Who or what is your cornerstone?

2^nd Week of Lent (F)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

NDS, NOLA

Here we are at the end of the second week of Lent, and we're reading about tenants and landowners, vineyards and stones. We are also reading about murder and fear – the murder of Christ and the fear of those who are threatened by the truth of his ministry and mission. They hear him say to the crowd, “. . .the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” They know he's talking about them. And their fear is compounded by his popularity with the crowd. How is this parable suitable for a Friday in Lent? Put yourself among the chief priests and Pharisees and ask yourself: is he also talking about me? Am I among those who will lose the Kingdom of God b/c Christ is not the cornerstone of everything I am, of everything I strive to be? If there's anytime in the liturgical year to ask this question, it's Lent. So ask: who or what grounds and supports my daily life? Who or what gives strength and purpose to everything I am building here at Notre Dame? When everything I am and everything I have is taken away, who or what remains? 

 

Lent is a season for destroying idols, a time for us to count the false gods we worship and un-name them in the name of Christ. We have this time – out and away – so that we can inspect the foundation of our faith, looking for cracks and loose stones. Upon inspection, what do you find? Are you motivated and inspired for ministry by a need for power, prestige, applause? Are you hiding away from a scary world – is the apparent safety and security of the priesthood your cornerstone? Maybe your cornerstone is the chance to set the Church aright, to get out there and fix what you think is broken; to whip us all back into shape with a regular regime of a spiritual diet and religious exercise. Or maybe your cornerstone is a packed schedule, a full calendar – the busyness of being busy. Lent is the time – out and away – to ask: Is Christ your cornerstone? Your ground and support, your strength and your purpose? If not, Lent is the time to receive the grace you've been given and set Him firmly, permanently in place. And b/c we are not yet perfect, we'll need to receive that grace and set that cornerstone daily, hourly for all of the time we have left. By the Lord this will be done. Isn't it wonderful in your eyes?

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Seeing clearly in the dark

2^nd Sunday of Lent

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

OLR, NOLA

We see God most clearly in darkness. That's a weird thing to say. We hear over and over again in Scripture that we are children of the light. That we bring light to the world when we bear witness to God's mercy and work for His greater glory. We hear again and again that we leave darkness behind and enter the light so that we might better see our true end – eternal life with God. But notice: “As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.” In the darkness, God made his covenant with Abram. In the darkness, Abram became the father of generations and those generations called God their Lord. As heirs to the Kingdom, as brothers and sisters of the Son, we call that same God Lord. And we come into a new covenant through a darkness. . .a darkness of sin, death, ignorance, and despair. Lent is our time to recall all that separates us from God the Father, all that extinguishes the light of Christ. Lent is our time to practice those feats of sacrifice that remind us that Christ's victory is our victory. And that the Devil has no more power over us than we give him. Lent is our time to embrace the dark night of the soul. What awaits us at dawn is Christ transfigured – “his clothing [becomes] dazzling white.” 

 

When Abram emerges from the “terrifying darkness [that] envelope[s] him,” God seals the first covenant with fire and grants to him descendants as countless as the stars. When Peter, James, and John emerge from their dark cloud on the mountain, a voice from heaven declares, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” Having emerged from the other side of their darkness, these faithful men find waiting for them revelations of divine love beyond their imagining. Abram becomes the father of God's chosen people. The disciples become preachers of God's Good News to sinners. Beyond the dark clouds of their human ignorance, these men find their calling, their mission. They find in obedience to God their purpose, their holiness. They are gifted with all that they need to accomplish all that God has asked of them. And so are we. Holiness is not impossible. Living truly righteous lives as followers of Christ is not a ridiculous goal, nor some sort of improbable dream. Abram and the disciples emerge from their darkness by God's will, freely receive their gifts, and then work furiously to finish the job God has given them to do. Their holiness would be impossible if they labored alone in pride, alone in ignorance and disobedience. But they don't. 

 

And neither do we. The Church has given us prayer, penance, fasting, and alms-giving as faithful means of remembering that Christ's eternal victory on the Cross is our daily victory as his followers. Prayer unites us in the Spirit through Christ toward the Father, ensuring our progress in holiness by freeing us from the damning consequences of pride and deceit. Prayer is how we receive God into our lives and transform His presence into the words and deeds of witness. Penance moves us out of the center of our own lives and helps us to occupy the sufferings of Christ so that we are better able to love sacrificially. Penance is how we become smaller in the world so that Christ might become larger for the world. Fasting detaches us from all those things and people that tempt us to idolatry, tempt us to replace the Creator with His creatures. Fasting is how we remember Who made us and for what purpose. Alms-giving encourages us to imitate God's redeeming generosity, His creative and re-creative goodness and beauty. Alms-giving is how we recognize that everything we are and have is first a gift from the Father. These four Lenten sacrifices, practiced faithfully, take us out of the darkness and transfigure us into partakers of the Divine Life.

