1st Sunday of Lent 10 March 2019 Sermon

1^st Sunday of Lent 10.3.19 Riches

Lent is our most readily identifiable season. It is associated with sacrifice as its most recognizable point, and that means it may not be the most popular time.

It is not all gloom, however, as we learn that from sacrifices come great blessings.

If we deny ourselves anything it is to gain something greater still,

For one thing, we are gaining a greater grasp of where we stand with God, and what we can do to improve that standing.

We hear of people who have won the Lottery but do not know they have won it. Somewhere they have the ticket that will bring them millions of dollars.

This can be our position if we consider how fortunate we are to possess the faith.

We possess the whole universe, not just a few million dollars; but do we know it?

Taking the human race as a whole, it is more like we have thrown the ticket away; we have forfeited our hold on eternal life.

Every time we oppose, deny, or insult the one true God we are giving up the prize above all others.

Sensing our loss we then look elsewhere, to false gods. But they cannot help.

It is harder to repair the damage on this level, than to find the lottery winner, because it is not just a matter of finding a missing object.

Restoring a damaged relationship with God involves the whole of ourselves - body and soul, the way we think; where we direct our love.

These are things which cannot be turned around in a moment. But it can be done.

God is generous. We would have been thrown out of any hotel by now if we behaved there the way we behave in God’s universe.

He still holds out to us the possibility of restoring union with Him, the chance of a new life; and we take the opportunity of doing that when we offer the Mass, or go to Confession, or engage in other penitential practices.

Offering each time again the atoning sacrifice of Christ, we acknowledge our distance from Him. We ask Him to restore what we have lost, the graces we have forfeited; to make us aware of where our true riches lie, and not to let us be so foolish as to look elsewhere.

So we find we do still have the winning ticket! It comes in the form of Mercy. God’s mercy is like a bank that never runs out of money. We can claim and claim and still there is more.

It is hard to sell this to the general public, because we cannot give them the instant satisfaction they demand.

Try to tell someone that gaining eternal life is better than all earthly delights put together, and we may not get a hearing.

If anyone tries the remedy, however, they will see a way forward.

Anyone prepared to follow Our Lord, in His patience and humility, will find that way.

This is how to do business with God: being humble and patient, never demanding from Him, nor directing what He must do. We leave it all to His perfect will.

If we submit our desires to the will of God we will always come off better.

The best thing about Adam and Eve’s state before they sinned was that they had perfect submission to God; which meant they had perfect control of their own desires.

Sin has cost us that self-control, and in its place we have concupiscence

We regain what we have lost by humility, simplicity, giving it all back to God.

The more we entrust to Him the more obviously we will experience the return of paradise, as far as it can be achieved on this earth; then finally, Heaven.