First Sunday of Lent
When I was home this January, I had a complete health check-up done. One of the things I checked up was my cardio health. The ECG came all clear. However, even though I aced the TMT, the results showed a variation. The cardiologist suggested that I undergo an angiogram. After the procedure, the cardiologist explained the reason for the variation in the TMT results. Even though my heart is in great shape, I have a condition that is called myocardial bridging. It is a harmless condition where one of my coronary arteries goes through the heart muscle instead of lying on its surface. Thus, when the heart contracts and expands, the artery is squeezed a little. Besides this anomaly, my heart is in great shape. And that is precisely what I wanted to know. I am using this story as an analogy. My heart is in great health physically. And I hope, yours is too. But, how is the heart spiritually? How cool would it be if we could inject holy water into our veins and it would reveal the spiritual health of our heart? If we stood before God today, would God find a good heart? Is our heart in the right place?
Even though, the technology for knowing our heart’s spiritual health does not exist, I think all of us to some extent know how we are inside, isn’t it? In fact, we set aside 40 days each year to pay attention to our heart. We call it Lent.
Here are my three practical implications today.
- Is Our Heart in the Right Place? Let us begin with the stories of Adam and Eve in the garden and Jesus in the desert in today’s first and gospel readings. I am struck by the contrast and the similarities between the two scenes. First, the man and woman were in a garden. Christ, on the other hand was in a desert. Second, a garden is a place of plenty, whereas the desert is dry and parched land. Third, the man and woman in the garden had each other for company. Jesus, on the contrary, was alone. However, in the final analysis, none of the three things mattered. What really mattered was the heart. The man and the woman longed for that which was not theirs – to be like God. Call it pride, call it vanity, call it rebellion, call it disobedience, call it selfishness – it all comes from the heart. Jesus, on the other hand, did exactly the opposite in the desert. He had his heart set on God and human redemption. Each time the Devil tempted him, not only did he respond from the heart, but kept his heart where it belonged. This Lent, please let us not hesitate to look deep into our hearts. Let us make sure that our heart is in the right place.
- A Heart Aligned. The forty days of Lent are meant to mirror Jesus forty days in the desert. However, there is a major issue. We have very little detail about these forty days. We know how Jesus found himself in the desert – that he was led by the Spirit. We also know what happened at the end of the forty days – that Jesus was tempted by the Devil. However, the gospels give us no information about what happened in-between. When we read the story of the Jesus in the desert along with the story of the first man and woman in the garden, the enormity of Jesus’ task comes to the fore. In the desert, Jesus reversed every choice that man and woman made. As Paul says in today’s second reading, “Just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:17-19). In other words, Jesus radically turned the human heart from the self to God and neighbor. Jesus did this by his ultimate sacrifice on the cross. I believe that during the forty days in the desert, Jesus prepared his heart for his ministry, his mission, his suffering and his death. As the one person who would lead the entire human race to salvation, Jesus had to put his heart, soul, and might in the right place. To accomplish this, he spent the forty days radically aligning his heart with the heart of God. He made sure that the human heart could forever belong to God. I am asking us that we do not trivialize Lent. If the coffee, beer, ice-cream, or meat that we give up for Lent does not also lead us to a develop a heart like that of Jesus, then what have we done?
- Broader Implications. There is a third implication of today Scripture readings – that if our heart is not in the right place; that if we do not cultivate good hearts, the people who suffer are the people closest to us. Eve gave the fruit to her husband. In the final analysis the actions of the first human persons affected the entire human race, indeed all of creation. For example, think about the harm that the priest child abuse crisis and the subsequent lack of transparency from the bishops have done to individual children and the entire Church. Think about how our senselessness is destroying our Earth! Jesus teaches us the importance of having a good, sacred, compassionate, and loving heart. It saved the world! In other words, whether our heart is good or not, and whether our heart is in the right place or not, is not a private affair. It has immediate and global implications. This week let us pay attention to the impact we have on other people’s lives, particularly, our own family members. For this, I propose that this week we remember the prayer of David which we prayed in today’s Psalm response, “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.”
The Jesus in the desert is the same Jesus upon this altar. As we receive Jesus into our hearts, let us pray that our hearts may become more like his.
- Fr. Satish Joseph