Fr. Augustine Inwang, MSP - March 1, 2020. Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent year A

Readings: Gen. 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Combating our Temptation

On this first Sunday of Lent we reflect on God’s intention for mankind; that man should live in peace and harmony with him, the creator, humanity and nature. The book of Genesis, though more theological than historical, presents us with the story of God’s relationship with Adam and Eve. This is a story of friendship and love; of grace and abundance. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything: their needs were met at the snap of the finger. The had a perfect friendship with God who was just a stone’s throw away. They would take a walk with God in the garden in the cool of the evening, and be engaged in a heart to heart conversation, as they enjoyed the beauty of creation. But things did not work out as God intended for too long. The devil made its ominous entrance and man discovered that he was no longer prepared to be subservient to God; he wanted to be like God. With this temptation, sin found its way into the garden and caution was thrown to the wind. Man became his own worst enemy - trying to be what he was not. Temptation on its own is not a sin. To be attracted to something or someone is neither good nor bad. But how we react to temptation gives a sinful dimension to it.

Lent is our way of dealing with sin. The Collect at Mass on Ash Wednesday set the parameter for the season: “Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.” Our journey into Lent began at the incarnation when God became man in the flesh. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, not to condemn the world but so that through him the world might be saved. (Jn. 3:16). Or like St. Paul put it, “For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous. The law entered in so that transgression might increase but where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.” (Rom. 5:19-20). To the Church in Corinth he wrote: “For our sake, God made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21). “Sin” therefore, “is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity… Sin is an offense against God: “against you, you alone have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight.” Sin sets itself against God’s love for us and turns our hearts away from it. It is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become “like gods,” It is love of oneself even to contempt of God. In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus which achieves our salvation” (CCC 1849-1850).

Today we are presented with Jesus’ temptation in the desert. With this temptation, Jesus teaches us how to act when we are tempted. We fall into temptation due to the manipulations of the tempter. To tempt Jesus, the devil used his knowledge of the Bible. Jesus also used the Scripture to beat the devil hands down.  He countered the devil point by point and commanded him to get out of His sight. The devil ran away with his tail in between his legs. The best way to fight temptation is to fortify ourselves with the word of God.

 The devil manipulated Eve in the same way: “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” He cast doubts on God’s directives and offered her counter logical explanation: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.” (Gen. 3:4). The devil made the woman an offer she could not refuse. Her mind turned away from God: she wanted to be like God. She imagined the benefits of the fruit: “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Gen. 3:6). The devil always gets us at our weakest point. He comes in when we are sick, hungry, lonely, sad, defenseless, depressed, jobless, moneyless, poor and desperate. He comes with false and empty promises to take care of us, if only we would do his bidding. Sadly, many people fall into his traps!

Jesus shows us today how to face temptation. We must be prayerful, we must fast and give in charity. We must know the bible and develop new ways to counter the antics of the devil. Christ went into the desert to fast and pray for strength and for a sense of direction. He surrendered his will to the will of God and fortified himself with the word of God. With this he was able to face the devil. One does not live by bread alone, but by every world that comes forth from the mouth of God; and again, it is written, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test”. And finally, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” (Mt. 4:4,7,10). We fall into temptation when we do not know how to fortify ourselves. Lent gives us that golden opportunity to do battle with the devil. We must give alms, fast and pray if we are to face the temptations of our daily lives. We must learn to be humble, forgiving, compassionate and merciful and the devil will stay far away from us. May God help us to enter into this season of grace with commitment and the desire to change for the better. Amen!

Assignment:

1.    How do you prepare Lent? To combat the temptation of the devil, Jesus relied on the word of God. There are 40 days from today to Easter Triduum. I propose that we read the Gospel of Luke and the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans. Luke’s Gospel has 24 chapters while the Letter to the Romans has 16 chapters. Read Luke’s Gospel from March 1 to March 24 and the Letter to the Romans from March 25 and round it up on April 9. What a wonderful way to enter into Easter Season.

