Lent is the special season when we offer ourselves anew to God. Fr. Chima Offurum.
Our Lenten journey has just begun. With this Holy Eucharistic celebration, we are already five days down and about six more weeks, plus/minus, to go. It is a very sober time to reflect on our lives and direction. It is a time to confirm our efforts and ask for the strength to keep going and doing the right things we do. Or pause and reorder our lives in a way to please ourselves, our families and community, and God. The opportunities to have someone or the Lenten liturgy remind us about these objectives make this season unique.
We hear so much about fasting during Lent. We equally hear about almsgiving and prayer. While we shall encounter these themes along the way to Easter, they jointly constitute the pillars of our Lenten observance. The Church harps greatly on these goals because when we focus on them, we make so much spiritual progress that, often, Satan may tempt us to give up on our struggles and disciplines and become like everybody. However, we are not “everybody.” We are God’s special children by our Baptism. Today’s gospel reading from Saint Luke (4:1-13) narrates the experiences of Jesus Christ after he resolves to commit to his ministry. Satan tempted him to abandon his goals, but he did not fall. He overcame it!
Since that gospel story is essential today, reminding us that it is, once again, that special time of the year, I want us to shift our focus to the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy (26:4-10) for a very special lesson. Moses spoke to the people about their journey to and sojourn in Egypt before the Great Exodus. They were aliens who became a great nation by walking in the footsteps God had set for them. Now, after the Exodus, when they settled on their soil, it was a time for thanksgiving, and the people brought their baskets of food and the labor of their hands to the priest, who received and presented them to God. My brothers and sisters, that gesture is exactly what we do at Mass daily. In the Holy Eucharist that we celebrate, we bring our gifts (yes, we bring our gifts of bread and wine, as we shall have some members of our community do just that very shortly) and present them to the priest, who represents them to God, carrying our prayers and other intentions. That’s an act of thanksgiving. And here is the thing, brothers and sisters! Those actions did not begin with us; they will not end with us.
I want you all to reflect on those sacred actions, the gifts we present, and the offerings we make at each Eucharistic celebration. They are unique gestures; they are holy actions. And you must remember what the Church reminds us about those sacred actions. The Church says at the Mysterium Fidei (and we shall repeat those words during this Mass), “Whenever we eat his body and drink of his blood, we proclaim our faith in him until he comes again.” I don’t want to stretch this reflection at this point in order not to overload our heads. Therefore, brothers and sisters, remember this proclamation when you come together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. God is in our midst, and the bread and wine of the Eucharist are his body and blood. He has promised to be with his church until the end of time. He does not walk away from His promises; He will never abandon us until He has accomplished His purposes in our lives. While we pray, we must continue to trust God’s Word. Amen!