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VICTORY OVER EVIL IN CHRIST JESUS
18 FEBRUARY, 2018, Sunday, 1st Week of Lent
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Genesis 9:8-15 ©
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'There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again'
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God spoke to Noah and his sons, ‘See, I establish my Covenant with
you, and with your descendants after you; also with every living creature to be
found with you, birds, cattle and every wild beast with you: everything that
came out of the ark, everything that lives on the earth. I establish my
Covenant with you: no thing of flesh shall be swept away again by the waters of
the flood. There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again.’
God said,
‘Here is the sign of the Covenant I make between myself and you and every
living creature with you for all generations: I set my bow in the clouds and it
shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth. When I gather the
clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the
Covenant between myself and you and every living creature of every kind. And so
the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all things of flesh.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 24(25):4-6,7b-9 ©
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Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for
those who keep your covenant.
Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.
Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for
those who keep your covenant.
Remember your mercy, Lord,
and the love you have shown from of old.
In your love remember me.
because of your goodness, O Lord.
Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for
those who keep your covenant.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.
Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for
those who keep your covenant.
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Second reading
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1 Peter 3:18-22 ©
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The water on which the Ark floated is a type of the baptism
which saves you now
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Christ himself, innocent though he was, had died once for sins,
died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the
spirit he was raised to life, and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the
spirits in prison. Now it was long ago, when Noah was still building that ark
which saved only a small group of eight people ‘by water’, and when God was
still waiting patiently, that these spirits refused to believe. That water is a
type of the baptism which saves you now, and which is not the washing off of
physical dirt but a pledge made to God from a good conscience, through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has entered heaven and is at God’s right
hand, now that he has made the angels and Dominations and Powers his subjects.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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Mark 1:12-15 ©
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Jesus was tempted by Satan, and the angels looked after him
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The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained
there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts,
and the angels looked after him.
After John
had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News
from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand.
Repent, and believe the Good News.’
VICTORY OVER EVIL IN CHRIST JESUS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Genesis 9:8-15; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15
]
Overcoming
temptation is always a struggle for us all. It is not that we are wicked
people by nature. Rather, we are all self-preservative. We do what
we can to protect our interests. We are afraid of death, suffering and
rejection. That is why we grab, we hoard, we steal and we kill. If
not for the fear of suffering, death and rejection, we can be very generous and
caring people. Many who have sufficient in life and feel that they have
more than enough would sacrifice their lives to do good, to help the poor and
the Church. As it is said, charity begins at home, but it does not end
there.
Still, there
are many other temptations that we cannot resist, not just money and wealth. We cannot resist the
sin of lust and the things of the flesh, food and beauty, because we are human
beings with a spirit and a body. So we give in to the sin of flesh easily
because our body desires sensual and physical pleasure. We are desperate
for acceptance and recognition and so the sin of vanity and pride make us do
things to gain praise. Our ego will not let us rest, but make us fight to
be seen as right and great.
The truth is
that such temptations continue to remain with us even after baptism because whilst our
sins are washed away and forgiven at baptism, the effects of original sin,
namely concupiscence, stays with us. This refers to the weakness of our
disoriented will. Although we are not depraved, our human nature is
weakened and therefore the resistance to temptation is much weaker in us human
beings. Indeed, we read that immediately after the Covenant was made with
Noah, upon leaving the Ark, Noah and his sons planted the vineyard. Noah
“drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his
tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and
told his two brothers outside.” (Gn 9:21f)
Instead of behaving himself, Noah showed a bad example to his sons.
Overcoming
temptation due to human weakness is made even more complex because the Devil,
who is the Tempter, seeks to destroy us by manipulating our human weakness. Knowing how weak we
are to the flesh and the world, he tempts us with lust, food, glory and
power. Right from the outset of Jesus’ ministry, the devil sought to make
Jesus fall through the threefold temptation of identity, pleasure and
power. We read in the gospel that “the Spirit drove Jesus out into the
wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by
Satan.” We also read that “He was with the wild beasts.” What
are these wild beasts if not the devil who sought to tempt Him? But for
us, the wild beasts also refer to the brute nature in us seeking for pleasure,
glory and power.
