Today, and the
great season of Lent as a whole reminds us that Christianity is a life of
action and transformation. Not just something we think about, but a way of life that
is put onto practice. In Sacred Scripture we can easily find two or three verses
that sum up in a few words the Church’s focus of Lent. One of these is in St.
Paul’s great letter to the Romans. In chapter 12, the beginning of the pastoral
part of the letter, he calls all Christians to both worship in unity and live
lives in holiness. He says, “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed
to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may
prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans
12:1-2) Here is where I think we find the perfect mission statement for Lent,
you know it is now very popular to give a mission statement to any project or
goal, so here is ours for Lent, “Do not be conformed to this world but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Is this not what the Church in
all her Spirit filled wisdom is trying to get people to accomplish for
themselves during this holy season and all year for that matter, to becomes
God’s renewed, image bearing family.
We are called to
perfectly unite ourselves to Jesus Christ by a life renewed in the Church he
established, his very body. We must learn from the example of the things that
Jesus did on his time on earth, remember Hebrews calls Jesus, “the Author and
perfecter of the faith.” (12:2) This is what the Church year is all about – to
put in action what Jesus is teaching us to do. With Lent we begin the walk with
Jesus to Calvary. We join with him in the desert, by our own prayer and
fasting; putting off the old man of temptation, to make ourselves ready for the
great rewards of the Lord’s Cross and Glories Resurrection, his defeat of sin
and death!
Today we learn
about four important aspects of our faith, which must be lived out daily; to
renew our minds and hearts, thereby bring us closer to the Lord Jesus and to
our fellow man. They are repentance, prayer, fasting, and lastly, but not least
of all forgiveness. All four are of great importance and cannot be separated or
lived out properly on their own.
We begin with the
wonderful reading from the Prophecy of Joel; a great call to repentance and fasting.
This book was written during one of the worst and darkest times throughout the
history of Israel, as they were in exile in Babylon. Things could not get much
more difficult for the people. But they are reminded of the day when the Lord
because of his steadfast love will appear and judge the nations and the
fortunes of Jerusalem will be restored. St. Peter in his first great sermon at
Pentecost, in the book of Acts, (2:14-21) uses a passage from Joel to show that
what had been only an Old Testament promise was now fulfilled in the death and
Resurrection of Jesus. This fulfillment does not mean that there is no value to
this reading from Joel for us, which is far from true; we too must do as Joel
says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the
people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children”
(2:16) for, “the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his
people.” (2:18) This is to us also a call to repentance and fasting, a call to
refocus our whole life on Christ. We encounter this same message again, in
Psalm 51 that we read today. King David wrote these words at his bleakest time,
but because he still had faith in God, he was still the man after God’s own
heart; he repented of what he had done. This is for all of us here too, a prayer
of repentance, “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of
your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my
sin cleanse me.” (51:1-2) Lent is the time to make this happen, a time for
action. Let us say to God everyday,
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” (51:10)
It is only through the grace giving to us by the living God made present in the
Spirit, that we can receive a clean heart.
Let’s spent a bit more time talking about fasting, because I do not think in our time it is talked about enough. Fasting is a sign or better yet a way of practicing, of building the tools that we need in rejecting the worldly desires of the flesh. If we cannot resist food for some time then how will we ever resist the great temptation of sin. Hunger and sin both stand at the door waiting, just looking for that one moment when we least expect and it pounces on us, has its way with us. The Church Fathers see fasting as the great preparation for the rejection of sin, if you can reject temptation of the flesh, then that will lead to a greater power to reject spiritual temptation, which causes us far greater damage then an un-kept fast. Fasting then becomes a sacrifice, a self-empting, that takes the form of the Cross. Then our denial of self, brings us closer to what Jesus did in the flesh, if only in a small way, but it still has the effect of making room for the Spirit of Christ to dwell in us. We could say it works out this way. Jesus emptied himself and did not cling or grasp too his Divine nature when he took on our flesh, and therefore we must empty ourselves of our weak humanity, to be filled with Jesus’ life giving divine Spirit. Fasting then, is the great action of training to make room for Jesus to dwell within you, not the great desires of sin and flesh. People often ask this time of year, “what are you giving up for Lent,” my answer is simple, give up yourself and encounter Jesus’ transforming and life-giving power. As Paul says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:14)
By fasting and
rejecting other desires of the sinful flesh we have opened ourselves to be a
dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Only then are we able to present our bodies
back to the God in worship. Then by praying in the Spirit, our minds will be
truly transformed and with much practice and a lifelong commitment, able to
discern what is good, acceptable, and perfect. In other words, God’s will for
us, and not our own. This should show us the link between, prayer and fasting,
how we cannot truly do one with perfection without the other. Only by them
working together in us through the Spirit, are we able to, “cast off the works
of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12) We can see this at
play in the Mass, here we must pray and fast before presenting our bodies to
the Lord as a living sacrifice in worship. By doing so, we become a properly
prepared space which Jesus can then fill with his life-giving power. No action
or ritual of the Church is magic, they all also require us to do our part in
preparation. At every Mass we are able to encounter our Lord, as if it was our
first time receiving him, therefore we should have great expectation and hope.
Our new hearts that only God can give, should burn with desire, only then, will
his Grace be able to renew our minds.
Paul also in Roman’s
gives us a powerful illustration of how prayer in the Spirit works in us, he
says, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as
we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for
words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of
the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will
of God.” (8:26-27) When we come to God and have done our part by praying and
fasting, he will then search our hearts and know what we truly desire, even if
we are not able and cannot at many time put the words together. The Spirit will
make present what we lack.
This leads to
forgiveness, a requirement that is revealed throughout the entire Gospel. I found this important
insight on today’s Gospel verse, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your
Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:15)
“The
triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the world, is division,
opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore, the first break through this
fortress of sin is forgiveness: the return to unity, solidarity, love. To
forgive is to put between me and my enemy the radiant forgiveness of God
himself. To forgive is to reject the hopeless dead-ends of human relations and
to refer them to Christ. Forgiveness is truly a breakthrough of the Kingdom
into this sinful and fallen world.” - Fr. Alexander Schmemann
What does all this really
mean to us today? Most of the world has already casted off repentance, prayer
and fasting as things of the past that have no place in our modern life. What’s
the point nothing really matters. How often do you hear people say, “God,
Jesus, excepts me for who I am, thank you very much”? Now that is true at our
initial faith in the Gospel. Jesus does welcome us with open arm, but then he
requires a great transformation of body, heart, and soul. We as baptized
Christian are to take great care to live out the Lord’s call to pray, fast, and
forgive others. Let us not forget that Christianity is more than just a great
moral code and Jesus was more than just a great teacher, who stepped on the
wrong peoples toes. It is a radical call to action, of conversion, to a life of
Faith in communion with the living God. Let us put off all the cares and sins
of the world and do as the master Jesus did, by praying and fasting. Heed the
Lords command to be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Only
by doing this, can we accomplish our stated mission of Lent, “Do not be conformed to this world but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
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