Motjari Meeting on Feb 26th, 2023, Fr. Foeckler’s Lecture Note

[Michaela]

Feb 26, 2023 1st Sunday of Lent

 

The main reason we celebrate Lent is the spiritual journey. The church unites herself each year to the spiritual journey into the dessert with Jesus.

 

Every 1st Sunday of Lent, we read the Gospel of temptation.

The time if right after Jesus had been baptized, about to start His public life. Where Adam and Eve fell, Christ triumphs over the power of Satan. The Gospel of temptation heralds Jesus’ victory in advance.

 

Gospel

Mt 4:1-11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert

to be tempted by the devil.

He fasted for forty days and forty nights,

and afterwards he was hungry.

The tempter approached and said to him,

“If you are the Son of God,

command that these stones become loaves of bread.”

He said in reply,

“It is written:

One does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes forth

from the mouth of God.”

 

Then the devil took him to the holy city,

and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,

and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.

For it is written:

He will command his angels concerning you

and with their hands they will support you,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

Jesus answered him,

“Again it is written,

You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,

and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,

and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you,

if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”

At this, Jesus said to him,

“Get away, Satan!

It is written:

The Lord, your God, shall you worship

and him alone shall you serve.”

 

Then the devil left him and, behold,

angels came and ministered to him.

 

Lent is spiritual journey for us. This custom of spending 40 days in penance went way back to the time of disciples. The idea of 40 days came from Jesus himself. We are just imitating 40 days and 40 nights of harsh journey Jesus endured. He has read by the spirit, which means it is not his own will, but His Father’s will. Whenever Jesus has something important in his life, he started it with lots of prayer, to follow God’s will. He came to us to teach us the kingdom of God and establish it.

It is also told that Jesus went to the dessert to be tempted. It is a battle to set between Jesus and the devil. The battle ultimately ended with Jesus’ victory on the Calvary. Today’s Gospel for the beginning of Lent, the Church proclaims that this victory should be ours, too. Jesus’ temptation, struggle, victory. His will be our victory at Easter.

 

The devil’s weapon is temptation. He uses this weapon to make us disobey God, and putting ourselves away from God. We strive to be faithful to Jesus. Those who are justified, are the obedient. We want to be in the kingdom of God.

 

According to 1 John 2:16, there are three temptations.

The 1st temptation: Lust of the flesh. Gluttony. Jesus was hungry, Satan tried to make him satisfying his bodily needs and pleasure.

 

The 2nd temptation: Lust of the eyes. The Devil took Jesus up to a very high mountain. The desire of possess things that we would not/could not possess. Envy.

 

The 3rd temptation: The Pride of Life. Primordial temptation.  Devil took Him to the top of a temple, told Him to fall down. Pride, make ourselves look more important, make a spectacular seen in Jerusalem. The main character of Jesus is humility. He is obedient. “I’m not come to do my will, but the will of Jesus.” St. Paul said the most marvelous thing of Jesus is not his suffering, but his obedience to go on a cross.

Here’s our ancestor who failed at temptation right away from the beginning, Adam and Eve.

Reading 1

Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7

The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground

and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,

and so man became a living being.

 

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,

and placed there the man whom he had formed.

Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow

that were delightful to look at and good for food,

with the tree of life in the middle of the garden

and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals

that the LORD God had made.

The serpent asked the woman,

“Did God really tell you not to eat

from any of the trees in the garden?”

The woman answered the serpent:

“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;

it is only about the fruit of the tree

in the middle of the garden that God said,

‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'”

But the serpent said to the woman:

“You certainly will not die!

No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it

your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods

who know what is good and what is evil.”

The woman saw that the tree was good for food,

pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.

So she took some of its fruit and ate it;

and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,

and he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened,

and they realized that they were naked;

so they sewed fig leaves together

and made loincloths for themselves.

 

 

 

They separated themselves from God. The 1 gift that they would be immortal had lost. The original sin is that we received the human nature, but without the gift of being immortal. Also the reason and feeling are not in harmony anymore. All these temptation repeat itself with Jesus, but He didn’t  not follow them. He is restoring mankind with the original gift. This is the battle Jesus has to fight.

 

Ash Wednesday, Gospel from St. Matthew.

 

Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Take care not to perform righteous deeds

in order that people may see them;

otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

When you give alms,

do not blow a trumpet before you,

as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets

to win the praise of others.

Amen, I say to you,

they have received their reward.

But when you give alms,

do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,

so that your almsgiving may be secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

 

“When you pray,

do not be like the hypocrites,

who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners

so that others may see them.

Amen, I say to you,

they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go to your inner room,

close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

 

“When you fast,

do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.

They neglect their appearance,

so that they may appear to others to be fasting.

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you fast,

anoint your head and wash your face,

so that you may not appear to be fasting,

except to your Father who is hidden.

And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

 

 

 

 

1st thing to do, is fast. Some kind of penance over pleasure. 2nd, pray. When you pray, go to a room and close the door. 3rd. Give alms. Charity begins at home.

 

The most graphic ways of Jesus to show us how much he loves us, is the dying on a crucifix. We don’t need to die like him thanks so his sacrifice. We thank Him every time we see the crucifix. He did all three things until the last moment. He even gave away his mother to his beloved disciple. He overcome the pride of devil, and conquer the devil. He will do not at his will but his Father’s will. Jesus also obeys us by doing good for us.

 

Say no to sins.

 

One commentator says, most people think that Lent is a time for give up something. It is important to know that Lent is not only a time giving up a little things, but really focusing on Jesus. To be like HIm.

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