1st Sunday of Lent - Cycle A Year I

Resisting and saying No to temptations

There were three temptations given by the Evil One to Jesus:
1. to trust in mammon rather than the word of God
2. to test God's power
3. to trust in riches and the power of this world

In all three temptations, Jesus said No to the Evil One. The Church, in imitation of Christ, and in her vocation to follow Him, is aso called to say No to the same temptations in her life as the Body of Christ. Though the Church is a divine institution by the power of the Holy Spirit, occasions and events in her history witness to human mistakes and errors committed by some of her members. To correct the mistakes she committed in history, John Paul II made a gesture, as a representative of the Church, and asked forgiveness from God for all the mistakes the Church as an institution composed also of human beings, committed in her historical life.

As individuals, we too are called to say No to the temptations which beset us everyday in ordinary living. Our strength to resist the temptations of the Evil One is in Christ. It is the Spirit of Jesus that can help us struggle against all the evils facing our daily lives. What can strengthen us to resist evil and sin is a disciplined life of prayer and the regular reception of God's grace in the sacraments. Lent is a special time for us to take this opportunity. We can give more time to practice not prayer but also follow the traditional practice of the Church: abstinence, fasting and spiritual and corporal works of mercy. May this season of Lent bring Christ much closer to our minds and hearts, so that His Spirit may permeate every area of our lives.

Salt of the Earth and Light of the World

Ever since God entered our human history through His Son, Jesus, the world experienced a transformation. There is a big difference now compared to the pre-Christian eras. Christians made a positive difference to human civilization. From John the Baptist to all the followers of Christ, human civilization experienced a spectrum of spirituality that we can say has become the "salt of the earth and the light of the world". And the majority of Christians are like Jesus and John the Baptist - simple men and women living ordinary lives but "salting" the earth and "lighting" the world in commonplace and small ways.

When Jesus preached the Good News to the world at the time, He taught His apostles to preach that same Good News to others - Good News that would have quite a strong impact on many cultures and civilizations. It was His Apostles that were the original "salt of the earth and light of the world". The Church shares in this mission through Jesus and His apostles. After the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary and the apostolic community on Pentecost Day, the Church now continues the mission of the Light of the world, by being a light to the nations.

Before the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles in tongues of fire and with a strong wind, the community at Jerusalem felt orphaned by Christ and thus lacked the strength and the courage to preach what the Lord had taught them to preach. They lived in the Cenacle, that Upper Room, where they ate the last supper with the Lord. But when the Holy Spirit became present to them with the power of a great wind and illumined their minds with gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and the fear of the Lord, they were instantly instantly were filled with God's Light.

The gospel this Sunday invites us to truly believe in Jesus and the Gospel He had taught us. Only when we understand, believe in Christ, and practice His gospel in daily living can we also be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We need not make a positive difference by changing our states of life or moving into a new neighborhood or making new friends. We can be so right were we are: in our families, in the places where we work, in our parishes and right within our neighborhood. It always begins with one small step of charity. If we practice charity in the many ways it can be done, then this will make us what Jesus, our true Light, calls us to be: "the salt of the earth and the light of the world".

The Solemnity of Our Lord's Baptism

In the gospel, we find Jesus baptized by John. John at first did not want to baptize Him, as John knew that he would be baptizing the Messiah, and that this Messiah should rightly be baptizing John. Jesus however knew that it was proper for Him to do what the Father wills. So John had to accede and baptized Jesus. After the baptism, the sky opened up from above Jesus and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him. Then a voice from heaven said, "This is My Beloved Son, listen to Him."

In this gospel scene, we witness the presence of the Holy Trinity. God presents Himself to us as Father, Son and Spirit. It is a scene which invites all to see God as three Persons and also how they are related to One another in a relationship of love. When we recall our own baptism, we are reminded that we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In our baptism, we are therefore, also called to a relationship of love and service in the Church - where the presence of the Holy Trinity indwells and guides us. Baptism in the name of God as Holy Trinity reminds us to a life of commitment to serve our brothers and sisters in the manner of Jesus.

Our Lord's baptism signifies His solidarity with our humanity. In the Incarnation, He took upon Himself all of our humanity (with the exception of sin), and through the baptism of John, He took upon Himself the way that all of us should go through - a life of repentance from our sins and turning back to God (a lifetime of conversion and growing more and more into the Spirit of Christ). In this Solemnity of the Lord's baptism, we are called to "enter more readily into the Lord's service" and to "commit ourselves everyday into a life of generous service to the Church." This was the example that Christ wanted to convey to us by His Baptism. Though He had no sin, He generously entered into our human condition and showed us the way to God - through a life of genuine service and charity.