God’s Ridiculous Love.
The First Sunday of Lent 2021
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February 21, 2021
Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15
The Evangelist Mark has the shortest description of the time in the desert and the temptation scene is almost an afterthought. Though he was in danger from Satan and wild beasts, the angels watched over him. After a while when he returned to society, John the Baptist was arrested and silenced. John’s message was, “Repent, and prepare your soul, the time is coming;” the message was Jesus was, “Repent, the time is now.” Though it was sad that John was removed from his preaching, Jesus could not preach an alternative message until John was gone. The message of fulfillment was breaking in throughout the region of Galilee.
Saint Peter said that our baptism and repentance was so that we could have a clear conscience before God because Jesus has saved us and intercedes for us. Saint Ignatius says something similar in The Spiritual Exercises when he asks us to learn from Jesus as he ministers to those we love. This season of Lent is the time when we collectively put ourselves in right relationship with God once again so that we can enjoy God’s friendship. It is a time to observe Jesus so that we can see how he asks God for help in both big and small moments. We then can rely upon God and the heavenly powers the same way Jesus did.
Many people will undoubtedly focus upon amending their sins, but we can only do this through the guidance of Jesus. We never do it alone. Never. People who ask God to show them their sins discover, to their great delight, that along with the shame and tears they have experienced for the ways that they lived, they are freed from a tremendous burden. With a great sigh of relief they realize God still loves them in their sinfulness and wants their friendship. God takes us back into intimate friendship, where we are free to offend again, and God is going to continue to take us back, and even more than that, God is going to entrust us with responsibility for others’ well-being in spite of our weak characters. This is a kind of forgiveness that leads us to want to be the person God believes we can be.
Lent is not about looking at our sins. Lent is about watching Jesus interact with God during his earthly life. Lent is about looking at God’s ridiculous love. It is a love we do not deserve, but that tells us something about God’s great love that stuns us with disbelief. This season, let us observe God’s actions so we may come to realize this great love is for us. It is not the awareness of sins that changes hearts, it is the awareness of God’s mercy that is continually offered. This love makes us a better person. This love reconciles and integrates and calls goodness to itself. This love leads us to do the unthinkable. This love makes no sense at all, but it is ours if we decide to accept it.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (Leviticus 19) The Lord gives Moses ten commandments that he inscribes on stone tablets.
Tuesday: (Isaiah 55) God’s word will issue forth from his mouth and shall not return until it has fulfilled his will.
Wednesday: (Jonah 3) Jonah set out to Nineveh asking them to proclaim a fast and then repent. The king does repent and the Lord dropped his threat because they turned from evil.
Thursday: (Esther 3) Queen Esther appeals to God for help in converting the king’s heart for hatred of the enemy that threatens them.
Friday: (Ezekiel 18) If the wicked turns from sinfulness and keeps the Lord’s statutes, he will surely live. Likewise, if a virtuous man becomes wicked, he shall die.
Saturday: (Deuteronomy 26) Moses tells the people to observe the Lord’s statutes and decrees with their whole heart and soul. The Lord will stand by you.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 25) Jesus tells his disciples about the last judgment when the goats and sheep will be separated. The measuring stick is the mercy shown to the most vulnerable.
Tuesday: (Matthew 6) The disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. He tells them not to pray like the pagans, who seek honor and glory, and then gives them the Lord’s prayer.
Wednesday: (Luke 11) Jesus chastises the crowd that seeks a sign, but none will be given to them. Because of Jonah’s preaching, the king and people repented.
Thursday: (Matthew 7) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. The Father is generous, especially to those who love him.
Friday: (Matthew 5) Your righteousness must surpass the levels of the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Show righteousness by quickly settling disputes.
Saturday: (Matthew 5) Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Heavenly Father. Be perfect as the Father is perfect.
Saints of the Week
February 21: Peter Damian, bishop and Doctor (1007-1072), was orphaned and raised by his brother, Damian, a priest in Ravenna. He began as a hermit monk and was then made abbot and cardinal. He became a reformer in the church often speaking out against clerical laxness.
February 22: The Chair of Peter is celebrated on this day. Previously, both Peter and Paul were remembered until their feast was transferred to June 29th. As the custom was ingrained in practice, Christians continued to honor the contributions Peter made to the church as the first of the apostles in continuous succession.
February 23: Polycarp, bishop and martyr (69-155), was made bishop of Smyrna and was the leader of the second generation Christians. He was a disciple of the apostle John and a friend of Ignatius of Antioch. He wrote catechesis and rites for initiation into the Christian community. He was martyred in 155 and is a Father of the early church.
This Week in Jesuit History
- Feb 21, 1595. At Tyburn, the martyrdom of Robert Southwell after he had suffered brutal tortures in Topcliffe's house and in prison. He embraced the jailer who brought him word that he was to be executed. As he breathed his last, Lord Mountjoy, who presided over the execution, exclaimed: "May my soul be one day with that of this man."
- Feb 22, 1599. By order of Pope Clement VIII, the superiors general of the Jesuits and the Dominicans, assisted by others, met to settle, if possible, the controversies about grace. Nothing came of the meeting, since the Dominicans insisted on the condemnation of the writings of Fr. Molina.
- Feb 23, 1551. The Roman College, the major school of the Society later to become the Gregorian University, began its first scholastic year with 15 teachers and 60 students.
- Feb 24, 1637. The death of Francis Pavone. Inflamed by his words and holy example, sixty members of a class of philosophy that he taught and the entire class of poetry embraced the religious state.
- Feb 25, 1558. St Aloysius Gonzaga received tonsure at the Lateran basilica. Within the next month he would receive the minor orders.
- Feb 26, 1611. The death of Antonio Possevino, sent by Pope Gregory XIII on many important embassies to Sweden, Russia, Poland, and Germany. In addition to founding colleges and seminaries in Cracow, Olmutz, Prague, Braunsberg, and Vilna, he found time to write 24 books.
- Feb 27, 1767. Charles III banished the Society from Spain and seized its property.
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