3rd Sunday of Lent 20 Mar 2022 Sermon

3^rd Sunday of Lent 20 March 2022 Working hard

The demon goes for reinforcements, and the sinner finds himself in a worse state than he was before (Mt 12,45).

This is a warning to us against complacency.

Complacency is thinking things are better than they are. We have a lot of it around at present.

It can apply in the spiritual domain.

a) Many people think themselves to be good people, without any reference to God, not even asking for His mercy. This is complacency. If we compare ourselves to others we might come out reasonably well, but by the standards of Christ – that is another matter.

b) Others will acknowledge they do have sins and they do need mercy, but that mercy is not something that has to be worked for; it just happens anyway. God is not angry with anyone, the reasoning goes, so there is no need to worry about sinfulness.

It is true that God is merciful but we have to ask explicitly for the forgiveness of sins.

c) Even those who do observe these requirements can be complacent, thinking that  whatever they do is ‘enough’, or should be. God asks for more than the minimum, however. He wants us to strive to find Him, and serve Him when we do.

d) It is complacency when people say they still believe in God, as though that is all that is needed. This means that they think God exists. That is not much of a compliment to Him!

e) It is complacency when a Catholic goes to Mass only at Christmas and Easter, or begrudges prayer, or makes fun of someone who does want to do these things.

God wants us to be diligent in our response.

This will require confession of sin, a firm purpose of amendment, some action towards reparation for the damage our sins have caused.

Complacency is whenever we think we are good enough, or have done enough, and we can take the foot of the pedal.

We should be reluctant to declare ourselves to be ‘good’.

The good we achieve is by the grace of God; any harm we do is our own fault.

We should value ourselves because we are children of God, but this does not give us licence to do as we please. When confronted with our sins we must all the more resolve to serve God in all things.

We can engage with Him, ask for His mercy, and promise with His help to behave better in the future. (cf Act of Contrition)

To ask for mercy is at the same time to commit to work in His name. Our Lord said to the people He healed: Go and sin no more (eg Jn 8,11).

The forgiveness we seek will not be real unless translated into some sort of response at the practical level.

The question is not whether God loves us but whether we love Him. This is where we can  become derailed. We do not seek forgiveness only but the grace to do better in the future.

Unless we are on our deathbed that will mean a review of our whole life pattern, an energetic commitment.

Look at St Paul and other saints, how hard they worked – giving us a model to follow.

We do not just drift along, indifferent to God and His claims upon us.

No, we must give God the best we have, our time and attention, our gratitude and obedience, and it must be every day of the year.

This is how to stop seven other demons returning once we have removed one!