For
some reason I can’t eat seafood. Every
kind of seafood makes me very sleepy. This has made me a popular invitee at
lobster boils because the host knows that there will be all-the-more for
everyone else. Simply put: I cannot be tempted with lobster. No amount of coaxing, peer-pressure, trickery
or bribery will get me to don a plastic bib to dip the rich meat in melted
butter. My point is you can only be
tempted by things you want. For me,
chocolate chip cookies are another matter.
In
Luke’s Gospel (4:1-13), we hear of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. These temptations are real, each is something
Jesus wants. Bread, Jesus wants to eat
and he wants enough for others to eat as well. Political and judicial power, Jesus wants the
politicians, magistrates and peace keeping officers of the world to act in
accordance with the will of God. The top
of the temple, Jesus wants all religious people to worship the one, true God.
But
in each case Jesus refuses the things he wants, the things he will live and die
for. Why? Because the one law that overrides everything
else is freedom. God has blessed us with
freedom, particularly the freedom to accept or reject God. Jesus chooses to abide by this principle
rather than to do anything that will trick, force or bribe people into
worshiping God.
At the start of Lent each year we are invited, to observe a holy Lent by
self-examination, penitence, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and by reading
and meditating on the word of God. Lent
is a time to prepare for Easter and to renew our life in the paschal mystery of
the death, resurrection and return of Jesus Christ. Lent is a time to be renewed in our spiritual
journey so that we can freely worship God.
Order of Service for Lent 2013
Order of Service for Lent 2013
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