Pastor’s Letter: February 26, 2023

Pastor’s Letter: February 26, 2023

24 Feb 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

The February 26 bulletin is available online.

Dear friend,

Lent often brings to mind sin and forgiveness. The readings this weekend start with the Fall of Adam and Eve. God put a limit on Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve enjoyed a united relationship to God, free from knowledge of evil. The temptation from the Evil One was to be like God, to know what God knows, to embrace the pride to be like a god. This temptation mirrors the Church’s belief on the Fall of Satan. Lucifer, the greatest of God’s angels, wanted more. He wanted to be just like God and not be a servant of God. All temptation is rooted in a desire to misuse a good. All God creates is good. A sin is a misuse of a good. With Adam and Eve’s knowledge of Evil, they experience the effects of sin: shame and blame. They both hid themselves in shame and blamed each other and the Evil One for the Fall. As St. Paul says, we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. The Original Sin brought sin and spiritual death into the created world. In Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he invites us to understand that the sin of Adam brought spiritual death to all just as the Death of Jesus brought life to all who accept it.

The Gospel story this weekend tells the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. After His Baptism, when the voice of the Father is heard identifying Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus enters the desert to pray. His forty days in the desert is a time of preparation for His ministry. Jesus spent the time praying and fasting in order to have a proper perspective on His ministry ordered toward the Father. To many of us, it seems when we try to get closer to God, the things of this world seem more alluring. This is what Jesus faced during His time in the desert. He was tempted to turn stones to bread, to cast himself off a high place, and to obtain the power of the world by worshiping the Enemy. Each of these temptations were about denying himself, denying His true relationship to the Father, or to misuse His power and freedom. These are the same temptations we all face when we intensify our efforts to grow closer to God. We are often tempted to misuse our gifts, to deny what our gifts are, or to test our relationship with God or others for selfish gain. The invitation of Lent to pray, fast, and give alms are invitations to do something more for God and others. When we make the attempt to change or grow aspects of our lives, road blocks may come. The response Jesus gives to His temptation in the desert is to focus our attention on the Father, make sure our words and actions lead us closer to the Father, and to dismiss anything that would challenge us to keep God as the most important part of our lives. May Lent allow us the opportunity to refocus our intentions on God so that our lives are evidence of our Christian faith.

God bless,

Father David