First Sunday in Lent, February 18, 2024

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A personal test / the meaning of Metanoia

Mark 1:12–15

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Remember that your compassion O Lord, and your love are from old. In your kindness remember others in need of your compassion as well [here recite some names aloud of those for whom you wish to pray]. In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord.

Companions for the Journey

By Jude Siciliano, O.P. From ”First Impressions” 2015, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

People who have had to make significant changes in their lives—break a habit, an addiction, or adopt new ways of living—know that such big transformations don’t happen easily. They require interior fortitude and determination, courage, persistence and more—an interior change of heart and mind.

Today Jesus asks for such significant changes from those who have heard him preach. After he was baptized by John, he spent time in the desert and underwent temptations. He was tested and, accompanied by the Spirit, came out strong and determined. Jesus announces the coming of the reign of God and he invites others who hear him to commit their lives fully to God and God’s ways. He preaches “Metanoia”—“Repentance”—which requires change of mind and heart. He doesn’t want some superficial or cosmetic change. He isn’t asking for a few minutes, hours, weeks, or months of our time which, when completed, we can return to our previous ways of living. Perhaps we have given up wine or desserts for Lent. Then we hope to hang on till Easter when we can pop the cork and slice the Easter cake. No, repentance isn’t just for a part of the year. It is a full-time, on-going commitment to change. Metanoia asks us to turn away from whatever distracts us from God and to turn to the embrace of the One who is infinite love. Such total change can easily be postponed till a later more “convenient time.” We say we will start a more serious pursuit of God later on—after we finish school, when we have a family, after retirement, “When I’ll have more time to give to prayer and good works.” But Jesus is speaking in the present, not future tense. “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” Now is a “Kairos moment.” Now is a graced time when we will receive the help we need to respond, to make a turn in our lives towards God. That doesn’t mean big changes are easy or accomplished in a short period of time. Metanoia means we will have to dedicate our lives to transformation. In truth it will never be a completed process, but if we listen to Jesus today we need to start, or start again, becoming followers of Christ.

There are powerful forces in the world that would discourage and prevent us from responding wholeheartedly to Christ and his ways. Call these forces satanic, or the allure of stuff, power, fame, indifference, domination, sensual satisfaction, etc. Hard forces to resist. But we are not alone as we once again undertake a Lenten journey. Through our baptism God’s Spirit is with us and enables us to live according to God’s ways—to accept the kingdom Jesus proclaims. As we once again hear Jesus’ call to repentance we realize it isn’t a call just about us and our individual lives. We ask ourselves what in our homes, at work, local, and parish communities needs to be changed. In those places we are called to repent the ways we treat others, consume and waste, set ourselves apart and above others and remain indifferent to the well-being of our sisters and brothers.

Do we think Jesus was above being tempted; that he was exempted from the trials and struggles common to us humans? Some hold that Jesus was not really tempted, but was setting an example for us. The homiletician and Bible scholar, Fred Craddock, says, “Just to set an example is not setting an example.” He goes on to say: “Such approaches, however sincere, rob Jesus, the Scriptures, the gospel and life itself of reality.” (“Preaching through the Christian Year: Year B,” Valley Forge, PA, 1993, page 141).

Mark has already indicated how we can make the changes we must. He begins Jesus’ ministry with the stamp of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit that accompanied Jesus through his 40-day trial is also given to us at our baptism.

Mark’s gospel is scant on details and he rushes to tell and describe the good news Jesus has brought to us. Still, in his rush, Mark tells us that Jesus paused before beginning his ministry for 40 days of solitude and prayer in the desert. He wasn’t completely alone, the tempter was there, but unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t give details about the nature of the temptations.

We do get the point from Mark that Jesus needed time in solitude and prayer in order to deal with the difficult options he had to make to confront the forces of evil that besiege humanity. We may not have time for even a day’s desert retreat, but still, we also need to figure out how to spend time alone listening to God. What we might discover in such prayer is what Peter emphasizes: that our baptism is not an empty or superficial ritual but, “an appeal to God for a clear conscience.” Baptism opens our minds and hearts to God and begins in us a whole new consciousness of the God life offered to us in Christ. Through our baptism we participate in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord. By itself suffering has no meaning or value, but with Christ, our suffering, especially when it is the result of our commitment to the gospel, transforms suffering into joy because, as Peter reminds us, baptism “saves us now.”

In Jesus the “right time” has arrived. Jesus invites people to accept the rule of God. The Old Testament expressed God’s rule over Israel as its “King” and over the whole world. Yet, this rule was not yet realized and the prophets voiced Israel’s longing for it in images of expectation and hope. Formerly, John the Baptist preached, “One more powerful than I is to come…” (1:7), and today we hear Jesus speak of the kingdom coming near—its arrival is imminent. In Jesus God’s rule is present—and yet we Christians pray, “Thy kingdom come,” for its future completion. John preached judgment and people responded by confessing their sins and being baptized. Jesus preached the gospel, good news and an appropriate response for us this Lent would be joy over God’s graciousness towards us.

