Our Springtime in Faith - First Sunday of Lent, Year C

From the Archdiocese of Cardiff, rcadc.org

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031019.cfm

In the midst of this shifting weather, while it may not always feel like spring yet, we’ve entered into what we can call the “springtime” of the Church.  With Ash Wednesday this past week, we’ve entered into Lent, which comes from a middle-English word meaning “spring.”  This is our time to be refreshed in our faith as we prepare for Easter, a time of grace that we can truly enter into.  In last week’s bulletin, Fr. Joe proposed that we see this time of Lent as a “road to Reconciliation,” a journey to uncover and identify areas within ourselves and our relationships that may be hindering us from living a life of joy and having a sense of purpose, an effort to detox our relationship and lives.  In this wonderful alliteration, where we see Fr. Joe’s poetic genius, we can recognize the grime, the grit, and the grace in our lives, seeing how the Lord desires to work within our lives to bring us into our authentic identity.  Our first theme is that of identity, our substance of self – what is our true identity, and what could keep us from living in it?

I really like this first reading from Deuteronomy, where Moses describes how the Israelites are to bring their sacrifices before the Lord.  He begins with the words, “My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household,” referring to Jacob and his family going to Egypt.  Then it goes through the mighty deeds of the Lord’s power.  Really, Moses is calling the people to remember their true identity every time they come to worship, which is a great habit for us, recalling our story of grace to remember how Christ has worked in our lives.

I think about my own life as a disciple of Jesus and how this has been one of the most important things I have learned: I don’t have to try defining myself by what I do or what others say about me, but at my core, I am a beloved son of the heavenly Father.  I think of how often I clamor for attention or feel like, “If I succeed, then I’ll be worth something,” but at the end of the day, all that really matters is that I come home to my Father, like the prodigal son who doesn’t even have a chance to fully apologize before the Father throws a banquet for him. 

But I also know how easy it is to take my life for granted, to forget my real identity in God and then try to define myself.  We see this clearly when Satan tempts Jesus in today’s Gospel: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.  If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.”  If you are – Satan is asking Jesus to prove himself, out of a doubt of Jesus’ identity.  Do we hear that in our own lives – “If others are going to like you, if you’re doing to do well, if you are worthwhile of anything . . .”  I know how often I hear that, and this leads to self-reliance and ultimately failure, because I can’t define myself.  But there’s always the opportunity for change!

There’s a helpful tool I’ve learned in these past few years that often helps reorient me toward who I really am.  Its acronym is RIM – the three parts are Relationship, Identity, Mission.  To remember who we are, we have to first look at our Relationship with God, that we depend completely on Him and that He created us completely out of love.  The Eternal Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – created us to share in love, and this relationship gives us our identity as beloved sons and daughters.  From our identity comes our mission – what are we supposed to do in life?  This has led me to priesthood, has led many of you to marriage, and leads us all to our daily tasks and work.  But how often do we tend to go backwards?  We often begin with mission – my worth is based on how much work I can get done, how much money I can make, how many other people like me – and then base our identity on that.  When we ask kids, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, we’re used to hearing what they want to do – lawyer, doctor, athlete, teacher – but is that our deepest identity?  If that’s what we base our identity on, then it’s not founded upon stability but upon changing things – our work may be good one day and not as good the next; people may love us one day and not care about us the next.  So it’s meant to be RIM, not MIR, and this can be our foundation. 

Here’s the question for all of us: what in our lives takes us away from our true identity?  What does Satan like to tempt us with in order to make us doubt our identity as children of God?  Maybe there’s a particular pattern of sin or habit that is harmful.  Maybe there’s a lack of time for prayer or receiving the sacraments, so that we don’t let God remind us who we really are.  Maybe there’s just fear about what would happen if we let go to what we’re used to or are afraid to take that next step in faith.  Whatever it may be, there’s good news here: Jesus is with us in order to lead us into salvation – that’s what this time of Lent is really about.  It’s about seeing what is the grime in our life that keeps us from God and others, receiving the grit to be purified of this, and acting upon God’s grace that fills us with His love. 

Our second reading from St. Paul says this clearly, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  This Mass, this Eucharist, is our opportunity to cry out to the Lord and confess that we believe that He is able to change our lives and the lives of everyone in this world, no matter where we are at.  Every day this week, we can bow down before the Lord, casting before him any way that we are living from a false identity, that we may remember our true identity in Him.  Imagine what our lives and our community could look like if we entered into this Lent with this posture, humbling ourselves before the Lord and letting Him change our lives.

Yes, while it may not feel like it all the time outside, this is our springtime in faith.  This is our chance to be refreshed and reborn in grace.  So we pray . . .