First Sunday in Lent-C

Good morning everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for the first Sunday in Lent. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we are given a special blessing to say “No’ to our temptations and “yes” to the love and kindness of God our Father in Christ our Lord. Every time we come to Church, we hear Christ our Lord saying to us that, “We do not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” And every time we come to Church, we are called to know and serve God alone.

Once there lived an old man in an island. He loved his island so much. He saw God’s loving presence in every moving and unmoving things. Then one day, as he was dying, he called his children and said, put me outside and I want to see, smell and touch the land while I die. And as he about to die, he reached down by his side and clutched some soil onto his hand and died as a happy man.

And before entering into heaven, the angel came out to welcome him saying, “You who are chosen by the father enter into the kingdom of God prepared for you”. As the angel opened the gates, the angel noticed that the old man was holding on something in his hand and asked what it was. He said, ‘I loved my island so much and I brought some soil from there”. The angel said, ‘that is wonderful but in order to enter into heaven, you have to let the soil go” But the man refused. He was left outside at the gate. He was there for ten years and then one day the angel came and asked what he decided. He said, ‘I love my island so much and I cannot let the soil go” so he was left again ten more years. Then one day the angel of the lord came and asked his decision and he said, ‘now I am a very old man and I do realize that I have to let certain things go to enter into heaven. I am strong now to say “No’ to my temptations. There he dropped the soil and entered into heaven. When he entered into heaven, the first thing he saw was his beautiful island waiting for him.

Dear friends these forty days of lent invite us to say once again “NO” to our temptations and say, “YES” to lord our God. Christ our Lord after His baptism at Jordan where every heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son with whom I am so happy and pleased, listen to Him’ was let by the spirit in the wilderness and there in the desert Christ our Lord spent forty days and forty nights in prayer and fasting. On the fortieth day, the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, change this stone into bread and satisfy your huger’. The devil knew that He was the only Son of God and he tried to stop the salvation mission of Christ our Lord.

What is sin? Sin is what one does against God, others and oneself. And in today’s gospel, the devil was tempting Jesus to go against God, others and himself.

Yes, he asked Jesus to change the stone into bread and thus to go against God’s divine will and the devil then showed Christ the whole universe in an instant and asked him to obey him, Jesus was tempted to have authority over all people and go against others and Christ said that he came to serve only God. Yes, Christ came to serve and not to be served. Then the devil asked him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, asked him to go against his own will but Christ our Lord said, ‘do not tempt the Lord our God”

Dear friends, we are called these forty days to have our desert experience doing prayer, fasting and penance. These Lenten observances help to say “no” to sin and temptations and “Yes” to Christ’s love and kindness. So let us leave behind things that hinder us from loving God, others and ourselves and submit ourselves to God almighty. Amen.