. Robert Barron, Winona/Rochester bishop recently gave an interview to the Rochester Post Bulletin wherein he discouraged the viewing of the new film, CONCLAVE which many of you know looks at the inside story of electing a new pope at the death of the previous one.  Our bishop’s reason for “not viewing it” was, because the film, in his mind, uplifts the entire “woke agenda,” which he feels is all wrong. I for one would challenge the bishop to look at Jesus’ agenda and see how similar it is to the woke agenda. 

   Paul’s statement caught my attention today in that regard—“sin gets its power from the law.”  I humbly submit that one could only make such a request, as has our bishop regarding CONCLAVE if indeed they were operating out of the law alone, instead of the heart, or more directly, out of love. 

   Additionally, regarding our parish, All Are One, it would seem that a leader who would refuse to sit down and talk with a group who asked him to, could be said to be acting out of the law, disregarding love.  My read of Scripture lets me know that Jesus spoke with everyone who asked, availing himself, to even go to their homes—not demanding first that they abide by “the law” before he would come. 

   My friends, walking in Jesus’ footsteps is always about love and if it is about law, then that law must always, in the end, be about the law to love.  Amen? Amen!