Homily – First Sunday in Lent (C)

Welcome to Lent where we are invited to the season of fasting, almsgiving and prayer.  

Fasting, almsgiving and prayer – I talked about these with the children during the week.  They are interesting things and other groups take them up too – they don’t seem to belong just to us.

Have you heard of Febfast?  It is the campaign to give up alcohol during February (the shortest month of the year) to assist in recovering from the Christmas, New Year and summer excess.  It also assists to raise awareness of the alcohol related illnesses and social problems in our society.  And you have all heard of the Biggest Loser – the so called reality TV show where people compete to loose the most weight over a short period of time.  And all of us are approached regularly to give time and money to very worth while charities on a regular basis.  And in relation to prayer you can find many places to go and learn to meditate and relax and reach your inner self on the way to better health and wellbeing.

But Christians don’t take up any of these disciplines for those reasons.  Christians fast in order to experience hunger and to know that it is our God who satisfies that hunger.  That is the many of the temptation to turn stone into bread.  We do not live by bread alone.  Christians engage in acts of charity too and we will do this again this year through project compassion, because we know that those who are poor and vulnerable expose our own vulnerability and our fragility.  And that is the meaning of the temptation – you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.  We prayer in order to unclutter our lives and allow space for God to enter and shape us -and that is the meaning of – you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone. 

This season of Lent is a great gift to us.  It is a time for us to open our lives, lay them bear and allow space for God to enter.  We should do whatever helps us to let that happen.

Happy Lent 

By Fr Brendan Reed