Last week Kristin and I went to a Simon and Garfunkel Tribute band called Simon and Garfunkel Through the Years performed by a couple of guys from the U.K.. While we were there, low and behold the deacon from our church was there at the concert also. He tends to pop up sometimes when we go out somewhere fun or on an errand in different towns of the small state of Rhode Island. We’ve gone to Stop and Shop and the deacon was there. At least twice. We’ve gone to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner and the deacon was there. The spiritual lesson is plain and clear. The man of God can and will show up when you least expect it.
Here is another great homily by Deacon Greg Albanese, a deacon at Holy Apostles, the church where Kristin and I attend in Cranston RI.
The Battle is on During Lent
Reconstructed From Memory
I have some bad news to share with you before we get to the heart of the message of the gospel. First today’s gospel talks about the origin of original sin. We’ve all fallen. Second there is a big snowstorm once again coming to Rhode Island. And I found a third bit of bad news for you. I gave up telling jokes for Lent. April 5 can’t get here fast enough.
[Kristin spends the next several minutes as he goes on in his homily laughing hysterically in the very unique way that she laughs, which is with her whole self totally absorbed into it. Thankfully she was quiet and we were in the back of the church. If you could see her, her face was all red and every time she tried to stop laughing, she just kept on doing it, as it was rather hard to stop. Much like it must be for the deacon and the priest for that matter to stop trying to stop telling jokes at Sunday Mass. Come to think of it, it’s hard for any of us to stop whatever it is were giving up for Lent. Sometimes the urge to laugh or do whatever it is we are doing, just comes upon us and we can’t stop. When it comes to sin, Deacon Greg will remind us of the church’s tools to battle it.]The actual homily
sent to me via email
Things have changed a lot since last Sunday. Most of us had dirty foreheads on Wednesday, and we are wearing purple now…the season of Lent is here!
We all know by now that Lent is the 40-day season in preparation for Easter; and we all know by now that this season is the time to change, to grow, to get better, and to grow in our relationship with God. The real questions are what do we need to change and how should we go about making these changes?
First, let’s talk about what we need to change…and let’s revisit what happened to Adam and Eve in our first reading.
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,
and so man became a living being.
Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and placed there the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow
that were delightful to look at and good for food,
with the tree of life in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. –Genesis 2:7-9
They quite literally had it made. They were in paradise, one with God, and had the best existence any of us could ever imagine. So what happened? We are told that the serpent AKA the devil was able to tempt, manipulate, mislead and influence Adam and Eve to sin. How did he lead them astray? In the Bible the devil is described as cunning and clever, and well aware of human nature. Our human nature. And if we let the devil near us, the devil will identify and exploit our weakest parts of ourselves and tempt us straight into sin. Look what he did to Adam and Eve…the devil made them feel as if they were being shortchanged by God, that they needed something else to be happy, and that God and the Garden of Eden and everything in it was not enough for them.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“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 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 fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves. –Genesis 3:1-7
How many of us are also guilty of that? Do we fail to realize that we have it made just like Adam and Eve? How many of us turn to money, material objects, fame or something else because we believe that God and our faith are not enough to sustain us and make us happy? Whatever our weak spot is, the devil is there to tempt us, to instill doubt and fear in us, and lead us away from God and into sin.
A couple of other examples: some of us might be insecure, questioning our own abilities and worth. When that happens, it becomes easy to be tempted to lash out at others, wound them and do violence to them in word or in deed. Some of us might think life is unfair, and that others have it so much better than we do. When that happens, it becomes easy to be tempted to be jealous and envious of others, and even steal or do illegal or immoral things to get ahead in this world. We have the same human nature as Adam and Eve, and the devil knows it. And the devil will come into the most vulnerable and weakest parts of ourselves to tempt us.
So, during Lent think to yourself: what is the weakest part of me? What is my greatest temptation and how is the devil trying to take me away from God and my faith by leading me to sin? Identifying our weakness and where the devil might tempt us is the first step.
Now on to the second question–how are we to go about making these changes? The season of Lent gives us three pillars, (practices and disciplines) to work on so we can become stronger in our faith and in our fight against the devil:
Prayer–more than usual, with more passion and enthusiasm, and with a renewed sense of purpose.
Fasting–not eating meat on Fridays is a start, but perhaps we can fast from things that lead us to sin to show that the only Master we will listen to and live our lives by is God and His son Jesus Christ.
Almsgiving–charity yes, but also this Lent we can give the gift of ourselves to those we love and to total strangers…more love, more forgiveness, more focus, and random acts of kindness can go a long way!
In today’s gospel we saw the epic battle of Jesus versus the devil, and Jesus was successful in turning away the temptations of selfishness, celebrity and power.
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then 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.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.
We need to turn away from the devil too. St. James tells us in his letter which is found in the New Testament, “Resist the devil and he will take flight.” Now is the time for us to fight the battle against temptation. Now is the time to make the devil flee from us. If we are willing to admit our weaknesses and stare temptation in the face, if we are willing to repent and change, and if we are willing to flex our spiritual muscles using prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we will be better people on April 5th on Easter Sunday, and the devil won’t have a chance to defeat us!
The battle is on during Lent,
and let’s fight with all of our hearts and souls.
And here’s another homily from Bishop Barron to aid what Deacon Greg preached about.
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