{"id":3188,"date":"2020-03-01T13:14:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T18:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=3188"},"modified":"2020-03-01T13:15:45","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T18:15:45","slug":"1st-sunday-of-lent-year-a-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/1st-sunday-of-lent-year-a-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"1st Sunday of Lent, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1st<\/sup> Sunday of Lent, Year A<\/a>
Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 (3a)
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
March 1, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have begun\nour season of Lent.  It is a time of\npreparation for Easter.  So, it is a time\nfor us to examine our consciences and to seek reconciliation with God and one\nanother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the spirit\nof repentance, we celebrate this First Sunday of Lent with the story from the\nGospel of Jesus\u2019 temptation in the desert. \nJust like us Jesus fasts and faces temptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The devil,\nwho is cunning, knows when to strike with temptation.  Jesus had been fasting for forty days and\nforty nights.  He would have been\nhungry.  The devil tempts him by\nsuggesting Jesus turn stones into bread. \nJesus is hungry.  Would it be a\nbad thing for him to do this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus does\nnot do it.  He will not use his power for\nhis own personal gain.  The devil then\ntries to get Jesus to thrown himself down from the parapet citing the scripture\nthat says God sends his angels to protect us. \nJesus\u2019 response is, \u201cYou shall not put the Lord, your God, to the\ntest.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Satan\ntries to tempt Jesus with power but Jesus again says no to temptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How well do we\ndo at resisting temptation?  Temptation\nis a powerful thing.  We face temptation\nin things like the tree in the garden that was \u201cdelightful to look at<\/em>.\u201d  The woman saw \u201cthat the tree was good for\nfood, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Jesus\nhad fasted for forty days, He resisted the temptation to use his power for\npersonal gain.  He knew He had this power\nnot for himself but to serve others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you\ndo with what God has given you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certainly we need food but how much food do we need?  We need a home.  We need a car but do we seek these things in moderation or in excess?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God formed us\nout of the clay and breathed life into us. \nWe show our gratitude for the gifts He has given us, most especially the\ngift of our salvation, by using what we have been given to build up the Kingdom\nof God here on earth.  In doing so we\nrespond to the words in the Lord\u2019s Prayer, \u201cthy kingdom come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here I borrow\nfrom President JFK\u2019s words at his inauguration, \u2018Ask not what your church can\ndo for you \u2013 ask what you can do for your church, for your God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are very\ngrateful for what you contribute in time, talent, and treasure.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Mass we\nare thankful for our Altar Servers, Lectors, Commentators, Ushers, Sacristans,\nExtraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, and our musicians.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are\nthankful for the people who teach our faith formation classes for children.  We are thankful for those who take Communion\nto the nursing homes and the homebound.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are\nthankful for those who organize and those who purchase gifts for our Giving\nTrees.  We are thankful for those who\nbring donations to the food pantries and those who minister in the prisons.  There are other ways our parishioners\nvolunteer.  I cannot name them all\nhere.  Whatever you do, we are thankful\nfor the ways in which you help us build up the Kingdom of God, to bring\nChrist\u2019s love to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are also\ngrateful for those who contribute financially to our parish.  However much you contribute, we thank you and\nknow that what you contribute financially is important.  We use it to pay our staff for the important\nwork they do.  We use it heat our churches,\nand to be able to turn on our lights.  We\nuse it keep our churches in proper shape for our worship as well as our\ninsurance.  Your sharing of your treasure\nis a gift that makes a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately,\nour collections have been trending down. \nIt\u2019s not so much that people are contributing less.  It\u2019s more a matter that, as you well know,\nfewer people are coming to church, and, thus, not contributing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, in\nthe long-term, part of the solution is that we need to find new ways to reach\nout to people to welcome them in, or back, to our parish.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are\nsuccessful in bringing more people to an active relationship with Jesus, we\nwould anticipate they too would contribute of their time, talent, and treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until we can\ndo that, we need your help to continue to pay our bills.  Almost three years ago our parish did a small\ncampaign to ask you to consider increasing your financial contributions.  Many did and we are grateful for that.  I\u2019m sure some couldn\u2019t increase.  That is okay. \nWhatever you can contribute is important and appreciated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then,\nthe collections have again been trending down. \nSo, as has been in the bulletin, Fr. Bernard, in consultation with our\nFinance Council and business office staff, has discerned that it is time to do\na large-scale increased offertory program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week you will receive a mailing from the parish.  It will contain a brochure<\/a> with a \u201cletter\u201d from Fr. Bernard, our recent financial numbers, a list of our ministries, and a commitment card that we will ask you to fill out next week.  Next Sunday, at each our Masses, you will hear from a parishioner who will speak to what our parish has done to build up the Kingdom of God in their lives and the lives of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I imagine\nthat some of you may feel we ask for money too much.  I understand that.  Please know that I don\u2019t like talking about\nmoney anymore than you like hearing about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also\nrealize that you can\u2019t contribute more than you have.  What we ask is that you prayerfully consider\nwhat you are able to contribute.  If you\ncan\u2019t increase that is okay.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please know that when you feel out your commitment card, if your circumstances change, you are not legally bound to your pledge.  It will help us as we work for financial stability to know what you expect to be able to contribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one more thing I invite you to consider.\u00a0 We (at St. Luke’s – for other people, please check with your own parish) offer online giving<\/a>.\u00a0 We already have over 60 families who use this.\u00a0 You can set up yourself to give a one-time gift or to give on a recurring basis.\u00a0 You set the amount and can change it yourself whenever you want.\u00a0 If you set it up for automatic recurring contributions, even when you are away, your contribution is still processed and appreciated.\u00a0 All you have to do to sign up is go to our parish website<\/a> and click on \u201cOnline Giving\u201d<\/a> at the very bottom.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever you\ncan contribute, please note it is appreciated and helps us to do our part,\nguided by the Holy Spirit, to build up the Kingdom of God.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, I\nthank you for whatever you contribute in time, talent, and treasure.  Please pray for our parish and our increased\noffertory program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1st Sunday of Lent, Year AGenesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 (3a)Romans 5:12-19Matthew 4:1-11March 1, 2020 We have begun our season of Lent.  It is a time of preparation for Easter.  So, it is a time for us to examine our consciences and to seek reconciliation with God and one another. In the spirit …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘1st Sunday of Lent, Year A – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,260,49],"tags":[707,128,162],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Pq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3188"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3196,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188\/revisions\/3196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}