Homily For First Sunday of Lent Year C, 6th March, 2022

Homily For First Sunday of Lent Year C, 6th March, 2022

Readings: Deut. 26:4-10; Ps.91; Rom. 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

                                                                                                   

OVERCOMING OUR DAILY STRUGGLES AGAINST SINS AND TEMPTATIONS

Today is the first Sunday in this Holy Season of Lent. Lenten season as we know is a period of forty days set aside by the Church for the renewal and rediscovery of oneself in our daily struggle against sin and temptations which darkens our spiritual life. So Lenten season is another opportunity for us to reconnect to God, to be reconciled with Him and to find our place once again in God’s loving grace. It is a time for us to turn away from excessive desires for worldly things so as to overcome many temptations we encounter in this world and so focus our attention more closely on God. 

Hence the Church is offering us the opportunity during this Holy season to reflect on who we are, our mission and our purpose in this world. The Holy season of Lent is a moment of deep reflection, a season that prepares us for that great event of Easter. It is a season when listening to God’s words leads us to develop some inner attitude that helps us becoming more aware of our Christian obligations and dignity. It is a period when the Church invites us to embark on  a journey of repentance and penance that will lead us to reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration. 

This Lenten journey is marked in a special way by three traditional dimensions that is: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three traditional dimensions were demonstrated by Jesus in our Gospel passage today. Where Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit, was led to pray and fast for forty days in the wilderness and there he was tempted by the devil, just the way Adam and Eve where tempted by the devil, who has planted the seeds of pride and greed in the hearts of humanity.

We can recall that in the beginning of time, God created everything good and perfect, and He made the first man, Adam and his companion, Eve, to live in the wonderful Garden of Eden. This means that mankind, all of us were actually meant to live with God in the fullness of God’s grace and love, to enjoy the wonders of God’s providence and blessings forever. However, we fell into sin as we were unable to resist the temptations to sin because of pride and greed and so separate ourselves from God’s presence.

But time and time again God has always extend his hands of mercies towards humanity, he always wants to bring us back to himself just as we heard in our first reading today, where the Lord intervened in the ugly situation of his chosen people. For when the Egyptians ill-treated the people of Israel and inflicted harsh slavery on them. Then they called on the Lord, the God of their fathers. The Lord heard their voice and saw their misery, their toil and oppression. So he intervened and brought them out of Egypt with mighty hand and outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders. God saved them and gave them a land where milk and honey flow.

Referring to this great event, St. Paul in our second reading says:  If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

So Jesus, who has come to redirect the hearts of humanity back to God, where tempted today by Satan. However, he stood firm and conquered Satan and all his tricks and empty show. Thereby reminding us about the promise we often make during our baptism. When we promised to reject sin and Satan with all his empty promises and show, while embracing God and his son Jesus who has come to save us from sin and death. Therefore, we are called to imitate Jesus in prayer. For through prayer we make room for God in our lives and express our desire to enter into a deep friendship with the Lord. Hence, it is important for us to spend more time with God just like Jesus, bearing in mind that we cannot live by bread alone, we need the spiritual food of God's Word. Thus, we are called to withdraw from the world in order to encounter God and truly profess our faith in him.  

Dear friends, God is calling us in this Holy season of Lent, to come back to him. The world has taken us far away from him; it's time to come back. Sin has separated us from God; it's time to come back and reconcile with him. Greediness, slot, unforgiveness, love of power and money, over ambition, unhealthy friendship have separated us from God; it’s time to come back to him. It is time to say am sorry Lord, am sorry for having deviated from you, and now is time to come back. It’s time to let go of hurtful feelings, it’s time to let go of malice and the bitterness in our hearts. It’s time to say yes! yes! to God and no! no! to all the distracting things of this passing world. It’s time to love, is time to share, is time to bear with one another's failings. It’s time to forgive those who have offended us and ask for forgiveness from those we have offended.

What is stopping us from embracing this opportunity? Is it fear of the future? Or fear of failure or death? Or Fear of what people will say, is it fear of losing our position and wealth.  Fear not child of God, for the Psalmist tells us that He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High  and abides in the shade of the Almighty says to the Lord: ‘My refuge,  my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’ Thus, God is calling us to come back to him and remain firm in him in order to overcome our daily struggles against sins and temptations. For he is offering us a new life. He is offering us the opportunity to gain our life back and obtain the grace to overcome sin and temptations. For he wants to create a pure heart in us and put a steadfast spirit within us. Therefore, do not let this Holy season of Lent pass you bye. Don't miss this golden opportunity. I will not miss it, but I don’t know about you?

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we come back to you and embrace the events of this Holy season, may you give us the right disposition and fill our hearts with joy, peace and love. For those who find it difficult to live the Christian life, may they learn to draw strength and grace from Jesus so to resist the devil and all of his empty shows. Amen. Happy Sunday, wishing you a fruitful Lenten season.