Homily For The First Sunday Of Lent Year B
Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25:4-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15.
By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.
· We thank the Lord for this season of grace and spiritual renewal as we celebrate today the first Sunday of Lent. We can consider this period as a period of retreat or recollection extended for 40 days for every Catholic to journey with the Lord through the wilderness.
· It is a season for sober reflection and stock-taking, to see where we are in our relationship with God. That is why everything is toned down during this season, less noise, less decoration, solemn songs, and the likes to allow us to look into ourselves, to detach from the world and to attach to God.
· On this first Sunday of Lent, I have titled our reflection today “A time to begin anew”. The spiritual life just like any other field of endeavor is a journey and while on this journey, one may miss his/her way, the ability to return to the starting point to take the right or new path to embark on the journey is what guarantees that we will reach our destination.
· The Lenten season provides that opportunity for us to return to the starting point and begin our journey afresh to the Lord. It does not matter how long we have wandered away from the right path, there is always an opportunity to make a fresh start and to return to Jesus with our hearts broken and not our garments torn.
· In the first reading (Genesis 9:8-15), God makes a new covenant with us that having begun anew, having recreated the world, he will not destroy us again. The story of the great flood that ravaged the earth was a result of great sinning and abandonment of the right path. God assures us that if we return to him, he will not destroy us again and that he will welcome us with an outstretched arm.
· God said to us in the first reading “Never again”, he regretted his action of destroying his creatures with his hands through the flood and he resolved never to do so again. We too, having lawlessly departed from the ways of God, can we say too, never again shall we return to our sinful ways, never again shall we return to drunkenness, never again shall we return to masturbation, fornication, adultery, lying, cheating, etc.
· The second reading (1 Peter 3:18-22), challenges us that when we are tempted to sin, we ought to remember the sacrifice of Jesus who died so that we might live and desist from the inclination and temptation to sin. Any attempt to allow ourselves to be mastered by sin is to crucify Jesus the second time.
· Friends in Christ, it was the stubbornness of the heart of creatures against their creator that led the creator-God to destroy the world by the flood in Noah’s days. There were warnings, and there were homilies preached, but the men and women of that time were too busy to listen until destruction came upon them. Today, the Lord is calling out to us yet again, therefore we must repent of our sins and return to the mercy and love of God.
· In the gospel reading (Mark 1:12-15), Jesus is led into the desert to be by himself and to commune with his father in solitude and earnest prayers. While in the desert, he was tempted, there were dangers but with the grace of God, he came out victorious because he submerged himself in prayerful solitude with God.
· Dearly beloved in Christ, we too during this Lenten season are journeying with Jesus in the desert. These 40 days may seem too long and torturous, but it is also a period of grace and holiness. It is a period to offer up our vices and sins in return for virtues and holiness.
· These 40 days must be spent in prayers, fasting, and almsgiving. It is possible to pray without fasting, it is impossible to fast without praying. While we pray and fast, what becomes of the object of our fasting like food? We must offer it to the poor and less privileged as our almsgiving.
· Dearly beloved, we must make this Lenten season different, we must be determined to change and to grow in holiness and grace. This season despite its temptations is not a period to suspend sin only to return later. It is not a 40days sabbatical from sin, it is a period of renewal and spiritual growth. We must be determined that after 40 days we will be able to master ourselves and conquer those stubborn habits.
· The Lenten season is a season of grace and mercy, so no matter how filthy your sins may be, return to God for he is merciful and rich in graciousness. You may have failed in the past to keep your Lenten promises and but you can begin again because our God is a God of a second chance.
· Friends in Christ, we may have made mistakes, and we may think of ourselves as hardened sinners, but we must remember that “Where sin abounds, the grace of God abounds the more” (Rom. 5:20). Hence it is a time to make a fresh start and to begin anew. Do not procrastinate because the time to return to God is now. The reason is that the Psalmist tells us, “All your paths, O Lord, are mercy and faithfulness, for those who keep your covenant” (Ps. 25:10).
· May the good Lord bless his word in our hearts through Christ our Lord, Amen!
· Happy Sunday!!!
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