St. Anthony & Our Lady of Fatima

Three pairs of words resonate throughout our gospel today: lost and found, rebellion and repentance, return and rejoice. The awesome image of our loving God, the radiantly compassionate image of Jesus, the healing music of the Spirit which are implicit in today’s gospel, are most encouraging. Isn’t it wonderful that God in Christ welcomes outcasts and eats with them! Isn’t it fascinating that the Spirit is found in unexpected places, among outsiders, the homeless and the undesirable? Isn’t it delightful that God sees us a long way off and runs to greet us on our return? Then there is the rich symbolism of the family ring and the robe. Rejoice and be glad. Our God is truly prodigal! When Jesus welcomes sinners, when he eats with them, when he sits with the outcasts, he is demonstrating God’s love reaching out to heal and save the world. Jesus is the living proof and demonstration of the parable of the Prodigal. His prodigal compassion is clearly visible in every aspect of his own ministry. Have we the courage to turn and return to him with repentant hearts in these days of holy Lent? Are we coming home to Christ? Are we sitting beside Jesus as we listen to his story?

After the stark reading about the temptations of Jesus in last Sunday’s gospel we hear the gospel of the Transfiguration on the second Sunday of Lent. The story, found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, is an extraordinary one, narrating a mysterious event which deeply struck the disciples. Jesus is seen transformed by three of his disciples.

His face is changed and he wears brilliant clothing, which suggests the life of the resurrection. Moses and Elijah are with him. These two great figures from the Scriptures were believed, after many trials, to have been taken to the presence of God. No burial-place of Moses was ever found. Elijah, it was believed, had been taken up to heaven in a chariot. Luke says that they speak with Jesus of his ‘passing’ or ‘exodus’, his leaving this world to return to the Father, that journey through suffering and death which they too have known. It is as if they provide encouragement as Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem and to death.

The story of the Transfiguration is very elaborate. We read it in Lent both to focus on the triumph of Jesus beyond the cross, and to hear again the words: This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him! Above all it invites us to accompany Jesus as he journeys through death to the life of the resurrection, a life which God prepares for us too, a life we can scarcely imagine. 

It is an ancient tradition that we read the gospel of the temptation of Jesus on the first Sunday of Lent. There is the obvious connection that Jesus spends forty days in the wilderness, but there are deeper reasons. In each of the synoptic gospels we are told how, before his ministry begins, Jesus, filled with the Spirit, encounters the spirit of evil. It is what his ministry is all about. It is what our lives are all about. To overcome evil with goodness is the constant challenge of the gospel.

In the longer narratives in Matthew and Luke we are given what amounts to a profound reflection on the nature of temptation. To use God-given powers for selfish ends is a temptation rife in our modern times. To worship the source of evil recalls our modern confusion about what is morally good and morally bad. To put God to the test is similarly familiar. Jesus withstands each of these tests. Our gospel ends with the departure of the devil ‘to return at the appointed time’. Luke knows that the critical time will come at Calvary. 

The third and final section of Luke’s Sermon on the Plain begins: And he told them a parable. There are actually four parables, three of which we read today. They are all about how to be a good disciple.

The blind cannot lead the blind. And a disciple cannot be a good disciple unless he or she has learned from the teacher. Everyone who is fully trained is like the teacher who knows how to cure the blind. Before you can be a good disciple and teach others you must take care of yourself. Do not try to take a speck out of your brother’s eye until you have taken the board out of your own. Finally, only when you have purified yourself can you produce the good works that the teacher requires. Discipleship asks us to produce good deeds. But to produce them requires the integrity and purity of heart found in the teacher. When people see your good deeds they will know that this is because you have a good heart.

The final parable, which we do not read today, is about building on the solid foundation of rock and not on sand. This is the only way to face the difficulties a disciple will encounter and survive.