2.    During Lent we must give alms. When we give alms, we see ourselves as God’s stewards, entrusted with many blessings. We must therefore, share what we have with others. Our gifts are meaningful when it hurts. Then we are giving sacrificially. Please support the missions of the Missionary Society of Paul. Pick up a table calendar and give whatever you can each month to provide fresh water, feed the hungry, educate a child in the mission or train a Seminarian for the missions. What you give up for Lent should benefit others.

3.    During this Lent, let us be available to people around us. Let us share a smile and may our parting words be ‘May God bless you.” Amen.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - March 1, 2020. Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent year A

Homily of First Sunday of Lent Year A

The first reading tells us the story of the fall of Adam and Eve. Satan tempted them and convinced them to disobey God. The sin of disobedience of Adam and Eve became known as the Original Sin. It is very important to understand that Satan is never happy whenever and wherever God does something good. Satan’s target is always to destroy the good things God has done. His target is to make us obey him and disobey God. Therefore, whenever and wherever good things are happening we must be on alert because Satan has his own evil and destructive plans. Those who do not know this or who do not take this knowledge seriously are always caught unprepared, and many times they fall. Also, if Satan tempted Adam and Eve who lacked nothing, then, we who are faced with all kinds of daily difficulties of life cannot escape his temptations. Satan and his temptations are always lurking at our door and striving to get us. But as God advised Cain, we must try to be in control (Genesis 4:7).

The sin of greed contributed to the fall of Adam and Eve. Eve wanted to become what Satan had told her, “the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and evil…. The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruits and ate it, and also gave to her husband … and he ate it.” Sometimes, we are tempted not because we do not have enough, but because we crave to possess more than we need. Greed does make us use sinful means to acquire more than we need.

The Easter Proclamation, the Exsultet, calls the sin of Adam and Eve “Happy Fault” because “it earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer.” St. Paul captures this message in the second reading, “For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ.”

If Satan had the courage to tempt Jesus, who is God, then, we, mere mortal human beings, cannot escape his temptations. St. Ignatius calls Satan “the enemy of our human nature.” Jesus had spent forty days and forty nights in the desert in prayer and fasting, in preparation for his mission. “The tempter,” who always opposes God’s plans, approached him and unleashed his temptations on him. First, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” Sometimes, it is through what we lack that Satan tempts us. At those times Satan plants in our mind ungodly means to find solution to our problem. Whether in times of plenty (as in the case of Adam and Eve), or in times of need (as in the case of Jesus), we must be on alert in order to resist Satan’s temptation.

The second temptation, Satan asked Jesus to jump down from 120 feet temple parapet. Satan cited Psalm 91:11 to deceive Jesus. That someone is brandishing the Bible or quoting profusely from it does not make the person a true follower of Christ. According to William Shakespeare, “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” Many times, people have landed themselves into trouble because they took wrong advice, or wrong actions in order to impress others, or boost their false ego, or win fame and recognition. There are instances where people commit sin for others’ pleasure. There are instances where people abandon their family or a noble cause to please their friends. There are instances where people take all kinds of substances to enhance performance. Many people have ended up destroying themselves by such actions.

The last temptation, “The devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, ‘All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.’” The last temptation addresses the sins of craving for worldly possessions and power which are major destructive forces in the world. The modern sin of idolatry is the worship of power and worldly possessions instead of service to God and worship of God.

Pope Francis in his interview with TV2000 in 2017 advises us how to resist Satan’s temptation: “I am convinced that one must never converse with Satan. If you do that, you will be lost. He is more intelligent than us, and he will turn you upside down. He will make your head spin. He always pretends to be polite. That is how he enters your mind. But it ends badly if you do not realize what is happening in time. We should tell him, ‘go away.’” That is Jesus’ approach.

Another way to resist Satan’s temptation is to arm oneself with the “Sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God, as Jesus did: As we read in the Gospel, Jesus pronounced to Satan these words of authority: “One does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”(Deuteronomy 8:3). “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test” (Deuteronomy 6:16). “The Lord, your God, you shall worship and him alone shall you serve” (Deuteronomy 6:13). And when Jesus had driven Satan away, angels came and ministered to him. May this become our experience too. Let us read the Bible, know it and use it.