In the face
of our temptations, the Lord promised to deliver us from our sins and win
victory over the Evil One. This is the covenant that God made with Noah. “I establish
my Covenant with you: no thing of flesh shall be swept away again by the waters
of the flood. There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again.” In
other words, God does not seek to destroy us but to redeem us. With the
coming of Jesus, we are told that upon His death, “in the spirit he was raised
to life, and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison.”
This could mean that Jesus, upon His death, went to save those that came before
Christ and were waiting in Sheol. It could also mean, as some scholars
suggest, that Jesus went down to hell to proclaim to the devils that He was
victorious and hence, everything was under His dominion. St Peter said,
He “has entered heaven and is at God’s right hand, now that he has made the
angels and Dominations and Powers his subjects.”
How can we do
it? In Christ, we can overcome all evil. Jesus showed us the Way,
walked the Way and taught us the way. How did He do it? Firstly,
He, as the Son of God, assumed our humanity. He was truly a man in every
way except sin. “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with
our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
without sinning.” (Heb 4:15) Indeed, Jesus, more than anyone else, can feel
with us. He knows what it is to be tempted as a man. “For because
he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are
tempted.” (Heb 2:18) He can surely sympathize with us in our weakness
more than our fellowmen who are judgmental.
Secondly, not
only is He able to feel with us in our weakness in the face of temptations, He
shows us the way. The psalmist says, “The Lord is good and upright. He shows the
path to those who stray, He guides the humble in the right path, He teaches his
way to the poor.” How does He show us the way? First, by living out
His sonship in obedience to His Father. “Although he was a Son, he
learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became
the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Heb 5:8f)
He walked the way of truth and of love.
He shows us
the way by helping us to use the Word of God to protect ourselves. “All scripture is inspired
by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16f)
To the Devil who tempted Him to change stones to bread, He cited from the
scriptures, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” To the temptation to
worship Satan, Jesus cited the scriptures, “You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.” And when asked to test the fidelity of His
Father, He said that it is written, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
Thirdly, to
conquer sin and temptation, Jesus invites us to die to ourselves. St Peter wrote,
“Christ himself, innocent though he was, died once for sins, died for the
guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he
was raised to life.” Dying to self is the only way in which we can rise
to new life. This is what baptism is all about. It is more than
just a washing of the physical dirt, as St Peter said, “but a pledge made to
God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” St
Paul in his letter to the Romans said, “Do you not know that all of us who have
been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried
therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom 6:3-4;
cf Rom 6:6-8)
Fourthly, we
are called to overcome the fear of death, which is the cause of all
sins. All sins spring from the fear of death. “The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.” Hence, all sins lead to death.
“But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed?
The end of those things is death. For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:21, 23)
By His death, He destroyed death forever because He died so that He
could rise from the dead to show us that death need not be feared, for it is
not the last word, but eternal life with God. “Since therefore the
children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same
nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death,
that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were
subject to lifelong bondage.” (Heb 2:14f)
Finally, to
overcome the fear of death and punishment because of our inclination to sin, we
must cling to Jesus’ unconditional love and mercy for us. This is what the Good News
is. When Jesus said, “The time has come and the kingdom of God is close
at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News”, He was saying that the forgiveness
of God is here. We have already been forgiven and we are all reconciled
with the Father even before we make amends for our sins. We are loved
always by the Father no matter what we do. (cf Rom 7:24f)
Realizing His
love for us, we respond in love, not out of fear. We must stop sinning,
not because of the fear of punishment that comes from breaking the laws, but
because it is a betrayal of love. The psalmist says, “Remember your
mercy, Lord, and the love you have shown from of old. In your love remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord.” St Paul precisely responded in that
manner. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the
grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no
purpose.” (Gal 2:20) St Peter also exhorted the newly baptized,
“Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election,
for if you do this you will never fall.” (2 Pt 1:10)
The First Sunday
of Lent is to lead us through the whole journey of Lent to repent and reclaim
our sonship and daughtership in Christ. It calls for a renewal of our baptismal
promises, foreshadowed in the story of Noah’s Ark and given to us at our
baptism as St Peter wrote. We must now live out the Covenant that has
been given to us in Christ, as sons and daughters of God by staying away from
sin and living the New life in Christ Jesus.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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