Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
The Word of the Lord.
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One of my favorite Saints is Damian of Molokai. He was a priest born in 19th century Belgium. After his ordination, he felt called to move half-way around the world to the hellish Hawaiian island of Molokai.
Molokai was home to hundreds of lepers, including children. At that time, whenever someone contracted leprosy, they were immediately removed from their community, often shipped off to Molokai, where they’d eventually die in despair.
Somehow, word of Molokai made its way to Belgium, into Father Damian’s heart.
He thought of Christ’s final sermon – the Judgment of the Nations, which we heard in yesterday’s Gospel – and was deeply moved by the promise, “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.”
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So, he left his parish, his family, and his native language, ministering in Molokai for 16 years, knowing that, once he set feet ashore, he could never turn back.
Father Damian built a school, taught the children, celebrated Mass, assembled a choir to worship on Sundays, broke bread with the broken, and even dug their graves with his bare hands – more than 600 in all.
He loved and served these lepers as if they were Christ himself until he contracted leprosy himself, dying from it after a years-long struggle at the tender age of 49.
So, what might Father Damian’s legacy say to us today?
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That we should be receptive to – and challenged by – the Word of God.
“Thus say the LORD,” the prophet Isaiah proclaims in our first reading, “Just as from the heavens, the rain and snow come down and do not return until they have watered the earth…so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void.”
How has the Word of God changed my decisions in life, either big or small? How receptive is my heart to God’s Word today?
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May we hear the Word of God and act on it, showing the Lord it will not return to him void.
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Image credits: (1) Saint Damian of Molokai, Britannica (2) QuoteFancy (3) Saint Damian of Molokai, Catholic World Report
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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During a visit to the United States, Mother Teresa went to a nursing home run by religious sisters.
It had nearly every creaturely comfort one could ask for – healthy food, comfy beds, air conditioning, heating, television, music playing in the background, and nurses readily available.
Yet, Mother Teresa noticed that not one of the residents was smiling.
Surprised, she turned to one of the sisters, asking, “Why are these people not smiling? I’m so used to seeing people smile, even the poorest of the poor who are dying in our homes in Calcutta – they smile.”
The nun responded, “This is the way it is nearly every day. They are expecting, they are hoping, that a son or daughter or grandchild will come to visit them. But they never do. They hurt because they are forgotten.”
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This is the greatest form of poverty, Mother Teresa affirmed: Feeling unwanted. Unloved. Forgotten.
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Lent is a time for us to become increasingly awareof Christ present in others – the homebound, the sick, the less fortunate, the forgotten. Even people inside our own homes.
Life has a way of becoming so busy that spouses and children can feel unnoticed or unheard under their own roof. While the stress of routines and the pressures of daily life keep everyone busy, not everyone may feel happy, heard, or appreciated.
Genuine communication can slow to a drip.
Lent is a time for us to break the surface of daily life and go deeper. Take the time to “be” with others. Remove the need to perform or to achieve. Listen. Speak heart to heart. There’s always more beneath the surface than meets the eye.
And, when possible, pay a visit – go out of your way to “see” someone else beyond your home. The sick, the elderly, a friend of days gone by.
“Whatever you did – or did not do – for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine,” Jesus says, “you did for me.”
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Image credits: (1) A-Z Quotes (2) Mother Teresa: The Life of a Saint, NYTimes (3) secure.qgiv.com
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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Do you remember learning how to ride a bicycle?
I’ve seen pictures of myself as a toddler, peddling my plastic tricycle around our family driveway. Then I became a “big boy,” graduating to a real bicycle, but with training wheels. Eventually, I outgrew those, too, and began learning how to pedal on my own.
That was the scary part.
I’m sure many parents have had that heart dropping feeling of watching your child wobble without training wheels. At first, you hold onto the back of their seat as they struggle to find their balance.
But soon enough, children develop a sense of confidence, insisting that you let go as they push and pedal on their own. For some, that command leads to a crash landing.
For others, newfound freedom.
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Isn’t that what Lent is all about?
Learning how to W-O-B-B-L-E.
How to pedal. Push. Balance. Striving for the freedom to live like Jesus, by choosing what is good and rejecting what is evil.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus is driven into the desert in response to his baptism.
He had just been plunged into the Jordan River by John. The heavens were ripped open as God the Father proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
In the desert, Satan puts that claim to the test, urging the Lord to prove his divinity, to misuse his power, and to break his fidelity to his Father. These temptations come in two different ways.
Physically, the Lord is plunged into the depths of human suffering as he experiences the sharp pain of hunger, the constant dryness of thirst, and the awful sense of loneliness that comes with being denied human contact for forty days and forty nights.
Jesus was left with no one to talk to except his Father, while swatting away the seductive whisper of the devil.
Spiritually, Jesus is plunged into the fires of temptation, testing his flesh, as Satan offers him power, glory, and basic necessities such as bread. But by his resistance, Jesus proves that the only one who can ultimately satisfy him – and us – is God.
As he says today, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
While bread gives us life, it does not give us meaning. We all need to discover the deeper, intangible realities of life – things like truth, love, and purpose – things which Satan cannot give us.
When the temptations are over, Jesus returns to Galilee, where he calls his disciples to himself. They will not only serve as the foundation of the Church; relationally, they will also feed him – a reminder to all of us that no man is an island. We need one another.
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Satan left Jesus for a time, but will return at the cross, when he uses the same phrase from the desert to tempt the Lord one final time – “If you are the Son of God…”
While Jesus is tempted privately in the desert, all of the temptations for power, glory, and comfort converge on the cross as he is publicly challenged to abuse his power and disobey his Father.
“If you are the Son of God,” an anonymous voice cries out, “come down from the cross!”
Though racked with pain, the Lord refuses. He’d rather die beaten and bloodied, scoffed at as a common criminal, than disobey his Father. While coming down from the cross would have provided temporary relief, it would have never led to lasting peace.
That only comes with fidelity.
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The Lord’s obedience should challenge and inspire us this Lent.
Over the next forty days, we are invited – not only to give up something simple like coffee or chocolate – but also to genuinely go deeper.
To examine our conscience, our commitment to the poor, the depths of our prayer life, and our fidelity to our baptismal call to holiness.
What are some of the temptations we face? How do we plan on resisting them? Most importantly, what would genuine spiritual growth look like by the end of Lent?
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May God grant us the grace to remove our “training wheels,” as it were, to wobble our way through Lent. To push. Pedal. Strive. Balance.
To seek the truest form of freedom – the ability to choose what is good and reject what is evil.
Even a crash landing would be better than never trying at all.
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Image credits: (1) Freepik (2) PushmeHome (3) Diocese of Covington