If we imitate Jesus and rely on God’s grace, we will be better armed against the lures of worldliness, and Satan’s manipulations and machinations as we tread on our journey of faith. Pope Francis urges us in his 2020 Lenten message, “Keep your eyes fixed on the outstretched arms of Christ crucified, let yourself be saved over and over again.”

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Augustine Inwang, MSP - February 23, 2020. Homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary time year A

Readings: Lv. 19:1-2, 17-18; 1Cor. 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48

We Are Called to Be Holy

“All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.” (CCC 2013). This is a universal mandate extended to everyone. We are not called to be holy as we think we should be holy, but as holy as God is. Our understanding of holiness should be based on God’s way and not ours. “…Not what I will but what you will.” (Mk. 14:36). “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (First reading). We must respond to this call without any reservation. In his Introduction to the Devout Live, St. Francis de Sales reminds us, “Wherever we find ourselves we not only may, but should, seek perfection.” He stressed: “At the creation God commanded the plants to bear fruit each according to its kind and he likewise commands Christians, the living branches of the vine, to bear fruit by practicing devotion according to their state in life.” We are created in the image and likeness of God to know, love, serve and worship God in this world so as to be happy with him in the next. Our existence on earth will only be meaningful if we behold the beatific vision of God at the end. Hence, our choices should be geared towards our final home with God in heaven. So, we must be holy!

What is holiness? Holiness means sacredness or purity. It is often used to describe things that are consecrated or dedicated and set apart for the service of God. It is living in communication with God and others. It comes from God alone, so people and things can only be holy if they are related to God. Because of our desire to seek God and all that pleases Him, we must let go of everything in order to have a life with God. St. Paul stated this clearly thus: “I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” (Phil. 3:8-10). “In order to reach this perfection” the Catechism teaches, “the faithful should use the strength dealt out to them by Christ’s gift, so that …doing the will of the Father in everything, they may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the glory of God and to the service of their neighbor. Thus the holiness of the people of God will grow in fruitful abundance, as is clearly shown in the history of the Church through the lives of so many saints.” (CCC 2013).

The Gospel reading today makes sense when seen from the background of the call to holiness. The teaching of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount shows the Christian how to pursue a life of holiness. Responding to this call means “You shall not bear hatred for your brother. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge.” (Lev. 19:18). “Offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt. 5:38-45).

This reminds me of a story about a preacher who was confronted by someone after preaching on turning the other cheek. The young man asked him, “Is it true that if I strike you on the right cheek you will turn the left as well for me to strike.” The preacher answered in the affirmative. The young man immediately struck the pastor on the right cheek. The pastor turned the left cheek as well, to which the young man struck again with a deadly blow. The pastor then lifted the young man up and dropped him on the ground. The young asked him why he did that, to which the pastor responded that Christ did not tell him what to do after turning the other cheek, so he took his initiative. Christians do not look for an easy way out because they have no alternative. They look for options because it is always right to do what is right, and not doing what is right is not an option. Christians know that by hurting others they hurt themselves. Bearing grudges, harboring grievances and planning revenge are holding a big fire in our heart which will soon ignite, burn and consume not only ourselves but everything in its path. We hurt ourselves each time we are abusive, disregard, look down and act maliciously towards others.

“When we hate our enemies, we give them power over us – power over our sleep…power over our blood pressure, power over our health and happiness. Our enemies would dance for joy if they knew how our hatred tears us apart. Our hatred is not hurting them at all. It only turns own days and night into a hellish turmoil.” (Anonymous) Jesus knew all these and so he wants us to use the power of love and conquer our enemies. They cannot take the pressure of our love for too long; but will buckle under the enormity of our love and so we are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Love will always release a chain reaction of love. Responding with love toward those who wrong us benefits both parties far more than does a response of hate.

May we respond to a call to holiness and so love as we are loved! Amen.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP.