Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I could not see anything in the gospel a few days ago, and a priest said he was struck by one word: Jesus ‘remained’ in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. Surely he could have said I really don’t need to go through with this, or stopped after the first week or two, or realizing that he is ‘pretty good’ already and can dispense with this fasting, as we sometime think. But he didn’t. He remained there. It is a word of God for us, or at least for me. How easily I say, ‘No watching movies on Netflix in Lent’ and then two days later I renege on my resolution. And even with resolutions that are much more serious and would be much more helpful.
Jesus is the new Moses and he needs to go through every thing that Moses did, and he surpasses it. Unlike us, he doesn’t rely on himself but on obedience to his Father and self-denial. Today people don’t like either obedience or self-denial. Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment is a man totally alone and his crimes alienate him even more. He has no peace until he learns to rely on others, especially Sonia. She is a true Christian who repays the evil he gives her, over many years, only with good.
“Repent and believe in the gospel,” is not a demand but a gift that Jesus wants to give us. The gospel is a Good News that Jesus loves us and died for us and wants to give himself to us. It is hard for us to believe this. In the events of our life, God is always saying, I love you, I love you, I want something better and eternal for you. Here it is: take it. Don’t believe the other lies that people are telling you.
What is this Kingdom of God? It is Jesus Christ himself. He is the Kingdom. When we are with Christ, we are in his Kingdom. We can find Christ in the others, in our work and especially in the Sacraments. Lord, teach us to hunger for the true Bread of Life. The hunger for this Bread is a sign that we have a change of heart.
The Cardinal of Vienna in 1938 is famous for saying there is only one Fuhrer: Jesus Christ. The Nazis destroyed his house the next day. I am surprised they didn’t destroy him. Do something each day this Lent. Hopefully this year shows us that we really need God and that everything in this world is passing.