1 L A The three pillars: Freedom in Christ

Friends

Peace be with you.

One of my jobs as your pastor is to provide a vision to focus our efforts in a particular direction. This probably seems a bit silly since the Bible contains many great vision statements. There’s the great commission that Jesus gives in the gospel of Matthew 28:19-20 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Or, Psalm 46:11: 1“Be still and know that I am God, exalted over nations, exalted over earth!” Actually, there’s so many that it becomes hard to choose only one. There are, of course, a few that won’t work. Proverbs 21:19 comes to mind, “Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging (spouse).” So, one of my challenges is to be in prayer, both individually and with all of you, and hear God calling me to lead you to holiness in this place at this time. Pope Francis, in his recent Post Synodal Exhortation to the people of the Amazon said it best when he said, “Everything that the Church has to offer must become incarnate in a distinctive way in each part of the world so that the Bride of Christ can take on a variety of faces that better manifest the inexhaustible riches of God’s grace.

The vision I’m putting forth comes from a recent time of prayer during one of the quiet times at Mass. I was reflecting in church about what that vision would look like for this assignment. It was a 1% challenge moment of silence for me and these three things sort of floated to the front of my heart: Reverent Spirituality, Freedom in Christ, and Love of Christ. (repeat that) All three are interconnected but not confused. And, they keep being brought forward to me in different ways during prayer. For instance, on Ash Wednesday, I kept thinking about how Reverent Spirituality is intimately connected to prayer, Freedom in Christ is the goal of fasting, and the Love of Christ is a life lived out in almsgiving. St. Paul presented the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. Reverent Spirituality is based on a need to cultivate a deep faith in our lives. Freedom in Christ is imbued with hope. And the word “love” is rooted in the last one, Love of Christ.

In today’s readings, we hear about temptation. Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent. Jesus is tempted by the devil. Where does this fit into this vision I’m putting forward? To see how, we have to listen deeply to the scriptures. One cynical way of looking at our world is that it is one huge temptation. I can think of three temptations that I see as being paramount; selfishness, distraction, and vices, but I’m sure there are others. Selfishness is seen in ancient literature as a curvature of the spine. It’s imbued in such maxims as “Charity begins at home” and “Treat yo self!” It is the idea that my will must be first, rather than the will of God. Distraction is the idea that, if I can’t constantly be happy. I can at least not have to be attentive to what I find to be tedious or difficult. Cell phones and other technology seek to distract us. Food can be a distraction, especially the stuff that’s not really food like candy, pop. and alcohol, Which leads us to the final temptation, vices. Vices are what happen when our temptations take priority over all else in our lives, despite the fact that we could definitely live out them. In a recent homily, I used the example of a person obsessively playing a computer game about a virtual family to the detriment of the relationship within her actual family. Or think of the person so addicted to methamphetamine that his teeth are falling out. You’d think there’d come a point when the person would realize they’re better off without it but that point never seems to come.

Instead of temptation, we seek Freedom in Christ. The world needs Freedom in Christ. Indeed, Christ is the world’s Freedom! And this freedom is exemplified in Christ’s temptation. I’m going to focus in on the first interaction that Jesus has with the devil because something interesting occurred to me as I prayed with it. Did you notice that the first thing the devil tempted Jesus with is bread? The Eucharist is also connected to the Fall of Adam in Eve in Genesis so it makes sense that the devil would try and use it in Jesus’ temptation. Eve takes the fruit, gives it to Adam, and they both eat. Take, give, and eat are three of four verbs used on the night of the last supper that become intimately connected to the Eucharist. Still, there’s one verb that is missing; blessed. A blessing is an act of thanksgiving to God for a gift given by him to us and the intention to use that gift in service of God. Adam and Eve didn’t bless the fruit because their spines were curving in selfishness as a consequence of their originally sinful act.

Jesus, in contrast, when tempted by the bread of the devil, sees the mockery of the Eucharist inherit in the act and, despite his hunger, seeks the freedom that comes from fasting from temptation. Freedom is based on the idea that we are made for great things and we shouldn’t settle for the paltry things the devil provides. Freedom in Christ seeks what is pure, good, and beautiful.



The sacrament of Reconciliation helps greatly with our search for Freedom in Christ. It allows us to be rid of the selfishness, distraction, and vices that weigh us down. I hope you will take advantage of one of our schedules times of reconciliation or give me a call and set up an appointment to experience Freedom in Christ, the Christ who called you to follow him in Reverent Spirituality and who calls you to go from here to live a life saturated with his love.