First Sunday of Lent- Safe Haven Sunday!

First Sunday of Lent-Safe Haven Sunday!

God created everything and “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). God created mankind, blessed them, and gave them dominion over all creatures (Genesis 1:27 & 28). The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Basic scientific research, as well as applied research, is a significant expression of man's dominion over creation. Science and technology are precious resources when placed at the service of man and promote his integral development for the benefit of all. By themselves, however, they cannot disclose the meaning of existence and of  human progress. Science and technology are ordered to man, from whom they take their origin and development; hence they find in the   person and in his moral values both evidence of their purpose and awareness of their limits.” One of humanity's many inventions is the internet, which revolutionized computing and communication. Today, our everyday life is so dependent on the internet, but we have to be conscious of its dark side.

First Sunday of Lent, we are celebrating our first annual Safe Haven Sunday themed Equipping the Family, Safeguarding Children. Every year, we will be celebrating this awareness weekend in our Diocese. The Internet offers us many opportunities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw much greater use of it. Safe Sunday is to remind us that there is a dark side to it, and it could destroy our lives and the lives of others. What are they? There are numerous dark sides, but we focus on pornography. In 2015, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a pastoral letter, in response to this crisis, called “Create in Me a Clean Heart.” This is the third year we are celebrating Safe Haven Sunday. We gave our religious education families a copy of the book Connected. Those who would like a copy of this book can find it at the entrances. This book is published by Covenant Eyes, an organization that provides software to help protect and hold accountable those who use technology. We cannot avoid the internet, but we can train our children and ourselves to use it wisely. The  Lenten season invites us to discover our true selves. What are the obstacles in our lives to discovering our true selves?

The first Sunday of Lent is about temptation and how to resist and overcome. Do you think there is an evil spirit in the world? Yes, there is. This weekend's reading invites us to reflect on our daily lives and the challenges they present. Are we tempted to do…..or to say….or to see….or to listen….? If so, you proved yourself to be a human being. But Lent invites us to repent and receive grace to embrace new life. Lent is a time to set aside our minds' tendencies and focus on Jesus.

In the first reading from the book of Genesis (2:7-9; 3:1-7), the fall of the crown of creation, Adam and Eve. St. John Paul II writes in his theology of the body that, in the beginning, God created Adam and Eve and gave them a perfect world to live in. Their love was so perfect. God blessed them with the gift of caring for each other and for all of God’s creation. The first man and woman joined in love, a union in which they were “naked without shame.” There was no need for shame or embarrassment, because they were perfect in love. As we read in the first reading, they lost the unity, peace, and perfection of love as soon as they fell into the temptation and sinned.

The Gospel of Matthew narrates the Temptation of Jesus in the desert. Jesus goes into the wilderness to rescue man from his exile in sin. In the book of Genesis, Satan tempted the first Adam amid the beasts in paradise, and he failed. But even though Satan tempted the new Adam, Jesus, among the wild beasts, he won the victory. In the old exodus, the Israelites spent forty years in the desert and were tested. In the new exodus, Jesus was being led by the Spirit into the wilderness and tested for forty days. The presence of ministering angels to sustain Jesus in the new exodus recalls the angel who guided the Israelite in the desert in the first Exodus. We read in Exodus 23:20, “See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.” The first Adam’s fall brought death and alienation. The new Adam, Jesus, through His filial love for the Father, brought forth the new Israel of God. Jesus began the campaign against demons, death, and disease in the desert and continues it through his proclamation of the Gospel. Jesus trained his disciples on how to overcome the devil. He offered on the Cross for our offenses and led us to new freedom. God led the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. In the new exodus, Jesus, the new Moses, leads us to slavery of sin to life.

In the Lenten message, Pope Leo invites us to embrace this season of conversion, this season of grace, with an open heart. He says, “I would first like to consider the importance of making room for the word through listening. The willingness to listen is the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into a relationship with someone.” Then he states that God listens to us by quoting the book of Exodus (3:7), “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry.” Then discuss the ancient practice of fasting. He says, “Precisely because it involves the body, fasting makes it easier to recognize what we 'hunger' for and what we deem necessary for our sustenance. Moreover, it helps us to identify and order our “appetites,” keeping our hunger and thirst for justice alive and freeing us from complacency. Thus, it teaches us to pray and act responsibly towards our neighbor.” In addition, he says, “I would like to invite you to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor. Let us begin by disarming our language, avoiding harsh words and rash judgment, refraining from slander and speaking ill of those who are not present and cannot defend themselves. Instead, let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media, and in Christian communities. In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace.” He closed his message by emphasizing the communal aspect of the Lenten season, “In which listening to the word of God, as well as to the cry of the poor and of the earth, becomes part of our community life, and fasting a foundation for sincere repentance. In this context, conversion refers not only to one’s conscience but also to the quality of our relationships and dialogue. It means allowing ourselves to be challenged by reality and recognizing what truly guides our desires — both within our ecclesial communities and as regards humanity’s thirst for justice and reconciliation.”