[stephenkhoo]

FINDING FOCUS IN LENT

SCRIPTURE READINGS: GN 9:8-15; 1 PT 3:18-22; MK 1:12-15

The gospel says the season of Lent is Good News. How is it truly Good News? The key to the spirit and purpose of Lent is found in the opening prayer when we pray that through our observance of Lent we will understand the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection and so reflect it in our lives. Hence, we see the dual objectives of the season of Lent: to know and appreciation Christ’s paschal mystery and to imprint this in our lives.

The first aspect of the Good News is the invitation to contemplate more deeply what it means for us when God sent His only Son, not only to be one of us but to suffer and die for us. If only we understand the depth of God’s love for us in sending us His only Son to redeem us on the cross, our lives will never be the same again. Indeed, in sending us His Son, God wants us to know that He wants us to live and to live happily. He wants us to be set free from our misery and bondages. He does not want to destroy us, nor does He want us to destroy ourselves. The sending of His Son is to complete the Covenant that He made with Noah, that He would not destroy humanity again.

In Christ’s passion and resurrection, God reveals to us His unconditional love and mercy, as in the case of Noah. Indeed, St Peter tells us in the second reading, “Christ himself, innocent though he was, died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison.” Truly, Christ has come to set us free from the enslavements in our lives.

But why is it that we cannot hear the Good News? The truth simply is because of our sins. When we are immune to our sins or, worse still, when we are not aware of our sins, then we remain trapped in ourselves. Isn’t it true that many of us are suffering because of selfishness and pride? We are angry with people because they have hurt us or humiliated us and we do not want to forgive. We are not able to give, but we want to grab more money, power, status and recognition. Indeed, it is our attachment to this world and to ourselves that we have become blind to the presence of God. We cannot hear God and His voice in our lives anymore, because we are so caught up by the world.

Consequently, Christ shows us the way to conquer sin and death. In entering into the desert, we are told that He lived with wild beasts. Indeed, in the temptation of Jesus, we know that He was tempted firstly, to use His power for selfish gains by changing stones into bread. Secondly, He was tempted to worship riches and wealth instead of His Father. Thirdly, He was tempted to test His Father by jumping from the pinnacle thereby disowning His identity as the Son of the Father.

Indeed, Jesus, by His devotion and fidelity to His Father even unto death on the cross, overcame all temptations, which dogged Him from beginning to the end of His ministry. Throughout His life and ministry, He was so often tempted by His popularity to make a name for Himself, but each time He refused to accept the adulation of the crowd who tried to make Him king. Before Pilate, He was tempted to deny His identity so that He could be set free, but He maintained His innocence and His kingship, for His kingship is not of this world. Finally, before Herod, He was tempted to use His power to prove His majesty and glory. Instead of succumbing to Herod who wanted to see miracles, He chose to suffer in silence and humility.

Christ by His life, passion and death reveal to us the freedom of being faithful to one’s identity. He was faithful to His identity as the Son of the Father. Consequently, Jesus overcame sin and death because the Father raised Him from the dead.

The freedom of being the sons and daughters of God is also ours. Are you being drowned by your sins and misery, just like the people during the time of Noah? Are you living with wild beasts in your life? Do you want to be set free to be the sons and daughters of God, living a life free from fear, bondages, sin and death?

The truth is that we are already, by virtue of our baptism, the sons and daughters of God. But we have forgotten our dignity and sonship! This is why the Church provides us the season of Lent, which is to recover our dignity as the sons and daughters of God. Lent is therefore an occasion to relive the Good New and our baptismal calling. By responding to the Spirit of Lent, we will find our identity, purpose and freedom once again. Lent is thus a season of renewal and the beginning of new life.

Today, we must seriously make a decision to actively enter into the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. To be baptized is to die with Christ. This is what St Peter wrote, “that water is a type of the baptism which saves you now, and which is not the washing off of physical dirt but a pledge made to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has entered heaven and is at God’s right hand.” Yes, if we want to share in His resurrection and reclaim our dignity as God’s children, we must be heirs with Him in His suffering and death by dying to our sins and to ourselves. Otherwise, we cannot share in His glory.

Concretely, what does this journey of conversion entail? We must first, like Jesus, withdraw to the desert. Yes, we must find solitude if we are to discover ourselves and be able to listen to God. Solitude allows us to be alone with God so that we can experience what it is to truly belong to Him, and not to people or things. So long as we do not withdraw, we will always be distracted by people and things, and our hearts and minds will remain restless and grasping. Are we ready to be silent and find time to be alone with God? We must enter into ourselves and discover our real motives for doing what we are doing. We must ask ourselves what are the wild beasts that are inside us. What is it that we are fearful about? What is it that makes us always angry, revengeful, quarrelsome, selfish and intolerable? Is it truly because we want others to change, to do the right things, or is it because we are projecting our own insecurities and fears on them? Why are you always anxious about your life, your future, your work and loved ones?

Secondly, we must pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit. The gospel tells us that the angel looked after Jesus and that He was led in the power of the Spirit after His anointing as the Son of God at His baptism. So if we want to remain firm in the face of trials and temptations, we must be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Only He can help us to overcome sin and oppression in our personal lives. The Lord has given us His Holy Spirit to be our strength, guide and consoler in temptation and testing. So let us fight this spiritual warfare, not with human means but with the mighty power of God that comes from the Holy Spirit.

In this way, we will already have a foretaste of the joy of the kingdom and what it means to be a son or a daughter of God. For when we are liberated more and more from our sins, we will find more and more joy and peace and happiness. Such experiences of freedom and liberation from within us make us always joyful, not because of external factors but because of the presence of the Spirit of God in our hearts, a peace that endures; a joy that lasts because it is not the peace and the joy that the world offers.