Claire Smith

Scripture:

Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11

Reflection:

The readings for this first Sunday of Lent remind us of the deep realism of our Scriptures.  There is breathtaking beauty—the opening lines of the first reading from Genesis remind us that God has breathed the divine life within us.  Like a cosmic potter, God fashions a bag of clay and breathes into it, creating a living human being.  In the magnificent first chapter of Genesis that preceded this passage, with its mighty story of God’s creation of the universe, we learn that we have been made “in the image and likeness” of God—a similar affirmation of the inherent beauty and dignity of the human person.

But these lyrical affirmations are balanced by the account of the “fall” that commands most of this Sunday’s first reading.  Into the beauty of the universe step arrogance, violence, and the threat of death.  These opening chapters of Genesis portray the Bible’s understanding of the complexity of human life.  We are graced and sacred but also capable of failure and sin and marked by death, as reflected in the vivid stories of Genesis that follow: the lure of evil in the garden, the calamitous failure of Adam and Eve, the outbreak of violence with Cain and Abel, and the chaos of the flood that threatens the very existence of the world God created.  Thus, as history demonstrates, both beauty and death mingle in our complex heritage as human beings.

But it is also important that for the Bible death does not have the last word.  God regrets the destruction caused by the flood and promises Noah never to destroy the world, a promise sealed by the rainbow.  And eventually, God would make a pact with Abraham and Moses and the story of Israel’s redemption begins to unfold, reaching—in the conviction of Christian faith—its climax in the person of Jesus, the one who reveals God’s unconditional love for the world.

It is this vast drama of our salvation that is evoked in the readings for this first Sunday of Lent. During Lent we become aware of our frailty and mortality—the crunch of ashes on our foreheads at Ash Wednesday: “Remember, you are dust and unto dust, you shall return…”  But Lent leads to Easter and the divine promise of new, abundant, and unending life.

Also taking his cue from Genesis, Paul speaks of “two Adams” in his letter to the Romans, our second reading for today.   The sin of the first Adam ushered sin and death into the world; the “New Adam,” Jesus, brings an “abundance of grace” and new life into the world.  With the death and resurrection of Jesus, the long reign of sin and death has been shattered and hope restored.

That tension between the power of death and the power of life is played out in the drama of the gospel selection from Matthew.  The first Sunday of Lent traditionally begins with the account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert.  Immediately preceding this drama, at his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus had been suffused with God’s life-giving Spirit and declared to be God’s beloved Son.  Now, like Israel of old, Jesus enters the desert and endures the assaults of evil.  But where ancient Israel had failed, Jesus prevails—faithful to his Father’s will.   Jesus matches each attempt of Satan to lure him away from his mission with a quotation from the Scriptures: “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”

The readings for this Sunday bring home to us the meaning of Lent which ultimately is a preparation for Easter.  These forty days are a time to take stock, an opportunity to realize our need for repentance and renewal.  But also, a time that reminds us of God’s enduring love for us and an invitation to bask in God’s limitless forgiveness and the promise of life unending.

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P. is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

[This reflection appears in Fr. Senior’s regular column, “Perspectives on Scripture” in The Chicago Catholic newspaper and is used here with permission.]

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:9-14
Luke 5:27–32

Reflection:

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. –Psalm 86:11

Every four years we have an extra day in our calendar. An extra day! Twenty-four additional hours! I have been thinking about what I could do with an extra day. There is a function at school in the evening that is on my calendar to attend but the rest of the day is open to anything that I want to do. It is Saturday, so that is laundry time for me. I also workout with a friend in the morning. But still, time for something different if I can resist the temptation to fill it up with “things to do”.

The readings for today focus on our call to follow God. Three days into Lent and the Church continues to remind us that it is a time to grow closer to God. A time to reflect on how we are building up the Kingdom of God. Keeping the Sabbath and helping others in a time of need. Isaiah reminds us of the spiritual gifts that are given to us when we do good things for others and when our mind and heart are focused on God.

In the Gospel Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. Now in the Gospel the next line is, “And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him”. So, he walked away from all the money that he was collecting at the customs post. I wonder how long that stayed on the table before people started grabbing the money? I am sure he was not popular with the Roman authority over this and the scriptures never mention that the authorities came after him. I would think he would be afraid to do such a thing. When Jesus called Levi that had to be a powerful spiritual experience for him to be moved to just leave everything behind.

Maybe that is what this extra day is about. Leaving the ordinary Saturday tasks for something extraordinary. Taking time for quiet reflection. Listening to music and taking time to just be. To enjoy the “extra” day as a gift to be explored rather than filling it up. I see Lent as a time to allow myself more experiences of just being. To read the Sunday readings and ponder them. To not turn on the television and fill the house with useless noise and spending time in silence. May you enjoy your extra day and discover what extraordinary experiences await you. Happy Lent!

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Luke 9:22-25

Reflection:

We begin another season of lent, contemplating what we can “give up”; how much chocolate or soda or gossip we can avoid for those forty days. But was that the intent of the comment, “take up your cross and follow me”? Isn’t it more? More about being Christ to others, more about serving the poor, the sick, the dying. If there is some way that passing up that Hershey bar helps someone, great; but, if there is something more valuable you can contribute to society in the form of service, why not try to make that your dedicated sacrifice – maybe it will turn into something as habit forming as a chocolate addiction!

God bless you!

