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OMELIE / Omelie EN

01 mar 2020
01/03/2020 – 1st Sunday of Lent - Year A

01/03/2020 – 1st Sunday of Lent - Year A

Reading 1 GN 2,7-9; 3,1-7 * Psalm 50 * Reading 2 ROM 5,12-19 * Gospel MT 4,1-11

 

At the beginning of our mass we have asked God for forgiveness, today too, like every other time we get together, because the sin of the world is following us and it creeps in our bones. The whole liturgy of this first Sunday of Lent is talking about the man's sin too.

The first reading is stopping to describe the different stages of development of the man's sin, the way in which it starts inside us, and the silliness the man  shows when obeying more himself and his instincts rather than God's wisdom full of love.

The second reading is introducing us a reasoning of Saint Paul's: he can see God’s grace which is saving us from the consequences of the disobedience, thanks to the only obedience coming from Jesus. He has lived and showed His obedience in the desert, where He had been looking for closeness with the Father when the devil in many ways was tries to seduce Him in order to invite Him to think of Himself, as every men does.

The passage from the gospel lastly is telling us about the temptations overcome by the Lord through His obedience. He is in the desert, where He relives briefly the 40 years spent there by His people. That People had filled the trip through the desert with complaints, while God kept giving them the evidence of His presence and of His loving assistance. Was the water missing? Raging complaints! Was bread missing? Indignant grumble. Was meat missing? Disappointment and hatred against Moses and Aaron. The clues and the gifts, even if they were extraordinary, were never enough to plant in the Israelites' heart trust, trustful abandonment, serene obedience.

Jesus now has been in the desert for forty days: water is missing, bread is missing, meat is missing. What is Jesus doing? Complaining? Getting depressed? The devil is wondering why Jesus is not complaining about God and with God: it would like to convince Him to let go of His trust in God: it makes Him think it is exaggerated. Was not called He Himself Son of God, while John was baptising Him? Why not using to His own advantage the divine skills? God’s word has created the world, so the Son of God can open His mouth as well, and what He will say will happen: “Command that these stones become loaves of bread”! The Word of the devil sounds believable, because, masking the pride, pushes to have a strong faith. But Jesus knows that the people in the desert was precisely wanting the serene faith in God and this is why all of them had died without being able to enter the promised land. He is trustful and keeps having faith in the Father’s love, as to say: « If I am the Son of God, this is because God for sure is my Father and He takes care of me. I am holding on to Him: since I am son, I will behave like a son, I do not take the Father’s place. If I am son I will continue to listen and to obey. The Father Himself will tell what I am to do: His Word is my food, my true nourishment »!

And therefore Jesus is trusting precisely in the Word of the Scriptures: “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”. Jesus is a son, so this is why He is careful to listen to the Father! He repeats this decision for each desire that can pop in the men's heart: the desire to be recognised by everyone, the desire to establish order in the world, where disorder and injustice “rule”. Jesus does not choose by Himself the way to be recognised as the Messiah, nor He forces men to take Him as king, even if His royalty is the only one given by the Father to the whole human society. By remaining an obedient son He is turning over the condition given to the whole human society by Eve and Adam with their disobedience, and He makes up for the consequences of their sin that still burden us, make our life hard and keep ruining the harmony among us, even among relatives and friends.

We will try to hold on to Jesus, to His trust in the Father, to His filial obedience: this conversion of ours, even if it is hard, will give a decisive input to the peace and salvation of the world.

 We believe in God with complete trust: it is not necessary to put His love to the test. And about the kingdoms of earth, He loves them and He knows what to prepare for them so men will not kill one another and instead are able to live together in peace. Jesus offers Himself to the Father in order to fulfill the will the Father is going to disclose to Him day after day. The Father, who loves all the peoples, knows how to guide His life in order to make of it a gift to everyone. And we follow Jesus. We will get used during this Lent to do without something we like, in order to be ready and prepared when it will be required of us too to take part in the passion and death of our Lord.