20190310
CALL
ON THE NAME OF THE LORD
10 MARCH, 2019,
Sunday, 1st Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
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First reading
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Deuteronomy 26:4-10 ©
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The creed of the Chosen People
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Moses said to the people: ‘The priest
shall take the pannier from your hand and lay it before the altar of the Lord
your God. Then, in the sight of the Lord your God, you must make this
pronouncement:
‘“My
father was a wandering Aramaean. He went down into Egypt to find refuge there,
few in numbers; but there he became a nation, great, mighty, and strong. The
Egyptians ill-treated us, they gave us no peace and inflicted harsh slavery on
us. But we called on the Lord, the God of our fathers. The Lord heard our voice
and saw our misery, our toil and our oppression; and the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with mighty hand and outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs
and wonders. He brought us here and gave us this land, a land where milk and
honey flow. Here then I bring the first-fruits of the produce of the soil that
you, the Lord, have given me.”
‘You
must then lay them before the Lord your God, and bow down in the sight of the
Lord your God.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 90(91):1-2,10-15 ©
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Be with me, O Lord, in
my distress.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most
High
and abides in the shade of the
Almighty
says to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom
I trust!’
Be with me, O Lord, in
my distress.
Upon you no evil shall fall,
no plague approach where you
dwell.
For you has he commanded his angels,
to keep you in all your ways.
Be with me, O Lord, in
my distress.
They shall bear you upon their hands
lest you strike your foot
against a stone.
On the lion and the viper you will tread
and trample the young lion and
the dragon.
Be with me, O Lord, in
my distress.
His love he set on me, so I will rescue
him;
protect him for he knows my
name.
When he calls I shall answer: ‘I am with
you,’
I will save him in distress
and give him glory.
Be with me, O Lord, in
my distress.
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Second reading
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Romans 10:8-13 ©
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The creed of the Christian
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Scripture says: The word (that
is the faith we proclaim) is very near to you, it is on your lips and
in your heart. If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be
saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with
your lips you are saved. When scripture says: those who believe in him
will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and
Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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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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Luke 4:1-13 ©
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The temptation in the wilderness
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Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left
the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted
there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the
end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell
this stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does
not live on bread alone.’
Then
leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the
kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the
glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to
anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus
answered him, ‘Scripture says:
You must worship the Lord your God,
and serve him alone.’
Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him
stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said to him
‘throw yourself down from here, for scripture says:
He will put his angels in charge of you
to guard you,
and again:
They will hold you up on their hands
in case you hurt your foot against a
stone.’
But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said:
You must not put the Lord your God to the
test.’
Having exhausted all these ways of
tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.
CALL ON THE NAME
OF THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Dt 26:4-10; Ps 91:1-2,10-15; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13]
Many of us are wandering
in life, not knowing our identity or our purpose. We do not know who we really are.
What we are living for. What is the ultimate purpose of life? Is it
just to work, eat, play and sleep? After that, as William Shakespeare in
his play ‘Macbeth’ said, “And then is heard no more.” Why do we work so hard,
make so much money and then have to leave everything behind? Why do we
use so much energy to build something for someone to undo what we have done
when we finish our work? Indeed, we have no roots and no
foundation in life. We do not belong to anyone. This was the case
of the fathers of Israel. “My father was a wandering Aramaean. He went
down into Egypt to find refuge there, few in numbers.” They, too, were
wandering nomads, not having any home that they could call their own.
They, too, were a motley crowd of people living in Egypt without a sense of
identity. This was who they were.
Indeed, this too was the
fundamental challenge that Jesus faced when He began His ministry. The devil confronted Him with the
question of identity. Twice the devil began his temptations by saying,
“‘If you are the Son of God …” The devil knew that if he could cause
Jesus to lose His identity, He would not be able to carry out His ministry or
live His life purposefully. The reality is that our identity is tied down
to our mission because doing flows from being. Without a clear
conviction of our identity, life has no purpose or orientation. This is
the same snare that the Devil is using to destroy the world by confusing us
about our identity as the children of God, our sexual identity, the meaning of
marriage and family. But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said: You must
not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Secondly, like the sons
of Israel, we too live in slavery. They were slaves in Egypt. “The
Egyptians ill-treated us, they gave us no peace and inflicted harsh slavery on
us.” They were made to work hard for their masters. They were
ill-treated and forced to work without basic resources. Like them, we too
live under the yoke of slavery because we are the slaves of power, money, fame
and pleasure. We are addicted to sex, envy, and gluttony. We are not
in control of our passions and our indulgence. We lack discipline and
self-control in all areas of life. We allow others to determine and
control our happiness, surrendering our freedom to public opinion and
popularity. Again, this was the same trap that the Devil sought to have
Jesus under his control. He “showed him in a moment of time all the
kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the
glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone
I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.'” But Jesus
replied, “Scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him
alone.”
