Keeping Our Focus, Homily for Mar 5, 2017

Joy. Gratitude. Service.

March 5, 2017

D ear Friends ,

We begin the season of Lent hearing that Jesus would not let himself be distracted from his mission. It's an important message, because it's easy for us to be distracted from the mission and purpose God gives each of us.

Also, we now post at our website the audio files of the Sunday homilies, which you can access by clicking on the link.

Feel free to forward today's homily to others who might appreciate today's message.

Gratefully,

Fr. Dave Mercer, Pastor

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1st Sunday of Lent

Homily: Keeping Our Focus

The Lord, who overcame the deceptions of the Tempter during the forty days in the desert, shows us the path we must take. [Pope Francis' message for Lent 2017 ]

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Today’s Gospel proclamation has Jesus keeping his focus on his mission and purpose.

We know how important it is to keep our focus on the task at hand. Take last week’s Academy Awards as an example, when the wrong movie was announced as the best of the year. The person just offstage tasked with handing the right envelope to the award presenter was taking selfie photos and messaging friends. Distracted by the celebrity setting, he lost his focus and passed the wrong envelope to the presenter.

He lost his focus. He lost his sense of mission. He lost his purpose for being there.

In today’s Gospel proclamation, Jesus has set out on his mission, and he’s clear about his purpose. Jesus teaches. Jesus heals. Jesus feeds people who hunger. For sure, those are important perspectives on Jesus, but they’re not why he was born. They’re not why he took on human flesh, becoming a person like you and me. Jesus came among us to die and rise that you and I might live, that you and I might be in an eternal Communion with God.

Jesus is now in the desert, and there’s an attempt to distract Jesus from his mission and purpose.

“Command that these stones become loaves of bread.” Of course, Jesus would do great to feed the hungry (and he does), but his mission isn’t to be a social worker. Jesus refuses to be distracted from his mission to deal with the sin that lies at the heart of why people hunger.

“Throw yourself off the top of the Temple.” Imagine if Jesus displays a miracle from the top of the world. Imagine the attention and fame he’d have by doing a miraculous trick. However, he refuses to be distracted from his mission. Instead, he’s to be known by what he does on the cross.

“Take control of the kingdoms of the world.” Of course, Jesus is king, but again he refuses to be distracted from his mission. To know Jesus as king, we must see him on the cross where he deals with the sin that undermines our relationship with God.

Jesus maintains his focus. Jesus stays on task. Jesus remains true to his mission to go to the cross, where his dying and rising is our means to be in Communion with God.

Of course, you and I have a mission and purpose, too. We begin Lent by hearing of Jesus maintaining his mission focus. Our hope is to maintain our mission focus, too. We might not be tempted to turn stones into bread, to take a swan dive off the top or the Temple, or to grab absolute political power. Our everyday distractions from living our Christian faith might not be as dramatic as those that the Gospel Jesus faces, but they’re just as real.

Lent is a chance for all of us to sharpen our focus on the mission Jesus gives us to share the Good News that Jesus at the cross — that Jesus dying and rising — is the means for any person we know to be in Communion with God.

When we pray, fast or abstain from meat on Fridays, and give alms to people in need, we stand to deepen our faith in Jesus.

Prayer is our attitude before God of being receptive to what God has to say to us and trusting that God is receptive to what we have to say to God. Many of you like to use the printed daily devotional guides that we make available.

This year, we’re offering a special twist to the daily devotionals by sending directly to your email inbox a daily reflection, a thought-for-the-day written by fellow parishioners following one of the readings from the Mass that day. The reflections are brief, thoughtful, and end with a prayer.

What’s great about these emailed reflections is that you can easily share them with others. When you read something that makes you think of someone, just click Forward to send it to that friend. Then, add a note, letting that friend know you thought of him or her and that he or she might appreciate the message.

Keep it simple. Share that message. That message just might touch your friend’s heart. They might click on one of the links to see our parish website, to see a map where we’re located, or perhaps to subscribe to this series of daily reflections.

If you don’t use email, I simply ask you to pray for the success of what we’re doing. I ask you to pray that we touch people’s hearts.

These daily reflections come into your inbox on your iPhone, or Android phone, or regular computer, every morning at 4:00 AM, but you can sleep in to 8 o’clock if you want, and it’ll be there. It’s sharing-our-faith made easy.

Tomorrow, the reflection is written by one of our parishioners who’s away, studying at a university. It’s a wonderful, short thought-for-the-day. You’ll like it.

It’s a great way to be in the season of Lent, to be focused on our mission, and to invite others to that deeper relationship with Christ.