1st Sunday of Lent, Year B – Homily
Genesis 9:8-15
Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9, (10)
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:12-15
“Repent and believe in the gospel.”
These are the words that were said as ashes were placed on the foreheads of people as we began Lent last Wednesday.
They are also among the first words Jesus said as He began his public ministry. Jesus came to lead us to repentance.
Why do we need to repent?
Because we have sinned.
Satan has tempted us and we failed to resist the temptations.
Is it possible to resist temptation?
Sin is nothing new. Humans have been sinning since the days of Adam and Eve. There is something in our humanity that makes it difficult for us to resist sin. (Here lies “original sin”).
In the days of Noah, sin had become so prevalent that God decided to cleanse the earth of sin by a great flood. After the flood, God made a covenant with his people that He would never again destroy the creatures of the earth with a flood.
As a sign of this covenant, God set a bow in the clouds, the rainbow. The treasure at the end of a rainbow is not a pot of gold. The treasure is something far more valuable, God’s covenant with us.
While God, in his great love, has promised not to destroy us with a flood again, we still struggle against temptation. Sin is spreading even now. If the world continues in its sin, God won’t have to destroy anything. We will do it ourselves.
Is it possible to resist temptation?
Jesus spent 40 days in the desert tempted by Satan. It was God’s Will for Jesus to face this temptation for “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert” for this.
The desert is a place of isolation and little water and food. How easy would it be to tempt you there?
Jesus had to face his temptation himself, but He did not do so alone for “angels ministered to him.”
God guided the Israelites during the Exodus by an angel. Angels ministered to Jesus. God gives each of us a guardian angel to guide us. When we face temptation, do we listen to our guardian angel?
What tempts you? The same thing is not a temptation to everyone. A simple example is chocolate. Many people are tempted to have chocolate but not everyone. Some don’t care for it. For me, some things with chocolate are very tempting while others I have no interest in.
What tempts you to mortal sin? Money, power, lust?
God is concerned with the way we live our lives. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. His way is love. He offers us Truth. Satan tempts us with lies. Truth is a better way. You can’t count on one who lies.
At times we fail against temptation but do not lose hope. For, as we read in Peter, “Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.”
Jesus died for us. He died for you. He didn’t have to do this. Jesus did not give into the temptation Satan placed before him. Jesus chose to die for our sins.
Look at his love. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This is precisely what Jesus does for us on the Cross. See his love and know you can trust him.
God has forgiven his people over and over. Every time the people in the Old Testament repented and turned back to God’s ways, He forgave them.
God wants us to come to him for forgiveness. He gives us the Sacrament of Reconciliation to confess our sins and receive his forgiveness because He is eager to forgive us.
God’s commandments are what is good for us. Follow his way. Seek God’s Word to guide you. Listen to your guardian angel. Seek the strength Jesus offers in the Eucharist as we receive his Body and Blood.