Patty Masson resides in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Joel 2:12-18
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflection:

There is no lack of reflections about how to make this year’s Lent the Lent to beat all others. For some of us, it may seem more like “Groundhog Day” – here we go again. For others, it is to try again to prove that a strong will can conquer the body. Growing up, a “successful Lent” of giving up chocolate gave rise to pride and boasting. Not exactly in the spirit of the season.

Hopefully, we have grown past experiencing Lent as a challenge to be met and beaten. In this, however, we may have jettisoned Lent altogether, perhaps marking it with ashes today and wrapping it up on Easter with little else in between.

At least for us in the northern hemisphere, Lent coincides with the journey from the dark and cold of winter to the promise of warm days and new life emerging from the earth. This potential of new life, this hopeful expectation is what most draws me into Lent. I love Lent. It reminds me that I am not yet finished, that there is more to what God has in mind for me than what I now experience. But I must first listen. I need to find the time and the quiet to pay attention to the person God is inviting me to become.

There well may be some patterns in our life that get in the way of this listening, of praying. Too much TV, too many nights out, not enough time with family, late nights at work. These are well worth examining, not to prove we are spiritually tough enough but to open up the possibility of noticing deep within ourselves those signs of new life that are emerging like spring buds ready to burst open.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

James 3:13-18
Mark 9:14-29

Reflection:

Astonishing Touch of Christ

The boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. – Mark 9:27

The captivating 5,381 square feet fresco of creation on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is among the best paintings in the world.  We see the life-giving finger of God stretching to touch the weak, lifeless and listless hand of Adam.   The New Testament is filled with people trying either to touch Jesus or to feel the grasp of Jesus.   There are about 5 words for touching Jesus in the original inspired text of the Greek New Testament.  But basically, they point to one simple great theme of getting in touch with Jesus!

This dominant theme is clearly seen in Mark 9:27.   The boy is all but dead but Jesus takes him by the hand and he stands up!  The verb used here is kroteo which means a strong grasp by the hand of Jesus!  The word has a strong nuance of strength.  It is used 58 in Gospels.   The woman in Mk 5:28 said to herself:” If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”  Here the word for touch is haptō which means to attach oneself to somebody.  It is used 39 times.

Another strong word for being grasped is epilambanomai in Mt 14:31   “Beginning to sink, Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold epilambanomai of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” The Greek means “to grasp for oneself,” “to lay firm hold of,” “to bring into one’s sphere” etc.  Used 29 times.

These words along with others clearly proclaim the simple wisdom of Scripture: Jesus must get His hands on me so I can touch Him. “ Over a hundred times in Gospels Jesus is touched or touching.    We must believe we can touch Christ now just as much and more than the people in Biblical times.  Faith provides the eyes and hands for our encounter with Jesus!  It is extremely important to remember that the hand that I touch is a wounded one!  “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see,”  Lk 24:39   It is the most loving and healing touch in the cosmos!

“Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.”    Mk 6:56

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Matthew 5:38-48

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading (Matthew 5:38-48), we hear Jesus continue making a contrast between what the people have heard about what they are to do in following God’s law, and what Jesus is saying to them now. Arguably, what we hear in this reading are the most challenging words we find in all the Gospels: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well…. You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”

How on earth are we supposed to do that? What about abuse? What about terrorism? What about oppression and injustice? These are all good questions, and it seems like Jesus is just asking for too much from us. In the seemingly impossible task of following Jesus’ commands, we may have to take a leap of faith and what gets us across to the other side is the Cross of Christ.

In our second reading from 1 Corinthians (3:16-23), St. Paul writes: “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.” In a way, Jesus is the ultimate fool. He let Himself be captured, and arrested, unjustly condemned and unjustly executed. He did continue to love His enemies. He did turn the other cheek. Is that not utter foolishness? But we Christians believe that His foolishness saved us!

And yet many of us still struggle to trust in Jesus’ ways instead of the ways of the world. I find it hard to believe that when Jesus says “offer no resistance,” He means that people should stay in abusive relationships, or that people should stop working for justice and peace. But I wonder if He is saying to us that we cannot overcome evil with the methods of evil. We cannot stop violence with more violence. That has been tried many times.

Could it be that Jesus is telling us to take a leap of faith, risk looking foolish in the eyes of the world, and try things His way?

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama.

Scripture:

1 Peter 5:1-4
Matthew 16:13-19

Reflection:

Today is the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter.

Jesus himself handpicked his twelve apostles. Of those, Peter was chosen to lead them. The other Apostles did not challenge his authority as the head of the church on earth.

Not only did they not challenge his authority, they respected it. This is reflected in the gospel of John (20:4-5) when, although John was younger, and faster, he waited for Peter out of respect for this position as chief Apostle.

Other examples of this respect of Peters authority by the other apostles comes after Christ resurrection and include when Peter presides over the election of Matthias to replace Judas (Acts 1:26) and when he leads the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).

St. Paul “goes to see Peter” out of respect for his position (Galatians 1:18).

Of the 12 apostles in scripture Peter is mentioned 195 times, John is second with, in comparison, a mere 29 times.

In Matthew chapter 10, where Matthew lists the twelve Apostles, He says, “the names of the 12 are these, FIRST Peter.”

The most important reason Peter is the authority that we look to as the first Pope, is written in the Gospel today, Matthew 16:13-19

“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church”

Christ named him, the Apostles followed him, the early church was built respecting him. There have been 266 direct in line from him. Christ has built His church on Peter and although we humans have tried to wreck it, “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

Kate Mims is the Retreat Center Director at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.