Lent & The Best is yet to Come (Parade Day) (2019-03-10, Lent-01)

 Mar. 10, 2019   [ 01 LENT]   

•  Deuteronomy 26:4-10 • Psalm 91 • Romans 10:8-13 • + Luke 4:1-13  •

Title:      Lent & The Best is yet to Come (Parade Day)

► WELCOME / REMARKS

1. ►We pray for all of our beloved deceased at this Mass and for Father Francis Crowley, founder and director of the Colonial Pipers Bagpipe Band of Boston.

2. ►Our parish is eternally grateful for intercession of the Patron Saint of Ireland and of this Parade and for Irish American Society of the Oranges always instrumental to the Parade and Irish American Society of the Oranges by whom the St. Patrick’s statue to your RIGHT was a gift in 1964 when this church was built.

·        Carol Sharkey Corcoran, Grand Marshal

·        Joseph Fagan, Deputy Grand Marshal

·        Carolyn Diver Torchia, Deputy Grand Marshal

·        Terry McHugh, Deputy Grand Marshal

3. ► ....  to Deputy Grand Marshal Joe Fagan’s brother, Deacon Paul Fagan, Washington D.C., Msgr. Michael Kelly, President, Seton Hall Prep, Chaplain of Parade.

[_01_]     This 1^st Sunday of Lent, the setting is the desert; and subject is the a series-of-temptations in the desert.  The temptations of our Lord.

            How do we know if something is tempting / enticing?  One way is to measure how many people are talking about it. Does the thing have word-of-mouth appeal?

            One everyday example: caffeine. Caffeine is advertised to us many different ways: coffee, tea, iced coffee & tea, many beverages have caffeine.

            It does not mean that the caffeine is evil. Anything in extreme quantity or consumption can be harmful. But, we talk about caffeine a lot, our favorite flavors, where we like to buy it, when we like to drink it, how we like to drink it. We talk about it frequently.

            The truth about an attractive object is that the more we walk about it, the more TEMPTING – enticing – it could be.

[_02_]     The paradox of fasting ..and fasting is, spiritually, our anti-temptation-renovation-extreme-makeover plan

          Fasting is our anti-temptation plan. It’s paradoxical. And, we say, well, if I am fasting, I should be less tempted. But is that actually true?

          In fact, sometimes, the “fast” or some act of forbearance or sacrifice makes the object more TEMPTING could be, at least in the short term.

          Fasting invites the temptation or introduces the temptation.

          And, Jesus – by going into the desert – and by fasting – by saying I am not going to live by bread alone..in fact, I am not even going to live by bread…well that increases the temptation, the temptation to satisfy the hunger.

          So, fasting teaches us something about temptation.

[_03_]        Now, we do not fast only from material things.

          There are other fasts that we could make. We could fast from “praise”, we could fast from being praised.

          I like being praised. I like pleasing other people. And, if someone is displeased, I would like to address that.

          But, do I live by the bread of praise? Do I consume praise like calories?

          I like to consume it. It feels good. Could I live without it? Yes, I could live without it.

          So, saying I am going to live without praise, I could fast from it.

          Let’s say, I am going to go for a day and be patient and not worry about what other people say or how people may respond to me, even if I do not like their response. I am going to fast from “praise”.

          There are many things we could fast from.

          Nevertheless, while fasting from “being praised”, it still might increase my desire for it. It just means that I am trying to put God first in our lives.

[_04_]     Fasting is also like studying for a test, or for a test / teacher whom we know really do not know is going to ask – NEXT. We fast for Jesus, as our Teacher, so that we can be ready for his Word in our lives.

We can be ready to listen to Him each day.

It does not mean that we things that we fast from are bad, but that we are trying to put God first in our lives.

[_05_]     Now, the setting is the wilderness. Jesus goes out into the wilderness to be tempted.

          Now, it is the St. Patrick’s festival of the West Orange Parade, a moment for us to remember that many people have come here from around the world, stepping into the wilderness to arrive from Ireland and elsewhere.

          Fasting reminds that we are not in complete control of the outcome, of what is to come next.

          And, certainly this is true of many an immigrant who arrives in a new country. They do not know what will come next. And, they are living, in a way, in a state of fasting and sacrifice to get to the next stage.

          In the early 20^th century, my grandmother came to the United States from Ireland, having born on the other side as the Irish say.

          Such travels and travelers, while they may have great plans and dreams, also indicate our lack of control. My grandmother and her sister left Ireland came here fresh off the boat, at around age 14, entered an adult world on a new continent. An uncle family took her in, but in a way, she was fasting and admitting she did not have control over what would come next.

          When we would ask my grandmother about her life, she had only the rarest of commentary or reflection.  She was always looking ahead. 

[_06_]     One effort at “control” was a decision – by my grandmother and grandfather - to move back to Ireland – out of New York and the U.S. in the mid-1940’s. They had packed all their boxes but were so delayed by an ongoing labor action, a strike by dockworkers, and there were no transatlantic boats NY to Ireland…  that they remained in the U.S. and New York permanently.

          On one occasion, I asked my my grandmother about her childhood, and the house she grew up in. I had seen the house once on a visit to Ireland, a very small home in the northwest, in Donegal.

          After my, so to say, ”60 Minutes” interview which must have been tiresome… she said, look “look, if I had not come here you would not be here.”

          In a sense, telling me, do not look backward, look ahead.

          And that is what we are called to do when we are fasting. Not simply to think about how long we have been fasting, but to look ahead. To look ahead – into the future .  We know that troubles or temptations may come, but what we really want to live by is God’s presence and word.

          We do not live by bread alone.

          Fasting reminds us that the best is yet to come.

          And, this is the spirit – that the best is yet to come – is the spirit of the Israelite people – in the book of Deuteronomy today -  that their lives in the Promised Land will be some much better than anything in the past.

Father Ronald Knox that this forward-look is typical of the Jewish/Israel spirit. They do not look back and say … times were really good back in Egypt.

          They are always looking ahead. That is the Jewish spirit. (Ronald Knox, “And In Jesus Christ” [sermon], The Creed In Slow Motion)

          Our spirit may be contrary – the opposite… like my desire not to carry a cell phone around or to live without technology.

          I believe Moses in the desert would have gladly taken wi-fi and unlimited calling plan.

This is, also, I believe a part of the Irish spirit, that the best is yet to come. We have seen hard times, we have seen some good times, but we have seen the greatest yet.

          We are not in complete control of the outcome. We pray for the intercession of Saint Patrick and Our Lady of Lourdes for Ireland, for the United States, for the West Orange Community near and far. Saint Patrick Pray for Us. The best is yet to come.

 [_fin_]