Thirdly, we all live in
anxiety of the future and the fear of death. We live in danger, like the
Israelites who were wandering in the desert. From hunger and thirst, from cold and
heat, from storms and wild animals, and from their enemies, they had to journey
in the desert for forty years. We too face dangers every day. We
are worried about our future and that of our children. We worry about
their studies, our jobs, our finances and our health, our elderly.
Indeed, our minds are full of worries about tomorrow, as if we do not have
enough problems of our own today. We struggle with painful relationships,
betrayals, injustices and failures. The devil comes to tempt us in
such moments to lose faith in God and to crave for more wealth, power and
status to secure ourselves. He tempted Jesus on this very basic level of
human needs when He asked Him to change stones into bread, apparently a just
thing to do. But Jesus would not use His powers to satisfy His needs
except for the service of others. He made it clear to the Devil,
“Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone.”
What was the secret of
the Israelites, of our Lord and of St Paul in their struggle against dangers,
trials, temptation and sin? They
called on the name of the Lord. In the first reading, we read how
they “called on the Lord, the God of our fathers. The Lord heard our voice and saw
our misery, our toil and our oppression; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt
with mighty hand and outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs and
wonders.” So, too, St Paul echoed the same sentiments. “Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And the Lord Jesus at
His death on the cross too cried out, “Father, into your hands I commend my
spirit.” (Lk 23:46)
If we have faith in Him,
God will hear us regardless of who we are. St Paul says, “When scripture says: those who
believe in him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between
Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask
for his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved.” The psalmist assures us, “His love he set on me, so I will rescue
him; protect him for he knows my name.”
But it is more than
crying out to the Lord and calling upon His name. We must do it with
faith and total surrender.
This is why St Paul wrote, “If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be
saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with
your lips you are saved.” We are called to believe not with our head but
with our heart. It is the inner conviction that Jesus is Lord that will
save us from our enemies, all fears and all forms of slavery. Without
this conviction we will not be able to overcome our foes and especially the
temptation of the Evil One. Only because of Jesus’ confidence in the
Father’s love, divine providence and power, could He renounce the temptations
of the Evil One and not follow Satan’s ways. Intellectual faith
alone cannot get us far.
If we have faith in
Christ, we would confess our faith in Him by our words and actions. We must celebrate our faith
in worship, thanksgiving and sacrifice. This was what the Israelites
did every year when they recited the credo. “The priest shall take the
pannier from your hand and lay it before the altar of the Lord your God. Then,
in the sight of the Lord your God, you must make this pronouncement …” This
means to render Him glory and worship. “Here then I bring the
first-fruits of the produce of the soil that you, Lord, have given me. You must
then lay them before the Lord your God, and bow down in the sight of the Lord
your God.” Unfortunately, many of us claim that Jesus is our Lord, but
sell Him out for power, wealth, pleasures and fame. We are
counter-witnesses to our faith by our conduct.
If we want to strengthen
our faith, we must proclaim and share Him with others. By sharing our faith with others, we
strengthen our own faith. The only way to evangelize ourselves is to
evangelize others. Hence, St Paul reiterates the same thing, “By
believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips
you are saved.” If you want to grow in your faith, you must share your
knowledge of your faith and your experience of Christ with others. That
is why every Catholic must belong to a faith-sharing group, and meet regularly
to share the Word of God and pray with and for each other.
Like Peter, we know our
faith is weak. Like him, we too need to grow in faith. How can we if not to live on the
bread of life, the Word of God and the Eucharist? St Paul says, “The
word, that is the faith we proclaim, is very near to you, it is on your lips
and in your heart.” So let us continue this journey by
strengthening our faith through contemplation on the Word of God deeply.
Without the Word of God, we will not be able to resist the temptations of the
Evil One. St Paul says, “Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:17) During this season of Lent, we
must put aside at least half an hour or better still, an hour to pray the
scriptures, if possible before the Blessed Sacrament. If we commit
ourselves to an hour of prayer daily during the season of Lent, we will be
ready to share Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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