First Sunday of Lent C.

In a consumer-driven society which encourages the instant gratification of every desire, it’s inevitable that Lent, with its emphasis on fasting and self-denial, will seem to many of our contemporaries like the relic of a by-gone age. The idea that we should willingly do without things we like and enjoy is beyond the comprehension of many today. It makes no sense to a generation born into a world dominated by the idea that material things have within themselves the power to make us happy. And yet what I want to suggest this morning is that, in the whole of human history, Lent has never been as relevant as it is today, and that the prayer, fasting and almsgiving which have been at its core for centuries, take us to the heart of the challenges facing our society at this moment in history. So what do I mean by this?

Well, that the world today needs the grace of conversion and renewal is surely beyond doubt. How can it not do, given what we see all around us? Something, surely, has to change if the world is to find its way out of the vicious circle of poverty, violence and injustice which has bedevilled it since history began. The world, as we saw last week and as I will never tire of reminding you, is a god-filled place. But mixed in with what is good, like darnel in a field, there are other forces at work too; dark, destructive forces which, like a deadly virus, move silently through our world poisoning and contaminating the lives of its people. Why else in this country of ours, at a time when, despite the recession, we have levels of prosperity and affluence never seen before, are we challenging for top place in almost every league table in Europe when it comes to things like drugs, heart disease, teenage pregnancies, alcoholism, suicides and virtually every modern evil you care to mention. And as men and women of faith, we are called upon to identify, challenge and confront these dark destructive forces, the first and most important tool we have at our disposal during Lent being prayer.

And by prayer I don’t mean asking for things. Intercessory prayer is an important part of our tradition and will always have a place in our lives, but there is far more to prayer than that. I have already quoted the Irish Jesuit, William Johnstone, who, in one of his excellent books on the spiritual life, speaks about the future of the Church in the 21st century. And what he says is very simple. ‘We must give people mysticism or die.’ Prayer in this ‘mystical’ sense is not so much about what we do as what God does in us. It is about making ourselves available to God in such a way that he begins to transform us from within until we see the full truth about the world, ourselves and who we are in relation to him. It is to see the world as God sees it and this comes through the quiet, reflective, contemplative prayer Lent is calling us to in a world where there is so much that is superficial, noisy and empty.

Take, for example, the role played in our lives by television. It can be a wonderful thing, but it is important that we recognize th dangers in it too. For years in the Third World television was deliberately used by oppressive regimes as a way of keeping the minds of the poor off the poverty and injustice they were living under. The theory was simple. Fill their lives with cheap soap operas and they it will keep them off the streets. And something very similar is happening to us. Commentators call it ‘dumbing down,’ and we see it everywhere. We see it in the lack of serious documentaries on main-stream TV which might encourage us to think about and question what is happening around us. We see it in the way News bulletins are so often dominated by things like the sexual misdemeanours of John Terry or Tiger Woods or the latest episode in the life of some pathetic casualty of our so-called ‘celebrity’ culture, at the expense of the really important things going on in the world. And we will see it more and more in the coming weeks as a general election approaches and our politicians address us through sound-bites and slick advertising rather than the kind of serious debate you would find in a mature democracy. And all of this is a world where there are huge issues at stake upon which we, as men and women of faith, are called to reflect and shine the light of the Gospel. And this simply cannot be done without the kind of deeper prayer and reflection William Johnston speaks of.

And then there’s fasting. Can there ever have been a time in the whole of human history when was as necessary as it is today. We eat too much and spend fortunes in gyms trying to burn off the fat. Obesity is a serious cause of ill-health costing the country millions. We consume oil and other energy resources at a totally unsustainable rate. Binge drinking, doctors tell us, is destroying the liver of millions of our young people. We are obsessed with possessing things, many of which are luxuries and gadgets we don’t actually need. The idea of waiting for something or saving up for it has been so abandoned that the world economic system may still collapse under the weight of debt caused by us all, individuals and governments, spending money we did not have. Is it any wonder people think fasting, self-denial and doing without things is old fashioned when, in reality, they are the only thing now that will save the world from its own excesses?

And then there is almsgiving. As we sit in front of our TVs eating crisps and watching celebrities no one has ever heard of, millions of our fellow human being are dying of hunger and poverty. The SCIAF Lenten boxes are one way of responding to this and well worth using, but, of course, the situation has gone far beyond almsgiving. What is required now is a massive re-distribution of wealth, sharing on a previously unimagined scale and what politicians like to call ‘a new world order.’ But this can only happen when we, the people of the developed world, put down our glasses of Rioja for a moment, switch off the rubbish we are watching on TV for ten miniutes and take seriously what is happening in the world around us. And that, in essence, is what Lent is inviting us to do. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving go to the very heart of the issues facing the world today and there’s nothing remotely old-fashioned about them.

BIDDING PRAYERS

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to confront the demons that live there and engage in spiritual combat with them. And so we pray for the grace to do that ourselves this Lent: to confront in our own individual lives the demons of greed and self-indulgence which, after initially promising the happiness we seek, soon turn sour and cause so much pain and suffering in our world. We pray that, by confronting them in our own lives we can diminish their power everywhere.............Lord hear us

If we are to confront the demons at work in our world today then we must become, in the most simple and basic meaning of the word, mystics. Only quiet contemplative prayer in which God opens up our minds and hearts from within, slowly but surely enabling us to see the world as he sees it, can prepare us for the kind of spiritual combat we see Jesus engaged in today. It means moving beyond what is superficial and empty in the culture around us and going deeper. And we pray for this grace...........Lord hear us

To go where God leads us requires inner freedom. But there are many things in our lives which limit this freedom. Some are addicted to drugs or alcohol which limit their freedom, but we can be addicted to other things too, like food, television, shopping, the internet, having our own way and may others. And so we pray for the wisdom we need to recognize our own personal areas of addiction or unfreedom and address them this Lent through a mature, adult use of fasting and self-denial...........Lord hear us

Up to its eyes in debt and continuing to burn up the world’s energy resources at a completely unsustainable rate, the developed world, - engaged as it is in an enormous binge – simply cannot carry on doing what it is doing. And yet we seem incapable of making the necessary changes in the way we live. Our wills are weak and we are hooked on a life-style which is destroying ourselves and others. And so we pray that the men and women of our time will finally see this and do something about it........Lord hear us

Constantly subjected to rubbish on TV, our minds become lazy and our capacity to engage with serious issues diminishes. And so we ask God to stir in us a fresh willingness to do so. Soon, we will be facing a general election, the result of which will have profound consequences for the lives of millions in our country, especially among the poor, and as men and women of faith it is our duty to reflect deeply on the issues involved and vote accordingly. And so we pray for the grace we need to do this.......Lord hear us

Giving to those in need has always been central to the message of the Gospel and still is today. It lies at the heart of what Lent is about and the SCIAF boxes each year provide us with a very simple, effective and safe way of giving. But the real challenge facing us as men and women of faith is to give, not out of what we have extra, but from what we need to live on. This is what the Gospel really asks of us and we pray for the generosity and freedom we need to respond accordingly this year........Lord hear us