1st Sunday of Lent--God is with us, always. That is our only strength



It is no secret that there are a lot of trials and tribulations going on here our world and in our lives.

This goes beyond politics, the government, terrorism...people are truly hurting in our world.  We are hurting.

This pain and this suffering can keep us from being true to ourselves; from being those persons capable of so life, of so much love.

The temptation is to believe that God is testing us, that God is punishing us, or my least favorite saying “God only gives us what we can handle.”

This not the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Jesus reveals, by actions, by his words, by his very self, that God is with us.
He reveals the Good News that the Father loves us and that the very core of who we are as persons, is that we are all children of God.  
We are all his beloved sons and daughters.

In the Gospel, what precedes Jesus going into the desert is his baptism and that pronouncement that He is the beloved Son of God.

This is his anchor.  
He knows and has experienced that he is Loved by the Father.

It was his strength to be able to resist the trials of Satan;
He did not fall into the traps of power, materialism, of status.  

And even at Jesus’ final temptation, as he hung on the cross, nailed and in agony… he knew himself as loved by the Father.  He knew that the Father was with him.

What Jesus tells us is that it is the same for us.

Just as Jesus experienced pain in life, brought on by the ignorance, fear and anger of others, so will we.

We will be hurt by others.   We will experience illnesses and bad situations.
We will feel isolated.

And what is to be our strength is that the Father loves us as much as the Father loves Jesus.

And there is nothing, nobody that can take that away
No politician, president, terrorist; no pope, priest, or preacher,
No abusive spouse, parent or child, no bully, criminal, racist…
No cancer, disease, or accident...

The Father will always love us.

That is our strength.

That is the sacrament we celebrate each Sunday...We are the Father’s children, we are as Jesus, as we eat and drink of his body and blood.

And when life turns hard, difficult… hold onto that.

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