Further reflection:

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

The Kingdom of God is at hand. Change your heart and hear the good news.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • What are the temptations I experience from forces averse to God’s plans for my flourishing and the flourishing of others in my life?
  • When and how can prayer be a “wilderness” time?
    Does it bring us in touch with the evil as well as the good in ourselves?
  • What are some “deserts” that crop up in our own lives?
    What kind of harmony exists in a desert of any kind—physical, emotional, spiritual?
  • Why do you think the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert?
    What did He find there? (Do not rely on the other gospel accounts; just use the words of this gospel and your own imagination)
    Why do people of prayer need to go away to a retreat or even take a solitary walk?
  • What do you think were the wild beasts that Jesus encountered?
    What are the wild beasts that you have encountered in certain times of your life?
    Are any wild beasts prowling around your life right now?
  • How did the angels minister to Jesus?
    Do you think they kept him from being hungry, cold or lonely?
    Are there spiritual forces in my life which nurture me?
  • How do I define “testing”?
    How does adversity “test” us?
    How does such “testing” show us what we are capable of, and how does it make us stronger?
  • Not all of us “pass” every test we face, either professional (including academic) or personal. How have you dealt with failing in either sphere?
    What attitude would you like to have toward failures, yours and others?
  • Is my life a prayer?
    Why or why not?
  • One way of looking at repentance: Repenting means fixing broken relationships and doing our best to restore community. So we look at our manipulative or destructive interactions with others with an eye to changing those behaviors; Then, we need apologize sincerely to those we have hurt, as a beginning of our journey to change our damaging behaviors.
    To whom do I need to apologize?
    To what change in behavior is the Spirit leading me this Lent?
  • According to John and Jesus, NOW is the perfect time to repent. What is holding me back from the changes I need to make?
  • According to biblical scholar A.J. Levine, we need to live as though what we do really matters. Because it does!
    Do I think my small actions don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things?
    Does that kind of thinking get me off the hook?
  • How would I define “good news”?
  • What price am I willing to pay to live the good news?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style:

Read Psalm 51. What does a clean heart have to do with metanoia? I think of a habit of the heart that is keeping me from what God wants for me, and challenge myself to work on overcoming it during this Lenten Season, enlisting the aid of one other person to encourage and remind me of my commitment to change.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style:

By Jude Siciliano, O.P.

Some practical ways to approach a holy fast:

  • Fast from guzzling gas. Drive the speed limit. Ride public transportation. Ride a bike or walk when you can. Car pool.
  • Fast from compulsive consumerism. Check your closets, cupboards, storage rooms and garage. How many items have you collected that you thought you needed-until you got them home and had “buyer’s remorse?” Choose some of these areas in your house to clean out. Fix, clean and deliver these items to those who need them more than you do (or donate them to the yard sale).
  • Examine the ways in which you consume and waste, using up nature’s resources and adding to landfills or air and water pollution. Shorten your showers. Save the warm-up water for your garden. Eat your leftovers at the next meal. Recycle religiously. Refuse to use plastic. Use your own shopping sack. Write on both sides of your paper, or recycle your paper as scratch pads. Lower the thermostat or air-conditioner. Wear a sweater, add a blanket—or take them off.
  • Examine your diet and resolve to make the necessary changes if it is not healthy. Examine your eating habits and change them if you eat impulsively, constantly, too fast, unconsciously or without savoring your food, with disinterest, without care or dignity.
  • Return to a sense of the sacramental at mealtime in your home. Present all meals with dignity. Take at least forty-five minutes to eat your dinner. (The average American family eats a whole meal in five minutes.)
  • Learn to cook and serve the foods the poor eat. Tasty and healthful meals can be made from lentils, rice, grains, legumes which, eaten together, offer all the protein you need.
  • Begin planning or planting a vegetable garden or herb patch. Growing, tending, harvesting, sharing and eating your own produce brings us down to earth and is often a healing experience.
  • If you have no difficulties with any of these suggestions, consider other ways of “fasting.” During Lent we can ask ourselves: What does my baptism cost me? “Surely it asks us to fast from our sinful behaviors.”

I can sure see that I have some reflecting to do on some of my habits. I invite you to join with me in some self-examination and to change at least one behavior this Lenten season.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style:

Read Psalm 25.

Let us never forget that the ordinary way to contemplation lies through a desert without trees and without beauty and without water. The spirit enters a wilderness and travels blindly in directions that seem to lead away from vision, away from God, away from all fulfillment and joy. It may be almost impossible to believe that this road goes anywhere at all except to a desolation full of dry bones—the ruin of all our hopes and good intentions.

—Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

What desert are you experiencing in your life at this time—love, creativity, friendship, family, accomplishments, compulsions, insecurities? How is this wilderness experience inviting you to place your trust in God? Do you trust in the Spirit enough to give yourself totally to God? What has you held back? What are you afraid of? Speak to Jesus about this.

Poetic Reflection:

Has this ever been your experience?

I am being driven forward
Into an unknown land.
The pass grows steeper,
The air colder and sharper.
A wind from my unknown goal
Stirs the strings
Of expectation.

Still the question:
Shall I ever get there?
There where life resounds,
A clear pure note
In the silence.

—Dag Hammarskjold

Poetic Reflection:

Read the following poem by Ed Ingebretsen, S.J., (from Psalms of the Still Country) on the fourth day of an eight-day retreat. It is at times despairing, sometimes hopeful. How would you describe your personal journey to a clean heart?

IV

How calmly I balance here,

On the verge of loving you
again, in ways
I have forgotten.

You love out of your surplus;
I cannot accept out of my need.
How clever this pride
that dresses as humility
that makes of weakness
an excuse for mediocrity.

I am a weak man, Lord—
wrapped simply but completely
in my refusal to try.

Depart from me.
How can you bear my company
and even wish to cleanse me?
I remember you would have washed
Peter's feet, his hands, cleaned
away the remnants of his life.
Yet there was no room in his smallness
for your greatness.

Lord,
if you should but take this withered hand
of mine, and straighten it in love
then suddenly my square world
would go round, my eyes take on a new source
of light, then suddenly,
I might know the urge to fly

Closing Prayer

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are my God and savior.