Father Robert (Bob)'s homily for this First Sunday of Lent; It is the first Sunday of Lent and I should be writing a homily about the temptation of Christ in the desert.
But when I look around and listen, I feel that a large part of our world and our country is in the desert. Violence and war are raging everywhere in the world, and we see terrified mothers clutching their small children at borders and in refugee camps.
And it seems to me that our own country has never been so divided. And many of us, in recent years, have been scandalized by the actions… of some members of our church. So, what should our reaction be?
We often feel like we are in an arid desert; what direction should we take? My suggestion for this Lent is that each day of Lent, we seek to do something noble, however small. Do what is better, what is kind, what is small, but kind.
President Jimmy Carter is a great man, a Christian, he takes his faith very seriously. Well, when former Vice President Hubert Humphrey died, Carter was president. There was a large memorial service. Hundreds of people gathered for the service, among them, former President Richard Nixon. It was shortly after Nixon had been forced to resign in disgrace because of the Watergate scandal, and the memory of that scandal was still fresh in people's minds.
At the memorial service, people mingled freely, greeting old friends. Nixon, on the other hand, stood alone, isolated, shunned. That's when something very wonderful happened. President Carter enters the room and sees Nixon standing, alone, on the edge of the crowd. Carter walked over to Nixon with his big smile. Then, he surprised everyone by greeting Nixon with these words:
"Welcome home, Mr. President! Welcome home!"
President Carter was reaching out to the pariah, a small, noble evangelical act that proclaims the kingdom of God is near. For the 40 days of Lent, let a crucial Christian challenge characterize your daily life.
Why not unleash the love that is within you? The love that is stronger than sin, the love that drives out fear, not a vague or insipid love, not a sentimental or adolescent love, not a lustful love. I mean the kind of love that carried Christ to the cross, I mean a love that can turn the other cheek, at least from time to time.
A love that does not sulk until apologies arrive on bended knee, a love that keeps marriages alive despite stress and illness. Despite dark nights and infidelity, a love that goes out to those who are different from you in any way.
Show me a man writhing on a cross and I will be moved to pity, disgust, horror at the inhumanity of man to man. Show me a man writhing on a cross out of love. Surrendering his flesh to crucifixion. Because he loves me, then I will be drawn by faith… by self-giving to love in return. This is the challenge of Lent… of Holy Week. The effort of love to attract love, his love to attract mine.
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I leave you with a poem from rock star Alice Cooper who converted to Christianity in 1995. He said:
"Like Jesus, I went into the desert and learned to regret all those false gods. I want to reach out like Christ, we should all try to become other Christs."
He wrote:
"I wish you a deeper and deeper unity with God, I pray that you feel it. May the presence of Christ spin your mind, may your bones tremble, may your blood thin, may your very pulse create a din; aware that heaven is not up, but heaven is within. Share it, give it."
Homily for this Sunday from Father Robert Warren, Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, Garrison, NY
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