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Lent: It’s Time to Renew Our Loyalty to God
Jesus’ Church begins her liturgical season of Lent this week bringing us God’s Word from Genesis 2:7-9 and 3:1-7; Psalm 51:3-17; Romans 5:12-19; and St. Matthew 4:1-31. She reminds all her members, and the world, that God is their Creator and that He calls everyone to go into the desert with Jesus in order to purify their relationship with Him through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Purification
This periodic desert experience, retreat, is a necessary preparation in order to resist Satan’s temptation to worship him instead of God. It’s a time to clarify our priorities and be purified from sin and egotism in order to enjoy God’s promises of security and joy that result from renewing our loyalty to Him. If we don’t give God first place in our life then everything else in our life is in the wrong place, which brings us confusion and failure. With the Psalmist we pray: “Have mercy on me, O God, in Your greatness; in the greatness of Your compassion wipe out my offence. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. For I acknowledge my offence, and my sin is before me always: ‘Against You only have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight.’ A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me” (Ps 51:3-13).
Winter’s drabness is replaced by Spring’s new life. Lent is the time set aside by Jesus’ Church calling us to spring-clean our soul by replacing the drabness and rottenness of sin with the life and beauty of God’s grace as we renew our loyalty to Him. Jesus commanded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk 12:30-31).
Lent is the special time of penance when to examine our fidelity, or lack thereof, to our Baptismal Vows. This is why Jesus warned us to, “Say ‘Yes’ when you mean ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ when you mean ‘No.’ Anything beyond that is from the evil one” (Mt 5:37). In our relationship with Jesus there’s no if, but, or maybe. It’s either “I’m loyal to You” or “I am disloyal to You” in my thoughts, words, and deeds.
The Creature Needs the Creator
As we begin this liturgical season, Jesus’ Church takes us back to the creation of man and woman (Gen 2:7-9), revealing that He is the only Creator of humanity, the Author of human life, and the Provider and Sustainer of man and women whom He created in His image and likeness and made them stewards of the earth. The Church reminds us what happened to man and woman (Gen 3:1-7) and how it caused them to abandon their loyalty to God by trusting Satan’s promise that they would be like gods if they ate the forbidden fruit. So now, instead of one God, there are two gods, namely Adam and Eve. What followed their sin of disloyalty was immediate division, suffering and death.
Loyalty
Loyalty means being steadfast in our allegiance to a person or a cause. The word ‘loyal’ means fidelity to our promises which include obligations. The primary obligation of Christians is to love God and neighbour. To that end God provided the Ten Commandments (Ex 20) and the Beatitudes (Mt 5). God’s purpose in giving us these, like the commandment He gave to Adam and Eve, was not to control man and woman but rather to show them how they could share in His power and His love – how they could be like Him. In obeying the Commandments and living the Beatitudes we dispose ourselves to receive the grace God gives us to resist Satan’s temptations which makes us slaves of sin and our disordered desires. Jesus reminds us, “You will live in my love if you keep the commandments, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and live in His love” (Jn 15:10). Jesus wants us to be joyful. “All this I tell you that my joy may be yours and your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Adam and Eve wanted to be like God but also wanted to be independent of Him relying on themselves to determine what was good or bad for them.
God created man and woman to enjoy His love and share it with one another. He put them in an environment rich in everything they needed for fulfilment. He knew their limitations, especially the fact that they could not cope with evil on their own. To protect them in Paradise He gave them one commandment that they “not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gn 2:16-17). He warned them, “The moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die” (Gn 2:17).
Temptation to Be Like Gods
Adam and Ever heard this but they didn’t heed it. Satan, who himself was disloyal to God and always the liar promoting disloyalty, baiting people with half-truths, said to Eve: “Did God tell you not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?” Eve replied that God did and said that eating it would bring death. Satan assured Eve that she wouldn’t die, but that she and Adam would become “like gods” themselves and so wouldn’t have to rely on God. They would become their own truth-makers. He captivated her attention by appealing to her desire for immediate self-gratification focusing on the pleasure of eating the fruit, but like all self-gratification, ignoring the long-term consequences. Satan lied by telling them that disobeying God wouldn’t affect their life. Thus, Satan “brought death to man from the beginning, and has never based himself on truth; the truth is not in him” (Jn 8:44). With sin came death and suffering as its forerunner. All he wanted was for man and woman to be like himself, namely disloyal, to God. Being disloyal to God they were disloyal to one another.
Meaning of Loyalty to God
Loyalty to God means steadfastly obeying His commandments and living the Beatitudes. That allegiance disposes us to receive God’s love and joy in our lives, which empowers us to love Him, ourselves and our neighbour. God revealed in Proverbs 3:2-20: “Let not loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favour and good repute in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.” Satan smiles when he sees us relying on our own insight and ignoring God’s wisdom. When we rely on our own knowledge and view ourselves as self-made, as someone noted, we “reap the fruits of unskilled labour.”
