By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
First Sunday of Lent: March 6, 2022
Deuteronomy 26: 4-10; Romans 10: 8-13; Luke 4: 1-13
The Holy Father quipped the other day: the past few seasons of lent have had unprecedented surprises for us… the last two years, with the waves of covid-19 and the present one with the tragedy of the war that has begun! Testing Times never lack!
It is not only about the world or humanity in general, but even in our personal lives we do not lack testing times! Every person goes through these times in quite a succession! Lent is proposed to be a workshop to train us for testing times that might come our way, all through our life! The way we go through them would determine the quality of maturity that we have developed as Christ-ians.
Today the Word gives us three lessons on how to confront these testing times:
1. Our Disposition: Be Prepared to Wander
The First reading invites us to understand our history! My father was a wandering Armenian – the people are taught to repeat it, in order that they may never forget what they were once in their history. To forget our history is to lose a part of ourselves. When good things happen in life, we praise God profusely and express feelings of tremendous attachment to God. In a short while if a testing moment comes by, we mourn and groan as if we have never known the Lord and the Lord’s mighty power! What a schizophrenic disposition that can be!
At times we need to be prepared to wander a bit; that is live in a wonderment, now knowing what would happen next – like we lived those waves of covid, and as we find ourself amidst this absurd war that is on. In fact, every one who has reached some significant point with the Lord in his or her life experience, has definitely passed through a phase of wandering. It is an essential spiritual experience to get closer to oneself, to each other and to the One who leads us. In that moment of wandering we have experiences which we would never have otherwise, are we disposed to gather those experiences from our tests, trials and temptations in life?
2. Our Approach: Never Cease to Ponder
The One who leads us into the wilderness, knows what is in store! But it is on our part, a responsibility, a task, a requirement to ponder on what happens around. When covid came by, we saw the real stuff people are made of: how some were heartless and how some were golden in their hearts; how some were so scared, and how some were so incredibly courageous. And today we are seeing the colours of many a society and sections of the world, as we see people reacting to this unwarranted war!
We would miss it all if we do not keep pondering on our way, even as we wander. Pondering is such a powerful exercise that it can makes sense of everything that happens, in its own time of course. When we cease to ponder we run the risk of wandering without purpose; the point is wandering with a specific purpose, in a specific direction…which the Lord alone knows. How will we get to know from the Lord, by pondering. That is why Mary kept everything in her heart and pondered. In God’s own time, provided we are ready to ponder deep, things will certainly make sense, even our own weaknesses and failures!
3. Our Attitude: Be ready to Surrender
The worst of things that we can do when things are not clear, that is when we are wandering, is to panic! To panic and restlessly look to have a solution as soon as possible. It is in that hurry and restlessness that we make most of our mistakes in life. Be it nations, or governments, or institutions, or authorities, or we individuals, when we panic, we run all the risk of making a mistake. Instead, what we need to learn is, to surrender!
While wandering and pondering, that specific purpose, that specific direction will be revealed to us in time, in the right time! The challenge is to wait for that right time with patience and endurance. Being in the wilderness is not an easy task, isnt it! It is indeed a challenge to surrender and not to fret. Surrendering would first involve the humility of saying to myself: I am not in control of everything. Secondly, it would mean lifting my eyes to accept that God is in-charge. And thirdly, it is a serene acceptance of God’s will with utmost cooperation on our part, not rushing through or forcing things.
No doubt, our life can get tiring and tough, through our testing times. But only when we are tested, we could be sealed TESTED-OK!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He has a doctorate in theology with specialisation in catechetics and youth ministry at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him.