Deacon Rick Lapierre
There is a couple in Hong Kong who were married in 1995. They have three small children and both work outside the home, so consequently they are very, very busy. In fact, they are too busy to even take an annual vacation. But what they do to compensate is have a "Honeymoon month." Every April, they put up all their wedding pictures and decorate the house. Each day, on their way home from work, they write each other a love letter and after supper, when the kids are in bed, they read them aloud to each other. They give up their favorite TV programs to spend the evening hours in each other's company, talking about their lives together, their hopes and dreams for the future, for both of them and their family. Finally, at the end of the month, they drop the kids off at an aunt's house and have a quiet dinner at the restaurant where he proposed to her. He kneels down and tells her that he loves her with all his heart and a tear rolls down her cheek as she tells him that she too loves him with all her heart.
When the month is over, they find that their spirits are refreshed and renewed for their journey through life together.
Fr. Gene Thalman, a Maryknoll missionary priest to whom I am indebted for this story, says that this is the most important weekend sermon of the year, the last Sunday in Ordinary Time before Lent begins. We enter Lent filled with an expectation and a desire to grow in faith. We give up pleasures and make sacrifices as we were taught to do, and we look forward to celebrating the excitement of Holy Week and Easter Sunday.
But if Easter Monday dawns and we cannot see any progress in our spiritual lives, if we are the same distance from God as we are today, then Lent will have been just another forty days in the calendar. I have been challenged in my own prayer time to become more like Jesus this Lent. But if you see the same Rick Lapierre standing here at Pentecost, then this Lent will have passed without my progressing to being more like Jesus, and thus not having progressed any further toward God's Kingdom.
Next Sunday's gospel tells the story of the first Lent. In Luke's gospel, we have the wonderful infancy narratives of Jesus youth, His staying in the temple to argue with the elders, and now at the age of 30, leaving Nazareth to be baptized by John in the Jordan River outside of Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit comes upon Him. He has performed no public miracles, has not proclaimed a new vision of God's Kingdom, and has done nothing yet to fulfill His divine mandate of salvation. How will all of this come about? How will Jesus bring about the salvation of humanity? Will He raise an army? Will He form a political movement? Will He mobilize the poor and hungry into action? Will He start a new religion? Or will He journey to Jerusalem and allow Himself to be executed in a cruel and violent manner? Looking back through history, we know the answer, but for a 30-year-old Jesus, all of these are possibilities to be considered and weighed.
And so having received the Holy Spirit through the Baptism of John the Baptist, He enters the wilderness to fast and to pray. Alone and without the everyday distractions that are part of the human condition, Jesus communicates intimately with His Father. In this environment He is able to let go of all of his fears and inhibitions and be totally, brutally honest with God. Nothing is held back in this Lent. All is laid bare. And God answers Him. With no distractions to cloud the answer God announces to Jesus the plan that He probably does not want to hear. His mission is to go to Jerusalem, to proclaim that God loves all of His creation and that God wants all to spend eternity with Him, even if it means that Jesus will have to suffer and die.
But, Jesus argues, what about our enemies? What about those who don't love us? Shouldn't we kill them first so we can live in peace? Shouldn't we be punishing those who steal from us? Isn't life about gathering as much stuff as we can? Isn't it true that he who dies with the most toys wins? Maybe we can debate these questions while we are sitting around a table drinking wine. The gospels don't record it, but I have a feeling that Jesus was probably a lot less radical before He received the Holy Spirit and before He was led by that Spirit into the desert to hear what the plan of God encompassed.
But Lent happened in the wilderness long ago. And now what does Jesus say? After that first Lent in the desert with God, Jesus tells us to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, bless those who curse us. If somebody steals our car, give him our tools as well. Give to anyone who asks, even if you know that they are just going to waste it on drugs or booze. Don't demand back what you've lent to someone. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Do not judge others but be merciful as God is merciful to you.
It's a tall order and way too much for me to follow, unless I can somehow connect with God and perhaps receive those same insights that Jesus received in the wilderness, insights which enabled Him to set out for Jerusalem and the fulfillment of His mission. Perhaps I need a honeymoon month, like the couple in our opening story. Their honeymoon month is a special time for them to be together alone and communicate at the deepest level. That's just what Jesus did in the wilderness. That's what I have to be about this Lent as well.
Today is the day to plan what this Lent will be for you. What will you do to create that wilderness that will enable you to communicate intimately with God? Our tradition of giving something up for Lent speaks to that reality, but the sacrifice needs to have the goal in mind. Remember our honeymoon couple, they give up watching TV with the specific goal of communicating more deeply with each other.
The same is true of positive actions. While it is commendable to perform works of mercy, does this become merely a means for me to become recognized as a great humanitarian? Or, can I do this so secretly that my left hand doesn't even know what my right hand is doing? In so doing, I can become more Jesus like, who ran away every time someone praised Him.
So with that in mind, what are we doing this Lent? Like Jesus, we have all received the gift of God's Holy Spirit! We are all empowered to become more and more like Jesus. It remains for us to celebrate our honeymoon month with God and communicate on that deeper, more intimate level. On a personal basis, each of us should be able to identify one thing that we can do without, that keeps us from spending quality time with God.
As a family, what can we do to create that opportunity to communicate more intimately with each other and assist each other in developing and nurturing our relationships with God? Perhaps we can give up some individual activity to conduct a family activity, such as playing Bible Trivia or saying the rosary for peace as a family. Perhaps as a family we can go on a pilgrimage to a nearby shrine, such as LaSalette or the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
As a faith community, we have the opportunity to come together for daily Mass and communal silent prayer. We are offering the Life in the Spirit Seminar beginning March 2nd at 7:30 pm in the school, a powerful opportunity to walk closer with Jesus, and also to renew our spirits.
Finally, I offer you this challenge. Share your Lenten plan with someone before you go to bed this evening. Share with them in particular how you hope and pray that this plan will allow you to progress on your faith journey this Lent and how you see this plan as journeying with Jesus toward Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God.
"Give, and gifts will be given to you, a good measure, packed together, shaken down and overflowing, will be poured into your lap." (Lk 6:38) This is the promise of Jesus; this is the promise of God. This, my brothers and sisters, is our destiny!
