“NO ONE WHO BELIEVES IN [JESUS] WILL BE PUT TO SHAME”

by Fr. JohnBosco Ezeonwumelu · March 7, 2019

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR C)

Deut 26:4-10; Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 (R.v.15b); Rom 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

It is already some days into this season of grace Lent. Today, being the first Sunday of lent, the Liturgy reminds us of the reason for the celebration and encourages us to hold firm in faith despite the challenges that might come our way in the process of expressing our faith in God.

The Gospel stands as a big warning to us If the devil was not afraid to tempt the Son of God, nobody should think that he is immune from temptation. However the truism that one with God is majority becomes even more evident when Jesus was able to demolish the pranks of devil with the word of God. Are you also familiar with the word of God? What do you normally do when it is being read and interpreted in the Church? Do you even have time to study it yourself?

There is so much power in the word of God because the word itself is God, who has come into the world to redeem it (cf. John 1:1-18). This is the good news that we celebrate in this season. The First Reading gives us reasons to believe that this is not fake news. That account formed part of the liturgy of the Jews when they gather for the thanksgiving of their first fruits (harvest). It recounts how God provided for their father Jacob (the wandering Aramean) and saved him and his household in and from Egypt. He never allowed them to be subsumed and conquered by the enemy.

That is equally the promise of Christ to us. He loves us as his friends (cf. John 15:15). And as his friends, nothing can separate us from him once we remain in him and profess our faith in him, just as St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading. If your faith is in him, then, you must totally declare your love for him on this day which the world has widely tagged Lovers Day.

If Jesus is your love, you must stay away from sin because he is the light (cf. John 8:12) and in him there is no darkness (cf. 1 John 1:5). If your faith encourages you to stand with him in that way, join me to make this solemn declaration to him:

Jesus I love you;
All I have is yours;
Yours I am;
Yours I want to be.
Do with me whatever you will. Amen.

Have a lovely Sunday. Peace be with you.