First Sunday of Lent 2009

If anyone were in doubt about what Lent is about, then this morning’s Gospel, short as it is, says everything there is to know about it. In it, we heard how the same Spirit who, a few verses earlier, had descended on Jesus during his baptism in the Jordan, now drove him out into the wilderness, the place where, for the Jewish mind of Jesus’ day, the demons lived. And there, St Mark tells us, he was with the wild beasts, another word for those same demons. And that’s exactly what we are invited to do during Lent: to enter into our own 21st century wilderness, the place where our modern demons live, and be with the wild beasts of our own day. And not only to be with them, but to engage in combat with them; to take them on; to confront them; to do battle with them and, ultimately, with God’s help, tame and control them until their power over us diminishes and we can grow in the freedom we need to go where God rather than they lead us. Each of us, of course, has our own personal demons which we must do battle with. But the wild beasts I invite you to think about today are not our personal ones, but our communal ones, the ones which, like a pack of hungry lions roaming the streets of any town, are causing havoc all over the world today. I am referring, of course, to the current financial crisis which, day after day, fills and dominates our News.

The sheer extent of it is very hard for us to comprehend. Perhaps because of this, we tend to concentrate on things like Sir Fred Goodwin’s pension. Accustomed to the kind of money footballers earn, we can just about deal with the figures involved in his case. But behind individual cases like this lies a crisis of unimaginable proportions. Just a few months ago, the whole financial system was within days of collapsing like a pack of cards. And if it had, or if it still does, our money, not the bank’s money, would have disappeared or may still disappear, like rain-water down a drain. And behind all this lie things which, without falling into an ‘I told you so’ mode, we have talked about here for years. How often have I invited you to reflect on how we worship at the altar of the goddess money and live by her commandments, better known as market-forces? Over and over again we have spoken about the ultimate unsustainability of a consumer-driven society which depends on us buying more and more things we don’t need and often cannot afford. And these are not just political or economic questions, They are moral and deeply spiritual questions too. And this is because, at the root of the whole crisis, lies a very modern philosphy called materialism. It tells us that the only thing that exists is matter. The spiritual does not; the inevitable conclusion being that if there is such a thing as happiness, and if our physical bodies are all we are, this happiness or fulfilment will be physical and material. If we are spiritual beings, of course, then this is simply untrue, except that, like the addicts we have become, we chase after material things, unwilling or unable to face up the fact that we are chasing an illusion and that only a complete change of direction can save us. The idea that after this financial crisis is over things can return to the way they were before is also an illusion. Something has changed forever in the way the world is run and, as it struggles to find a way forward, men and women of spirituality and faith all over the world have a vital role to play.
And the first place we must turn to for guidance is the Gospel. And in today’s Gospel Acclamation we have Jesus’ response to the philosophy of materialism. ‘Man’ he tells us, ‘does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ And in another place he poses a question which goes to the very heart of the crisis facing the world today. ‘What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his own soul?’ a point reinforced by the parable of the farmer who, having had a bumper harvest, knocked down his barn and built a bigger one to store it in. And the teaching of the Gospel is reflected in the rich social teaching of the Church, often called it’s best kept secret. Pope John Paul II, for example, in his encyclical on work, roundly condemns the capitalist worship of market-forces, reminding us that economies exists to serve human beings, not to enslave them. And only this week, the Archbishop of Westminster, in a farewell speech, stated what is self-evident to anyone familiar with either the Gospel or the Church’s social teaching, that the economy, if it is to serve people, must have a moral framework. And Gordon Brown, in an interview this week with the editor of the Tablet, says that people want free markets but not value-free markets. And it’s against this background that we enter these days into the ancient season of Lent, a time of Prayer, Fasting and Alsmgiving. So what’s the connection?

Well, by taking time out from being physically active or productive and spending it in prayer – what many today would see as a waste of time - we challenge and confront head-on the lie that matter is all there is. We don’t live on bread alone. We are not just our bodies, and the evidence for the spiritual dimension in us lies in prayer. And by fasting or doing penance of some kind, we challenge the very greed and selfishness which lies at the root of the current crisis and, by its sheer enormity, has so shocked us in recent months. In a world filled with such greed, in which we have to have everything now, even when it involves unsustainable debt, the simple postponement of pleasure or just doing without through penance, fasting, self-denial or whatever name you want to give it, goes to the very heart of the evil that has brought the world economy to where it is now. And by almsgiving, sharing what we have with those in need, the whole world becomes involved.

Perhaps never before has Lent beeen so relevant to the times through which we are living. As the world struggles to come to terms with what is happening and find a way forward, Lent, with its threefold call to prayer, fasting and almsgiving, contains within itself the basic elements of the solution. All we have to do now is put them into practice, starting with ourselves.


BIDDING PRAYERS


We begin this week by praying for the world at this difficult moment in history. Faced by a financial crisis greater than anything seen in previous generations, business leaders and political leaders everywhere are struggling to know what to do. And so we pray for them, that God will give them the courage they need to face up to unpleasant and unwelcome truths about the world we live in, along with the wisdom they need to do something about them................Lord hear us

But we pray most of all that God will stir the imaginations of those who have the responsibility of making major decisions which will have long-term consequences for us all. Only if, through the power of the Spirit working deep within history, are they able to imagine new situations and envisage new possibilities, will they and we be able to create together something better than what we had before the current crisis began. And so we ask for this grace of imagination and insight.................Lord hear us

For close on two thousand years, Lent has invited us to embrace prayer, fasting and almsgiving. This year, however, they have particular relevance to the crisis the world is facing. Human beings do not live on bread alone. Material things can never satisfy us or meet our deepest needs. Every man, woman and child is our brother and sister and the future health and well-being of humanity itself depends on their being fed. And so we pray for the grace to see this clearly this Lent.................Lord hear us

Each of us, of course, has our own personal demons, the wild beasts inside which terrorize and cause havoc in our lives. One of these is fear, which cripples us and prevents us going where God leads. Another is resentment which traps us in the past. A third could be selfishness which prevents us moving out to others. But whatever our personal demons, we pray for the grace we need to starve them of what gives them life this Lent so that we can become free of them................Lord hear us

In the first reading today, we heard part of the Old Testament myth of Noah and flood. In the story, God is presented as a God who purifies and makes things new. The flood is seen as a cleansing force in creation, washing away the past and creating a new thing. And so we ask this same God to be active in our lives this Lent, washing away what is not consistent with his dream for us and creating a new thing in the life of each one here...........Lord hear us

A huge amount of time and energy among some Christians is wasted trying to defend the indefensible view that stories like the flood are literally true. The story, like all the stories in Genesis, is profoundly true, except that the truth in question is theological rather than historical. And so we pray that, in this new century, men and women of faith will leave behind meaningless disputes over such things and devote more time and energy to the service of humanity..........Lord hear us

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