DYING WITH CHRIST TO RISE WITH HIM (Lent and Easter 2011 - A)

1st Sunday of Lent A: (Gen 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Rom 5:12-19; Mt 4:1-11)
Theme: we welcome the Tree of Life in our life and, be nourished by Its Fruits.
Reflection:
- Lent : time of grace and time of salvation
- Lent : time of preparation and purification
- Lent : time of prayer and penitence
- Lent : time of stepping ahead with lot of hope amidst the world full of temptations

1st Reading:
- Garden signifies not the place of temptation as we see in the reading.
- Garden was created by God to be the ‘meeting point’ or ‘place of unity’ between God and first parents; Garden therefore, is the place of ‘coming’ and ‘listening’ to God; Garden thus, is the post where God and man meet.
- Such a beautiful significance is lost today by the fall of man.
- The Garden is to meet God and listen to him, means, the word of God is to be accepted and welcomed.
- In this regard, two sins can be pointed out as we meditate on this reading:
o Sin of disobedience and going astray from God: because the Word of God is not listened, not accepted and not welcomed, and thus emerges the sin of NOT DOING WHICH IS TO BE DONE
o Sin of obedience and coming closer to the devil: because the word of the devil is listened, accepted and welcomed, and thus emerges here, the sin of DOING WHICH IS NOT TO BE DONE.
- One, sin against God by rejecting his word and command; the other, sin for the sake of devil by accepting his word.

Gospel:
- Three conditions which are very dear to the devil:
o The three situations/human conditions in which the devil takes chance of tempting: hunger, prestige and power. Man is also very tentative to fall in these situations very easily and so the devil knows well where, how and when to hit the man and make him fall.
- “Possibility of falling” and “Possibility of firm resistance”
o Jesus at the very beginning of his ministry/his actual mission reveals the truth of the ‘possibility of falling’ into the hands/mindset of devil and he also assures us that there is also the truth of ‘the possibility of standing firm’ against the undesired/unwanted consequences.
- The three practices of lent are the answers for three temptations
o The three practices of lent are: the fasting, the prayer and the charity.
o The three most possible temptations in one’s life are: the hunger, the fame/prestige and the power.
o Fasting has to win over the temptation of the ‘hunger’, which also spiritually signifies, forgoing or keeping asides the “desires of the body and mind” (physical contempt, accumulation of goods, greediness of many wants) and striving for the “desires of the spirit” ( the sharing, feeding the others, seeking the good of the other).
o Prayer has to win over the temptation of the ‘prestige’ or ‘false fame’, which also spiritually signifies, giving up of/renunciation of “one’s self” (personal importance, selfishness, egoism and the attitude of bossing over) and taking up of/giving into the “other” or “otherness” (sacrifice, living for the other, going out of one’s own being and giving room for the Spirit’s action).
o Charity has to win over the temptation of the ‘power’, which also spiritually signifies, refusal of the “putting on the crown of glory” (seeking for the self-glory, want of being authoritative, attitude of commanding) and accepting “the thorns of servant” (positive attitude towards humiliation, insults, and throwing oneself at the service of others).

Finally we have the hope of the ‘tree of life’ planted by God amidst us: Jesus Christ.
- In the beginning of creation God has planted the tree of life in the middle of the garden and said to the man not to eat it.
- In the beginning of new creation in time and space, God has planted the ‘tree of life’ in the person of Jesus Christ, His Eternal Son, in the middle of the garden of the world and invited man to eat the fruit.
- The tree of life is always in the midst of us:
o John, in his Gospel, reminds us that ‘The Word Made Flesh’ has pitched his tent ‘amidst us’.
o Jesus himself, in his discourse about the kingdom of God, tells that it is already ‘amidst us’.
o When he is going back to his Father he has assured us that his presence would be always ‘amidst us’.
- The most visible and admirable ‘tree of life’ amidst us is the ‘cross of Christ’.
- The tangible and perceptible and administering ‘tree of life’ amidst us is ‘the Catholic Church’ which leads us to the true tree of life with her preaching and sacraments.
Therefore, we will move on in our walk of life towards the joy of resurrection by ‘welcoming the tree of life (Jesus) and be nourished by his fruits of the Spirit’.