Enslaved By Our Desires
Temptation is always the call to be disloyal to God by fostering satisfying our desire to do wrong because it appeals good and pleasurable to the senses. But what very often seems pleasurable to the senses is the enemy of the soul. Satan convinces people to abandon God by getting them to focus on what promises instant self-gratification through power, pleasure, popularity, and wealth. Satan works on us by getting us to think these things will bring us happiness. But we forget that only God can make us happy. A good decision is always about gaining in the long term rather than in the short term. Satan tempts us to think that we deserve to satisfy our every desire “because we deserve it.” But that makes us slaves to our desires causing us to fail as human beings. Satan himself is a failure and he constantly tempts us to fail. For the creature failure follows from separation from the Creator.
Satan, whose kingdom is this world, waylaid Jesus after His forty days in the desert. Satan used his favourite weapons of pretending to be Jesus’ friend offering Him power, possessions, and popularity if Jesus did what he asked. Jesus, on the other hand, relied on His Heavenly Father and reminded Satan that only God deserved to be worshipped and that only He sustained life. Defeated, Satan slunk away from Jesus like a whipped dog, but only to look for another chance. We can’t resist the snares of the devil by ourselves. He’s too cunning for us. Only closeness to God by being in Jesus’ company in His Church empowers us to resist temptation. Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s lies because they took their eyes off God.
This Is Your Most Important Lent
Whether this our first Lenten season or our last, it is a time of self-reflection and receptivity to God’s grace to make sure God has the first place in our list of priorities. It is a time to examine our loyalty to Jesus as members of His Church. We need to ask ourselves, “Do I embrace each of God’s Commandments and beatitudes with all my heart, my soul, my mind and my strength?” To renew our loyalty to God each of us must pray with the Psalmist, I “acknowledge my offenses and ask God to clean my heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps 51:12-13).
A clean heart and a steadfast spirit are essential to have love and joy in our life. Hence the need to devote time to prayer, practise fasting, self-restraint, and generosity. Your prayer through Lent might well be: “Lord, grant me the gifts of wisdom, discipline, and understanding that I may not be hardened by sin, weakened by laziness, and blinded by foolishness. Amen!” (frsos)
Lenten Theme: Prepare for Your Resurrection: Pray, Fast, and give Alms by sharing your Time, Talent & Treasure with Those in Need. These actions are the antidotes to lust of the ego, lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes.
This is a special time of Grace from God is a great opportunity to cleanse the soul from the grip of our lusts.
If you are a faithful Catholic, Lent is a time to go deeper into your soul to find God there and experience the peace that He alone wants to give you.
If you are lapsed or fallen away from practicing the Catholic Faith, a person who doesn’t attend Holy Mass every Sunday, go to Confession regularly, and participate in your parish church, NOW is the time for you open the door of your heart because Jesus is knocking waiting for you to invite Him in and experience His love and the hope He brings with Him. He is calling you to conversion. Don’t ignore His knock on your door now for you might not be home the next time He knocks! None of us knows neither the day nor the hour of our death! Hence the need to be prepared to meet our Judge.
If you are a teenager or young adult, this is a special time to experience the richness of the Catholic Faith Jesus offers you that gives you meaning, identity, purpose, power, and a happy future in which to hope. Follow Jesus with His Church as He suffered and died so that you might be able to overcome suffering and have a life of happiness after death.
Remember, where there's a will there's a way. Also remember that what you give to God He returns to you many times over. God is never outdone in His generosity to those that love Him. However, it is up to you to say "Yes" to Him every day, and especially during Lent when He calls us to make sacrifices out of love for Him. No one can do it for you!
Fast & Abstinence: Every baptized Catholic between the ages of 14 and 60 is obliged to fast and abstain on the days appointed during Lent in honour of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of both Fast (eat only light meals) and Abstinence (no meat).
The Fridays of Lent are days of Abstinence (no meat).
The purpose of fasting and abstaining is to discipline our body and practice generosity toward others. Lent is NOT a time to simply “give up” things. It’s a time to "do without" things so that we might be able to "give more" to others. So we "do without" some extra sleep so we can "give more" time to God by attending morning Mass. We "do without" candy, heavy meals, etc., so we can "give more" to the poor through donating what we save to the less fortunate.
During Lent and Holy Week, as you listen to the Church proclaiming God’s Word, you come to see what Christ was willing to "do without" so that you could have something more than you could ever give yourself - His very life - so that God could "give more" joy, confidence and hope to you as you experience life’s ups and downs.
You can "do without" in various ways for Christ so He can "give more" light through you to a dark and confused world. Whatever you decide to "do without" so you can "give more" will purify your soul and sweeten your attitude and make you a blessing to others. The Resurrection made all of Jesus’ suffering and death worthwhile, so also your resurrection will make your sacrifices worthwhile. Have a spiritually productive Lent.
Prayer for Guidance
Heavenly Father, grant me Wisdom to discern Your will for me, Knowledge to understand Your Word to me, and Understanding to Walk in Your ways – the Way of the Commandments , the Way of the Cross, and the Way of the Beatitudes. I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen!
Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 1752278 times)