21 February 2021
First Sunday of Lent
“When he calls on me, I will answer him; I will deliver him and give him glory,
I will grant him length of days.” – Psalm 91:15-16
In a couple of weeks we will hear about the tenor of the 4th Sunday of Lent reflected in the Entrance Antiphon for that day, which gives it the name Laetare Sunday. Yet, each Sunday has its own Entrance Antiphon which helps us to enter into the mysteries which the Church contemplates that particular day. We might refer to today as Invocabit me Sunday, from the first words in the verses from the Entrance Antiphon from the psalm above. How does this image of one calling out to the Lord help us enter into the mysteries we contemplate during Lent, and in particular this Sunday’s Gospel?
In these words of the psalmist we hear the voice of the Lord speaking of one who knows his neediness, who gives voice to his dependence upon the Lord, and whom the Lord meets and responds, delivers from evil, gives what is good, and makes His gifts lasting. These last actions of God are especially contemplated in Holy Week and the Easter season. Lent is supposed to help us prepare for joyfully contemplating those gifts, but what is it that helps us prepare? “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days…” (Mk 1:12-13) Just as Jesus embraced the Chosen People through the Old Testament promises, born in the hometown of David the King and baptised in the Jordan River which the People crossed to enter into the Promised Land, so our Lord embraces the People the place where they came to know their needs and their dependence on the Lord: the desert.
How shall we let Christ meet us in the desert? How shall we come to know our needs and our dependence upon the Lord? Prayer. Fasting. Almsgiving. Let us make our dependence known by little ‘deserts’ of prayer in our daily and weekly schedule, times when nothing else is there except the Lord (even if this is a brief time), whom we need more than all else. Let us make little ‘deserts’ of fasting. Especially in this country we consume a lot of food, drink, clothing, media, etc., etc., etc. In which of these areas can I make a little ‘desert’ in which instead of taking in more, I accept a little hunger instead, and let that hunger point me to the Lord who fills us with His Word? Lastly, just as the Lord concretely met the needs of the People in the desert, He commanded them to meet the concrete needs of those in their midst, especially the widows and orphans and sojourners, those with no one else to help. How can I embrace my dependence on the Lord by making a little ‘desert’ in my possessions so that Christ’s love might flow through me to meet the needs of someone in my neighborhood or city? May these deserts help us to call on the Lord and so be open to his infinitely generous replies.