Rules. Retreat. Relationship (2025-03-09, Lent 1)

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 [__v-08__]   Homily –  March 9, 2025 /  1^st Sunday Lent

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

Title: Rules. Retreat. Relationship (Lent, Luke 4:1-13)

[_01_]  Jesus is in the desert. In some biblical and historical commentaries on this place and time, we see Jesus in the Gospel being compared to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were also called to fast, not from everything, but they were called to fast from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Jesus is fasting in the desert as an act of obedience, as an act of connection to God, not just showing that he can observe the rules,  but also that he can recover.

It's an act of recovery and also the foundation of new relationship with us and with God.

[_02_]   Many years ago, I had a summer job as a server at a hotel that did banquet-style dinners.

The maître d' would explain the rules for each event. One night, we served "family style," bringing large platters for guests to serve themselves. He described it as, "Like when your mother slaps a pot of potatoes on the table."

My friends and I still are amused at his rules and regulations for FAMILY STYLE.

Lent, too, has rules about fasting and abstinence. But is faith just about rules? In any relationship, boundaries exist not for repression but for connection. Lent is not about punishment; it is about recovery and relationship with Christ. It calls us to both fasting and living "family style."

 

[_03_]  Rules & Reasons

Abstaining from meat on Fridays honors Christ’s sacrifice. Since the first century, Christians have recognized Friday as a day of penance. The law of the Church calls us to abstinence from meat on Fridays of Lent, and Catholics 14 and older are called to observe this practice.

Outside of Lent, on the other Fridays of the year, another meaningful penance may be substituted.

I get it:  You are saying, hey Padre, Friday is a day for celebrations not “regulations”.

          There is even a restaurant: TGI Fridays

 Restaurants tempt us with steak dinners. If skipping meat is difficult, consider another quiet sacrifice, such as omitting a meal earlier in the day or not eating dessert.

The point is not just removing something, but making space for God.

 [_04_]  Rest & Recovery in Fasting

We naturally fast between meals to digest.  This a natural example of “retreat”, “rest”, “recovery”.

          And, while fasting may seem difficult, the opposite of fasting is an extreme to avoid,

          if we have eaten too much, consumed too much rich food, then no matter what is put in front of us, we may be incapable of eating what is truly good. Intellectually, I may recognize spinach salad or asparagus as healthy, but if I am already stuffed, I will avoid even these!

          The same could be true if I am over-saturated or over-indulged in entertainment or news or information. I only hear what I want to hear and disregard the rest.

          Fasting, in this regard, is not only about “abstaining” but also “sustaining”, not about rejection but recovery. Fasting is healthy spiritually too.

          For example, it is often an exercise in “fasting” to be a good listener, to listen to your spouse, your children, your parents. Talking is good, but we can fast from talking to listen and hear each other and hear God’s word.

          Coming to Mass is not only a one-hour food fast prior to Holy Communion but also a fast from socializing, talking, conversing, texting and all forms of media. You got this!

Fasting is not just abstaining but sustaining, a way to rest, retreat, and grow in unity with God—"family style."

 [_05_]  Relationships & Fasting

Jesus is asking us to fast, not to deprive ourselves, but to make room for him. And this is summarized by the prophet Isaiah. This is the fasting I wish, releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke, setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke, sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless.

Fasting is about our relationship with God and neighbor and creation.

Balance.

On the one hand, we can and do take bread or soup that we are not eating and bring it to church or to the poor. This is good but not the only way to fast.

When you're hungry, when you're fasting, you can make a prayer for those who are physically hungry, physically starving, famished. There are people in our own community, who live in what we call sociologically “food deserts”.

They may not have access to supermarkets. They may live in neighborhoods where they can't get to stores or lack transportation. There are many reasons that people are starving. Some of it is poverty, some of it is transportation, and not all our neighbors are far away. So we can unite ourselves to those who are very hungry by our own fast to pray for the hungry and to pray that they will they will be given what they need.

Our fasting is meant to be an act of mercy towards those we love and even towards those we do not know.  

[_06_]    I pray that these 40 days of Lent and our practice of the faith may help all of us to rest and recover by fasting and also relate … to render unto God what belongs to God, what originates from Him, not only our desires, but also our flesh and blood, body and soul and to make room for his Son to live in you and live in me, family style.