Homily: 1st Sunday in Lent – Cycle B
Friends,
once again we’ve entered into the great Lenten fast of 40 days. We do so in the midst of the ongoing pandemic
in which already we have been asked to give up many things. Because of this, I would not blame you if you
felt resentment for being asked to give up more or if you are inclined not to
give up more because of what you’ve already had to sacrifice for the last
year. Today I’d like to invite us to
look not at the fast itself, but rather at the end for which we are
fasting. Perhaps when we do so, we’ll
find new motivation to embrace this fast.
Recently
I watched a video on YouTube by a man named Chase. Chase is a fitness coach and mountain climber
and his videos aim to inspire people to be more fit and to get outside and
enjoy nature through hiking and climbing.
In this particular video, Chase documented one of his “24 hour dopamine
fasts”, in which he hikes out to a deserted place and spends a whole day (24
hours) with nothing but some shelter and water.
He says that he does this in order to escape the noise of his daily life
(work, social media, material pursuits, etc.) so that he can refocus on what is
most important to him (that is, helping people to be more healthy in mind and
body).
He calls it a “dopamine fast”
because by denying himself food and drink or other physical stimulation, his
body doesn’t produce the chemical dopamine.
Our bodies naturally desire to do the things that produce dopamine,
because it is the chemical that causes positive feelings in us. Therefore, it is also the chemical that leads
us to attach ourselves to certain things (food, social media, etc.), sometimes
leading to addictions. Chase says that,
by fasting for a day from the things that produce dopamine, he can evaluate how
attached he is to those things and decide to make changes, if necessary, so as
to remain focused on the things that matter most to him. Although Chase does not appear to be a
practicing Christian, he has recognized the value in this very Christian
activity of fasting and I think that his example can give us some perspective
on the Lenten fast into which we have entered.
Very often we can think of our
Lenten fast as one more thing that we need to do for God. This is not a bad way to think of it, but it
is not the purpose for which it is meant.
Our Lenten fast is not meant to be a burden that we have to carry
because God demands these things of us.
Rather, it is an opportunity for us to evaluate our attachment to the
things of this world, to recognize whether our attachment has become an
obstacle to what is most important in our lives (namely, our relationship with
God), and thus to detach ourselves from them so as to renew our understanding
of who we are and to what we have been called by God.
In many ways, this is Jesus’
experience in the desert that we heard about in our Gospel reading today. Our reading begins just after Jesus was baptized
by John the Baptist. For 30 years, Jesus
lived as a normal member of his community, but now he is about to begin his
public ministry and manifest who he truly is to the world. Before he does so, the Holy Spirit sends him
to the desert to fast for 40 days. There
he is tempted by Satan, but helped by the ministry of angels. When he emerges from his “dopamine fast”, he
is completely sure of who he is (not that he was ever unsure, necessarily) and he
has detached himself completely from the things of this world. Thus, he is ready to begin to proclaim, “this
is the time of fulfillment… the kingdom of God is at hand” and, ultimately, to
redeem humanity by his passion, death, and resurrection.
Friends, Lent is a blessed
time for us to enter the desert and to reset our understanding of who we are
and to what we have been called. It is a
call to disconnect from what is non-essential so as to solidify our connection to
what is essential. In a way, it is a
recreation. In our first reading, we
heard about the covenant that God formed with Noah, his family, and all of
creation that had been saved from the flood.
Noah, his family, and all of the animals had spent 40 days with nothing
but the arc and the flood (can you imagine that?). From the flood, however, creation was
recreated (a fact that should trigger thoughts about the first creation, when
God formed the universe out of the primordial waters). The 40-day flood covered creation in water
once again and cleansed it of sin, making it ready to be recreated. So, too, can our fast of 40 days cleanse us
of sin—that is, our disordered attachments to the things of this world—and make
us ready to be renewed in our baptism, by which we were recreated through water
and the Holy Spirit.
Saint Peter, in our second
reading today, ably identifies how the flood prefigured baptism, in which our
sinful creation was destroyed and we were recreated in the Holy Spirit. How baptism truly effects the cleansing of
sin, however, is connected to the promise that God made after the flood: the
promise never to destroy all of creation again.
We know that, after the flood, sin returned to creation. How then would sin be cleansed if total
destruction by a flood was not possible?
This, my friends, is where the full picture of God’s mercy becomes
evident. Instead of staying apart from
creation and cleansing it by destroying the parts of it marred by sin, God
became creation in Jesus, took the sin of the world on himself, and was himself
destroyed so that creation could be saved.
For this, we must give thanks!
Therefore, my friends,
although the pandemic has forced us to endure a long, never-ending Lent, let us
not be resentful for being asked to give up still more. Rather, instead of looking at it as giving up
more, let us look at it as a blessed opportunity to detach from what is
non-essential—that is, from everything that keeps us from being who we
are. In doing so, we have the
opportunity to emerge renewed—that is, recreated—and ready to live our vocation
as redeemed persons called to proclaim this redemption to all.
Given in Spanish at St. Paul parish:
Marion, IN – February 20, 2021
Given in Spanish at St. Patrick parish:
Kokomo, IN – February 21, 2021
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