HOMILY FOR FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR A), MARCH 5, 2017

THEME: DO NOT RATIONALIZE YOUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN THE FACE OF TEMPTATION

By: Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode

Today's liturgy, among other things, is a call to reflect on our journey as Christians and particularly as we embark on our lenten penance. So it presents us generally with the reality of sin and evil in the world and the daily temptations we have to face. On a particular note, it cautions us too that as we seek to take due advantage of this season for repentance and renewal we should be wary of the antics of the Tempter. The lesson we are, thus left with today from the scripture readings is that: _every temptation is a test of our faith and trust in God_ and we must _never rationalise on our true Christian identity_.

Lent is a forty day's journey of more deliberate spiritual discipline so as to renew our relationship with God. The gospel reading (Matthew 4:1-11) tells us that Jesus, after his baptism was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil; he was there forty days and forty nights. In the same way, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years as they journeyed to the Promised Land. The purpose of Jesus sojourn in the wilderness is unlikely different from the Israelites'; it was for preparation, purification, chastisement, discipline, and to dispose them for their promised inheritance. This is what we are also invited to in this season of Lent; to allow the grace of the Spirit to draw us into the wilderness, to empower and purify our souls so as to renew our spiritual strength and and be filled with the gift of God's Spirit as His children.

One thing that this solemn season of Lent points our mind to is the fact of our finality, the fact of our humanity, the reality of our finitude. It points to our humanity and total dependence on God as His children. This is one lesson we may pick from the first reading (Gen. 2:7-9; 3:1-7) which points more to the mystery of sin than to the origin of sin; we are so imperfect, though created good, that we tend to doubt God's commands and promises. We often times find ourselves doubting if there is any sense in doing the will of God, in being a sincere and faithful Christian or in remaining true to a good course of action. This is the reality and mystery of sin and temptation; to want to rebel against God and to want to doubt our own identity. This is the point when resisting to steal and falsify figures of financial account begins to sound stupid or dumb. It is the reality of a time when refusing to offer favours of any form before one gets a deserved grade in an examination begins to appear unreasonable. It is the instance when my decision to serve God with total commitment as a youth appears old fashioned before my peers and I begin to wonder if I'm actually normal in an abnormal world. This is the reality of temptation and sin.

This reality can be gleaned from both our first reading (Gen. 2:7-9; 3:1-7) and gospel reading (Matt. 4:1-11). Adam and Eve were tempted to rethink their status, their identity as God's special creatures in the beautiful garden of Eden; Jesus was tempted to rethink his relationship with God. The Tempter asks Eve, 'is it true...?' And also tells Jesus, 'if you are the Son of God...'. This is because God had publicly declared that Jesus is His beloved Son (read Matthew 3:17). Satan wanted Jesus to doubt it. While Adam and Eve doubted their relationship with God, their identity as God's special children, Jesus did not need the devil to tell him who he is before God; he is God's Son and does not need a miracle to prove that. How often have we been tempted to seek miracles and signs so as to be convinced that God looks after us? How many times have I been made to think that God has abandoned me because I was faced with one difficulty of sickness, failed investment, lack of a child in my marriage or other troubles? How many times have I been tempted to doubt God's promises for my life and my family? What is God's declaration about you, about your future? Do you believe it?

So every moment of temptation is a test of our total trust in God. It is a pressure to want to do it ourselves trusting in our own craftiness, smartness, intelligence, or even connections. Often times, we want to look beyond God and out of impatience, we think there is something God is hiding from us; we want to be smarter and faster than God. It is to guide against this temptation that Pope Francis has often repeated that time is greater than space, that the whole greater is than the part and that God sees the bigger picture. Unlike Adam and Eve, let us not see immediate satisfaction and enjoyment as the Good, or turn against God and pursue those things which delight our fancy and our comfort. So that we would not be consumed or overwhelmed by idle curiosity or vain pursuit of material satisfaction without God or at best relapse into superficial spirituality. This is the trajectory in the stages of Adam and Eve's temptation today: _good for food...delight to the eyes...desired to make one wise..._ (Gen. 3:6): consumerism, idle pleasure and fancy, vain knowledge without divine wisdom.

As it were, Lent is also a season of hope. We see this in the life of Jesus and his own experience of temptation. Jesus is now our Ancestor par excellence. Where Adam and Eve failed and where the Israelites failed, he has been able to prove himself as true and by so doing justified himself and his mission as the Son of God who has come to save us. So St. Paul tells us today that Jesus is our New Adam, our True Ancestor. The first Adam brought condemnation by succumbing to the devil but the New Adam has won our justification by exposing and resisting the Tempter's antics. By this he has given us the hope of grace and righteousness (Romans 5:12-19). Let us therefore hold the forth, let us fight on in the battle against every temptation, let us not rationalise our status as God's special children endowed with the grace of holiness. Doing this would only make us succumb to the devil's ploy that entraps us in the justification of human weakness. We are weak humans but we are also God's children, heirs of grace and mercy.

Through Mary's maternal guidance and good counsel, may we always choose the good through patient trust in God's overall plan for our lives. May our Lenten observances be fruitful for our salvation. Amen.