There are many here who will receive the Sacraments at Easter which
will be a cause of strength for them, of joy and walking a sure road which
leads to the Father in heaven. And so in this Mass we congratulate them
and we tell them of our determination to pray for them and to love them
and to rejoice in the Lord in their reception of the Sacraments at Easter.
Your final preparation before receiving the Sacraments is these forty
days of Lent. Forty days in the Lord, in which you imitate Christ Jesus
and you go into the desert. And why did our Lord go into the desert? Why
did our Lord Jesus go the forty days into the desert, a place of silence?
He did for one reason and one reason alone. Because He loved the Father
He desired to be with Him and in the silence of the desert He could give
Himself whole and entire to His Father. And so we imitate Christ Jesus
who went into the desert, and every one of us this Lent we pray "Oh Father
in heaven, give us the grace to be silent before you, and to give ourselves
to You, whole and entire, as Your Divine Son gave Himself to You."
In this season of Lent then, as we prepare for Easter, we ask the Lord
to give us the grace to embrace the discipline of silence and to come before
our good Lord. This season of Lent let us turn off our televisions....
"Oh no, not that!" ... Turn off your televisions and to turn off
your radios, and instead of all of the noise which is such a terrible distractions
for all of us and covers up the meaninglessness of this modern world and
the noise which is such a source of sorrow to us, let it be replaced with
a holy silence. Where we listen intently to the Lord who speaks not words
that we can hear, but speaks to our souls words that remain forever and
are a source of joy and confidence and salvation for us.
Let us be courageous enough to turn off the noise of this modern world
for this forty days to come, and listen intently, listen with love to the
Lord our God. Not just those of you preparing for Easter Sacraments but
every single one of us.
I had a chance a couple of days ago to listen to Archbishop Chaput
speak, and he said something very powerful. He spoke to all who were present
at the Mile High Conference. He said: "We are what we desire". That’s an
interesting statement, isn’t it? ‘We are what we desire’, we are not what
we say that we are, we are not what we fancy ourselves to be in our better
moments. We are simply what we desire. In the silence of our hearts when
you and I are honest with ourselves and we say: "What do I desire above
all other things?" What that is, that is what we are. If in the silence
of our hearts we can say: "my Lord and my God, I desire you above all other
things, then we can say with honesty: "We are Christians, we are Catholics
after the Lord’s own heart". If in the silence of our hearts we see
Cadillacs and larger homes and everything else that the world tells us
is important, then in honesty we must say: "Oh Lord what we are is a people
of this world, and that is our hope and that is our confidence". And you
and I, this lent, we pray that we be more than ever citizens of heaven
whose desire is for the Lord our God who is our salvation and our hope.
Saint Paul tells us that we are citizens of this earth or citizens
of heaven. This lent let us pray that our feet be firmly planted under
the banner of our Lord’s heavenly kingdom. When you and I walk into the
desert with our Lord this Lent we shall be tempted, and yet the Lord is
our confidence. And this Lent we pray: "Lord Jesus when I see You in the
desert, I realize that You were tempted in every way that I am tempted,
yet You never sinned. Help me dear Jesus not to sin, help me to desire
the Father as You desired Him, help me to be not of this world, but a citizen
of heaven."
In the second reading Saint Paul tells us that when you and I confess
the Lord, when we speak of the Lord, confess Him in our hearts and proclaim
Him on our lips, God grants to us justification and salvation.
Jesus is Lord, and God has raised Him from the dead, that is the core
of our faith. This Lent, let us proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord of the whole
world and also over me, over my heart and my life. This Lent our confession
in Christ Jesus is Lord, in our surrender to His lordship grants us justification
and salvation.
We pray for those entering the Church and we pray for each member of
Saints Peter and Paul parish that our silence with the Lord in the desert
will purify our desire for the Father and truly plant us under the banner
of the Lord Jesus who comes as Lord of not only the world, but of my heart
and my life.