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord. . .” If Lent is a time of testing, a long dark night of the soul, then make this time a test of your resolve to grow in holiness by imitating Christ. Make it a test of your faith that God is in the darkness, waiting for you. Like Abram, wait upon the Lord, sure in the knowledge that He keeps His word. That His covenant with us in Christ is accomplished and true. Take up these 40 days and treat each one as chance to step closer and closer to the consummation of your salvation on the Cross. When the clouds gather and, in your weakness, you fail – we all do, listen for the voice of God, speaking to you, “You are my chosen.” And confidently lay claim to Christ's victory over sin and death. . .and start again. We see God most clearly in the darkness. . .b/c that is where we most need His saving light.

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Don't "fight" temptation!

1^st Sunday of Lent

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

OLR, NOLA

So, the Devil is brave enough or dumb enough to tempt our Lord at the end of his forty days in the desert. It might not be bravery or stupidity that drives the Devil. Maybe it's desperation. Regardless, whatever motivates him to tempt the Son of God, the Devil is certainly ambitious. And if he's desperate enough or ambitious enough to tempt the Christ, tempting you and me is child's play. And so, we have the season of Lent to train us in spiritual combat to survive for the rest of the year. We know our own weaknesses – all those sins that call our name day and night. We all know the weapons at hand – prayer, fasting, and alms-giving. We know the stakes – eternal life or eternal death. And we know the enemy – ourselves. This is the hard truth of Lent: we are created from dust, fashioned from the dirt of the earth and given life by the breath of God. We are also – baptized and confirmed – children of the Father and heirs to His Kingdom. Our Lenten battle is not btw Good and Evil out there. God has won that battle. He won it on the Cross. The battle is in here. The question is: do you believe that Christ's victory on the Cross is your victory as well? Do you live in Christ, knowing and believing that you are already victorious over sin and death?

I'm just guessing here, but I'm willing to bet that many of us here tonight are still fighting against temptation. Battling one sin or another in a desperate attempt to remain holy. You might be imagining a little devil on your left shoulder urging you to commit a sin and an angel on your right just as urgently exhorting you to resist. You might imagine that these two voices are equally powerful and persuasive. Both make appealing arguments and offer compelling evidence for why you should or shouldn't sin. Which one do you choose? Sinner or saint? This picture of temptation and holiness is a lie. It's a lie b/c you have already chosen. You chose to be a saint. You chose to put yourself squarely into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. You have already won. The victory is yours. Therefore, when a temptation arises, look at it squarely. Acknowledge it. Name it. Call it by its proper name. No euphemisms. No dodges. No psychobabble excuses. Give it its real name. And say, “I belong to Christ! His victory is mine!” There's no fighting, no struggle, no battling against the Devil. No spiritual drama. Just lay claim to the victory Christ won for you on the Cross. What sense does it make to fight a war you've already won? 

 

Jesus shows us what this victory looks like. But first, notice what's missing from our gospel account of Jesus and the Devil in the desert. No flaming swords. No battling angels or celestial beasts. No rumbling thunder or cracks of lightening. No raging hordes of demons crashing against a shiny host of saints. There's no point in the scene where Jesus is barely hanging on to his life and is rescued in a last ditch, desperate push by the Good Guys. The Devil doesn't fall into a puddle of bubbling muck while shouting curses and promises of revenge. In fact, there's very little drama here. The Devil makes an offer, and Jesus refuses by quoting Scripture. This would be one of those scenes in an action movie you'd fast-forward through b/c “nothing happens.” Why then do we make spiritual combat into some sort of High Drama Event right out of the Lord of the Rings? Why do we re-fight battles we have already won? Could it be that we don't really believe that we have our victory in Christ? Could it be b/c we have bought into the fable that we are fighting the Good Fight. . .and that fight isn't yet over?

Here's a radical suggestion for you to consider: the idea that we can “fight temptation” is itself a temptation used by the Devil to keep us from claiming our victory against him. Think about it. . .if believe that the battle against sin and death isn't over, then we aren't likely to claim victory. We'll continue to fight. If we fight there's always the possibility that we will lose. . .by our own choice. We'll choose sin. And the Devil wins that battle. But if we start by reminding the Devil and ourselves that the war against sin and death is over, then there is no battle to fight. If all of this is true, then why do we bother with prayer, fasting, and alms-giving? These are not weapons against the Devil. These are weapons against our own tendencies to forget that we belong to Christ. When we pray, we are reminded that our strength comes from God. When we fast, we are reminded that we are both dust and heirs. And when we give alms, we are reminded that everything we are and have was first given to us by God. We belong to Christ. Lay claim to your inheritance and march into this Lenten season ready to do battle. . .to do battle not with the Devil – he lost already – but to do battle with your forgetfulness. Remember: you are dust. But you are also a Child of the Most High!

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