Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! At this very moment, we are in the Twin Cities on a spiritual pilgrimage! Lent is a pilgrimage, a journey into the desert and although we are in on the tundra here in Minnesota, we are growing closer to Jesus! We’re seeing a new and dynamic part of the Church at St. Agnes Parish, St. John Vianney Seminary, the NET Ministry Center, and the splendor of St. Paul’s Cathedral! Thank you for your prayers and support. We’ll be back tonight [tomorrow night] with a new found vigor and zeal for our Catholic Church! St. Paul knew the importance of revitalizing his faith. In today’s second reading he states, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.” Peter and his companions had, “been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw the glory,” of Jesus. This Lent, allow God to awaken our faith and to see the splendor and glory of Christ in our lives! We are all on spiritual pilgrimages! Be sure to consider our trip to Mount Mary College on March 24th for a REVIVAL! TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) is coming up at the end of this month! If you’re a junior or senior in high school, check it out! Don’t forget stations at 6pm on Friday’s at SSPP! We have special musical guests, Steve Hamilton from Darboy and Andy Beesaw from New London. Their contemporary Christian music coupled with our “old school” St. Alphonus Liguori's devotions are a powerful way to reflect on Jesus’ passion and death! Not to mention the fish sticks and vegetables afterward! His mercy endures forever, Fr. Quinn
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Good 21 Evil 7 We Won! 1st Sunday of Lent
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! Good versus evil. We have seen it in every movie motion picture, from Star Wars to the Tolkien Trilogy. The supernatural powers waging war against one another and we are in the midst of it! It is easy to see Jesus' temptation in the desert as some otherworldly battle against the devil, but it is our battle; one we face this particular Lent in our own spiritual treks into the desert. It would be easy to say that we aren't in the battle of good versus evil. We could easily relegate it to the movies or a bible story, but the reality is--we are in the midst of the battle. Jesus gives us hope through His death and resurrection that we can defeat evil in our own lives and be rewarded the crown of eternal life. As St. Paul states in Romans, "If we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus we will be saved!" Yes! We will be saved! We must call upon the power of the Good--Jesus Christ!
In Jesus' temptation in the desert, He gives us three tangible ways to confront the forces of evil and these ways of being can be outlined in the three verbs of the three temptations of Jesus--command, worship, and throw.
The devil tells Jesus to command stone to become bread. The temptations that Jesus is confronted with is much the same as the temptations we have today. The devil wants us to believe that we can demand something out of nothing. He leads us to believe that we have the right to command others to do what we think they should do. The devil wants us to believe that we can demand out of life exactly what we want. He wants us to see something as inanimate as a stone to become as substantial as bread. However, Jesus knows better. He knows that we can not demand anything from God, from others, or from life. Rather, we are called to resign ourselves to God's will and surrender ourselves to others in service, humility, and love. We were not created to control the situation, but surrender to the situation.
Second, the devil asks Jesus to worship him. Jesus knows better. Jesus knows who he is going to worship and that is the Lord our God! The Father in heaven is the only one to whom we offer worship. Jesus will not submit to evil's incipient desire for us to worship what is not God. What do we worship? We worship consumerism, materialism, individualism. We worship time and are enslaved to it's constraints. We look at our watches, clocks, and cell phones to see where we need to be next rather than spend the time with those in front of us. We worship money, basing our decisions not on the operative of love, but the pragmatism of money. We worship comfort, seeking stability and cushion rather that pain and suffering. Jesus, however, does not submit to these evils, but declares, "We shall worship the Lord our God!"
Lastly, Jesus is tempted to throw himself over the temple walls. How often does life feel like we are tumbling down a hill. Life can often seem like an out-of-control tumble. We're rolling uncontrollably down a path of destruction. The evil is the sinister command of the devil to give up and toss ourselves over the edge. He wants us to give up and cash out. And he is making headway because teenage suicide is at an all time high. The devil wants us to dispose of ourselves and give up on God's love. But Jesus knows that we must not give up or give in. Instead, "We should noy test the Lord our God."
So you see, these temptations of evil, the assaults of the devil are not just something that happened to Jesus or movie plots of some Hollywood blockbuster, but real battles being waged in our everyday lives. How can we possibly win? St. Paul declares, "Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!" Call upon the name of Jesus! Sin, death, and destruction has no power over us! Sin has no dominion over love! We won! Jesus Christ defeated evil, yet we allow it to win these battles in our lives! If we could harness the love of Christ Jesus and fully actualize that love in our lives, evil would not stand a chance! Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and we will be saved! Jesus, we love you! Jesus we need you and call upon your holy name to caste out the powers of sin and death in our lives so that we may embrace our cross and follow you into the desert this Lent and conquer the temptations the evil one forces upon us. We cry out to you for mercy, forgiveness, and love! We are saved through you!
His Mercy Endures Forever,
Father Quinn
