I Sunday of Lent C
Luke 4, 1-13
The lectionary is set up so that the first reading, from the Hebrew Testament and the Gospel have the same theme. Or at least the Gospel reading is based in the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures giving the reading a Christian interpretation.
Today’s first reading is a prayer upon offering first fruits to God in thanksgiving and the Gospel reading is the temptation of Jesus by the devil. What could possibly be in common in these two readings? What the two readings have in common is they both lead to a confession of faith, which is the same topic in the second reading for today. “If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart you will be saved.” The reading from Romans proclaims it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, if you believe in Jesus, you will be saved. So, all three of the readings today are about confessing your faith and being saved. Which we need to remember that this is what Lent is all about. Lent originally was a time of intense preparation for the Catechumens who would make their profession of faith at the Easter Vigil. So, the theme today is professing your faith, as we hear in the second reading to the Romans: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
In the first reading from Deuteronomy Moses is telling the people to give thanks to God for the first fruits from the earth. Moses admonishes the people telling them how to give thanks to God. They first recognize that the earth is God’s creation and secondly, they remember how they were brought out from Egypt the place where they were slaves to the promised land: a place of freedom. So, their prayer recognizes God as creator and liberator. This recognition leads to their proclamation of faith in God.
In the Gospel Jesus is tempted by the devil three times: He is challenged to demonstrate his sonship turning stones into bread; to worship the devil and finally to test God’s love by jumping off the parapet of the temple. To all three temptations Jesus responds the same way. Quoting scripture or professing his faith. By quoting scriptures three times Jesus asserts that his faith in God is more powerful. He renounces the devil by professing his faith in his Father, the one true God.
So, what is it that we are encouraged to do? We are called to be men and women who profess our faith. When we are aware of how much God has blessed us, with health, or family, or work, or any other blessing small or large we follow the teaching of Moses in the first reading, we turn to God and give thanks. That is what we do every time we gather together to celebrate the Eucharist. In the Offertory we bring to the priest bread and wine, “fruit of the earth and work of human hands”—much like the Israelites in the first reading from Deuteronomy. We bring our gifts to God and ask that God bless them while we realize that God is the one who gave us these gifts. In the blessing of the Mass, these same fruits of the earth become the body and blood of the obedient Son. When we receive them, we once again make our profession of faith.
The same is true in time of temptation. We know that we are tempted all the time. At times we are tempted to do what we know is wrong like stealing or lying. Other times we are tempted to not do what we know is right, telling the truth, helping someone in need, making good use of our time. In English we have an expression, the Devil made me do it. Obviously, the devil does not make us do anything. The devil tempts us and our response like Jesus, is to profess our faith because our faith is always stronger than any temptation.
So as we prepare for the celebration of easter, let us prepare to make our profession of faith. It is the longest prayer that we say at mass. At times we just ramble over the words but let us try during this time of Lent make the profession of faith a prayer. One that speaks from our heart. As the letter from Romans reminds us, “If we confess with our lips and believe in our heart, we will be saved.”
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