Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This is a wonderful word because it is what the Lord wants to do with us. He wants to dwell in you and in me. The gospel ends with a spectacular phrase: the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. This is a prophecy for each one of us. Since the time has come for the kingdom of God to be near you. How wonderful when the Church announces this. It is very different from saying someone is coming and he is going to cut your head off if he finds you sinning. No, it is not like that at all. What is the kingdom of God? It is Jesus Christ. His time has arrived.
It is like a pregnant woman who has waited many months, and she knows that her time is fulfilled. A child will be born for her in nine months, and she rejoices! Women who have had children know this very well and it is similar to what the gospel is saying. The ultrasound shows the baby is coming; the kingdom of God is near; it is wonderful. This is what Christ wants from your life now! You can abort the pregnancy, to follow this example, or you can let him be born in you.
Jesus Christ is saying the kingdom is coming now; it is ready! And later on, he will say the kingdom has arrived already. The kingdom is me, says Jesus, as he preaches this love of the Father for you. I am the Word of God for you, for your suffering, for your weaknesses, for the lack of meaning in your life. I am the solution. I am already here; what precious words for us, brothers and sisters. This is what it means to be a Christian. It does not mean that you are a saint, like Mother Theresa or John Paul II. We are not going to be like that, unless God gives us this level of holiness, well, I hope so. But in the end, we are all normal people that the Lord touches with a special grace. This is what it means to have Jesus Christ inside of us. Let’s break all those crazy ideas of what we think a saint is. A Christian is to have Christ inside. To be a Christian is to be with Christ.
I like to define Christianity as a possession. There are some who are possessed by the devil or a bunch of demons, but a Christian is possessed by Christ. He is our inheritance. We don’t do what we want; we do what Christ tells us to do. St. Paul also says this. It is not me who lives, but Christ who lives in me. It is not I who love but Christ who loves in me. It is not I who forgives; it is Christ who asks for forgiveness. It is not I who is humble or chaste or repentant for my sins; it is Jesus Christ in me. This is what Christ wants to do with each one of us.
We can see this in the gospel. It is the Spirit that drove Jesus into the wilderness; it pushes him into the desert to be tempted. He was put to the test by Satan. He let himself be tempted. But what is the name of the desert? Do you know? It is Joe! It is Sam, Maria, Camilo, Ana; that is the desert. He was driven by the Spirit into the desert, into the wilderness, to dwell in you. There are wild beasts there and he lived with them, and the angels served him.
Lent is a beautiful time that some say is a horrendous time. It is a time of trail, a time of temptation; it is a precious time because Christ is with you. And he wants to be so close to you that he is going to fight for you. He is going to suffer these temptations for you. He is going to help you and he will be fighting for these 40 days to live in the desert, which is horrifying.
Perhaps even now we are very dry, unable to love. We cannot do anything in the desert. The scripture says that God led his people into the desert to know what was in their heart and to love him, to love him deeply in the desert, why? In the wilderness you cannot settle down. You cannot build a house or start a garden with tomatoes and lettuce. In the desert you have to live on what God provides for you. If he sends rain, you have water; if he sends manna then you have something to eat. We live off of what God sends.
In the desert you cannot accumulate things because you are always walking, and you cannot carry everything with you. You have your little suitcase and that is all you have. If you start to gather stuff you can no longer walk. That is why in this time of Lent we are invited to give alms and not to accumulate. He invites us to live in the providence of God, to realize that he is there, that he loves us and that new temptations will come.
Have you ever had the joy of being tempted and did not give in? I have experienced this sometimes. It is wonderful to see how the Lord helps you and you overcome it and then you see how he sends the devil away. It is a special joy, and this is thanks only to Him. He was the one who did it and it gives you a certain joy and peace that you have this eternal spouse in heaven. You can experience this every day. I hope during this time you experience this! It is Christ who wants to live in you today and you can also receive him physically. You already received him in the Word, in the preaching, and now you can receive him in your body. He allows this because he loves you. It is not a story for little kids; it is for you.
Without Christ we cannot love. Sure, on my own, I can love the people I like or who are good to me, but Christian love is to give my life, to lose my life for the other. It is to accept God’s will for me. It is to die for the other so they can live. We have reduced the meaning of love to giving a little kiss or a gift or a little poem. But Christian love is to give your life. Wow to me if I don’t proclaim the gospel says St. Paul. It is not a demand that God makes of us, but to evangelize is to love, to give your life so others can find life in God. It is the best thing you can give them.
The Lord wants to make of us a new man or woman no matter what your age and he has the power to do it. I don’t know what kind of Christianity you want, perhaps something very comfortable but God wants to make of you and me a holy person, a fisher of men. He can do so in this Eucharist today. You can leave here and never go back to that adultery. You can leave here today and never steal again; you can leave here today and ask your father for forgiveness for judging him all these years. You can leave here today and block that person’s number from your phone, and you can do this because it is Christ who lives in you. Let us be converted by Jesus Christ today. Convert and believe in the gospel. Thank you, Lord, for helping me to be a Christian today.