<\/p>\n
Lent is all about conversion, and conversion is a continual process.\u00a0 It never ends, because God is always calling us to a more intimate relationship with Him.\u00a0 And that means we have got to change.\u00a0 As I listen to these scriptures,\u00a0 I see a blueprint in them for the process of conversion.<\/p>\n
The first step in our conversion is a change in our attitude- a conversion of the heart.\u00a0 In the prime of our lives, we are focused on the things of this world- our careers, our spouses and families, our talents and our pleasures.\u00a0 These things take up most of our time.\u00a0 And when problems occur, whether they be financial, medical, relationships, or whatever, they really fill up our time and attention, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 During Lent, we are called upon to try to put all that aside, and reflect on the real meaning of Life and what God\u2019s path through all the difficulties is.<\/p>\n
In Paul\u2019s reading, the emphasis is on professing faith on our lips, and then really believing in our hearts- faith first of all, that there is a God, that He sent Jesus to redeem us, and that the death and resurrection of Jesus are our means to salvation and everlasting life.\u00a0 And this faith leads to knowledge that there is a higher purpose in life than life in this world.\u00a0 That purpose is union with God and everlasting life in the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 The path to that salvation involves a more intimate relationship with God- one in which he leads us, we don\u2019t lead ourselves.\u00a0 That is something that we need to be so convinced of that we believe it deep down in our hearts.\u00a0 Paul is reminding us that Jesus has promised everlasting life for those who do have faith and do believe in their hearts.<\/p>\n
Then, there is the reminder in the Old Testament about how God saved his chosen people and how these people felt an abiding sense of thanksgiving for that.\u00a0 And in thanksgiving, they offered their best to the Lord- the first fruits of their labor.\u00a0 So, we need to do the same-\u00a0 We need to be so thankful that God saved us through Jesus His son that we will offer the first fruits of our labor as well.<\/p>\n
What would that be?\u00a0 Certainly not our animals or our harvest, because those are not the first fruits of our labor.\u00a0 Rather, the first fruits of our labor are our talents and our time and our treasure.\u00a0 In other words, our lives cannot be totally focused on ourselves.<\/p>\n
Notice that the Gospel starts off with the phrase that Jesus was:\u00a0 \u201cFilled with the Holy Spirit\u201d.\u00a0 The good news is that each of us was instilled with the Holy Spirit by virtue of our Baptism and Confirmation.\u00a0 And so, we just need to awaken that Spirit within us.\u00a0 Lent is a way we do that- by reflecting on what it is that the Spirit of God is prompting us to do.\u00a0 And it doesn\u2019t have to be a sweeping change in our lives either.\u00a0 It is just a matter of letting the Spirit take over so that God can carry our burdens, whatever they are, by having the spirit move us in God\u2019s direction, not our own.\u00a0 So, if your burden is a loved one who is ill; or an older relative; or children or a career- whatever, now is a good time to reflect on what God has in mind for you.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jesus did when he went into the desert- he went there to reflect on how the Father wanted him to proceed with his life.\u00a0 Filled with the Spirit, he was ready to reflect on how to do that.<\/p>\n
But what happened to him is precisely what will happen to you and me when we try to reflect on our lives.\u00a0 Jesus was accosted by the temptations of the devil.\u00a0 We hear about three of them.\u00a0 First, there is the temptation to turn the stone into bread.\u00a0 Ah, yes.\u00a0 We would like God to give us exactly what we want when we want it.\u00a0 We are constantly looking for the \u201cbread\u201d to fill our hunger, whatever it is.\u00a0 But we don\u2019t live by bread alone, and so whatever it is that we want explicitly may not be the answer to our prayer.\u00a0 And perhaps, the solution you are hoping for is not the real solution to your problem.\u00a0 So, we need first of all to trust that God will give us what we really need when we want it.<\/p>\n
The second temptation is power and fame.\u00a0 One thing that we constantly seek in our prayers, if you really think about it, is power; only the power we seek is control. \u00a0We want to be in control.\u00a0 And the reality of life is that we are never really in control.\u00a0 God is in control, and this is the message that Jesus sends back to the devil when he says:\u00a0 \u201cWorship the Lord your God alone\u201d.<\/p>\n
Lastly, we can sometimes just give up on a situation.\u00a0 Like when we stuff a problem into the back of our consciousness, and don\u2019t try to deal with it at all.\u00a0 And yet life goes on; the problem doesn\u2019t go away.\u00a0 That\u2019s like throwing ourselves down off a mountain top, just hoping that we will be somehow saved.\u00a0 You see, no matter how much we \u201ctrust\u201d in the Lord, we still have an obligation to be involved.\u00a0 Otherwise, we are putting the Lord to a test.<\/p>\n
Each year when Lent arrives, we usually give something up.\u00a0 Rather than giving up ice cream or beer or candy or even TV this year, try giving up a little of your time.\u00a0 Go into a desert- a quiet secluded place- and take the time, the time to embrace the Lenten Call to prayer and Conversion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First Sunday of Lent Dt 26: 4-10; Rom 10: 8-13; Luke 4: 1-13 Dc. Larry Brockman Lent is all about conversion, and conversion is a continual process.\u00a0 It never ends, because God is always calling us to a more intimate relationship with Him.\u00a0 And that means we have got to change.\u00a0 As I listen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[155],"tags":[68,184,185],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}