Homily for the Week of February 26, 2012

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT, 2012
First Reading: Genesis 9:8–15
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 25:4–5, 6–7, 8–9
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:18–22
Gospel: Mark 1:12–15

A journalist, writing about his experience in Cairo during the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, found it particularly interesting that the protest was not political. For the people in the streets, the protest was not about a form of government, a particular ruling party, or a religion. Citizen after citizen told the journalist that what they wanted was justice from their government, something that was absent from their lives. The one thing that seemed to unite the protests in Egypt was the deep sense that something is wrong in and with society.

Lent is a time to explore our own inner sense. Lent, in a sense reminds us of our Baptism when we got something truly better than what we know now. The Gospel of Mark from which I just read was most likely written in Rome shortly before the year 70. Jerusalem was occuppied by Rome at that time. Like in Egypt Jewish people had started a rebellion against their Roman occuppiers. They destroyed the temple which was the center of Jewish religious life. The historian Josephus claimed that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege.

Our first reading is from Genesis. It tells us that a flood destroyed the world and how Noah saved the human race. Many Eastern cultures had similar stories about floods that destroyed their land. The point of the story was not to recount an event in human history, but to make sense out of what did for them. This destruction spoke of a change and a new beginning. God was not pleased with how human beings had developed and thus decided to transform it. He began with one man, Noah, and his family, then destroyed everything not on the ark. God's plan and hope was that this one faithful family would be able to transform creation into what He had intended at the beginning.

God was so hopeful that He made an agreement between himself and Noah and Noah's descendants -- an agreement that would last forever. God vowed never again to destroy the earth by water. Noah sent a dove which came back with an olive branch. This meant that the flood had stopped and plants were now growing.

It is interesting to notice that God destroyed just about everything that had been made in order to bring the world back to what He intended it to be. The flood waters are described as being the same waters that covered the earth at creation, these waters being a metaphor for chaos. God’s promise was amazing. The story of Noah communicates to us that it is God’s nature to save, not destroy.

Those preparing to enter the Catholic Church as adults go through a process of instruction and change. For most, the process of preparing for acceptance into the Church through baptism is definitely a life-changing experience and, in spiritual language, a ''transforming experience.'' They not only learn about what it means to believe, but more importantly how believing changes them.

During Lent each of us is called to remember our own journey through the waters of Baptism. When we were baptized our parents and godparents entered into an agreement with God for us. At each weekend Mass we are invited to again renew that proffession of faith.

You see, Lent is not so much about doing something extra for God, as it is about letting God do something extra for us. It is a time for turning to God for the help we need in dealing with the temptations we have to deal with every day.

Lent is the season of becoming and of removing the restrictive boundaries that seriously limit our growth, the fullness of life, and the depth of our souls. On this desert Sunday, begin purging your pet limitations as well as those self-established boundaries you have placed on your prayer, patience, forgiveness, generosity and care of the poor. Whenever you throw a rope to Jesus for spiritual help be sure that you hold on tight to the rope with at least one hand. We sometimes call this process of our faith as renewal.

A recent television series about gardening for beginners attracted a record number of viewers. Gardening experts went into the gardens of a handful of people and advised them about ways of improving their little bit of land. One new gardener wanted to know what he could do with a particularly unsightly area. The garden expert told him that it was wilderness. Nothing will grow there unless the soil is improved. The process of improving the soil involved several hours of back breaking digging and then carrying loads of new top soil and mixing it with the original.

A few months later, the cameras and the gardening expert returned to see a beautiful garden. Looking at the spectacular display of plants, the gardening expert asked if all the effort had been worth it. “Yes,” came the quick reply. “It was a great feeling, getting rid of the bad soil -- and just look at the result.”

Lent's a bit like that -- getting rid of the bad soil in our lives, recreating ourselves, starting again. As Catholics and Christians we are often reminded that we don't take care of our spiritual soil just during Lent, but,as in all things, there is a best time for doing things. During Lent we have a chance to examine what is out of order in our own lives so that we can do something about it.