First Sunday Of Lent

Maryknoll lay missioner Joanne Blaney in Brazil reflects on power and transformation.

As Lent begins, may we renew our commitment to prayer and individual and social transformation. We listen to the cry and moans of our brothers, sisters and planet, sometimes feeling impotent to create change. I believe that today’s Scripture readings speak to our context, question our attitudes, and enlighten and strengthen us in our commitment to Gospel values.

Our first reading emphasizes the origin of human beings, Adamah, a Hebrew term for earth. It offers a beautiful image of God as a potter with whom we and the earth are intimately connected. The narrative tells us that God’s message is one of living in the garden earth in communion with Divine and all things. To preserve their joy, the only request of the first humans is to treat the earth with respect and to not eat fruit from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

However, the narrative tells us of temptation: “your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who now what is good and what is evil.” This choice to choose unbridled power, to be equal to God leads to conquest and maintenance of power that over centuries, we see leads to lies and oppression rather than God’s generous providence of dignified living conditions for all people.

Today’s Gospel also speaks of temptations to power. After days of fasting, Jesus was tempted by the devil to turn stone into bread. At the time, the doctors of the Law, legitimized wealth and physical well-being as divine blessings. Jesus, however, devotes his mission to the sick, suffering and most excluded in society. The devil then tempts Jesus to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple, a symbol of prestige and protection within the religious hierarchy. We know that Jesus chose another path, one of service, courage in denouncing injustice and ultimately death on the cross.

In the final temptation, the devil offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for his worship. This reveals the idolatry of power: elevating oneself or one’s group to dominate people, property, and the earth. Jesus repeatedly rejects being crowned king, directing his life instead toward building a community of justice, fraternity, and peace.

This has been an incredibly painful process for Alex who said that the nonviolence and restorative justice course helped him to “express his fears and anger, cry out “enough” to vengeance, forgive his father-in-law and work on a plan to dialogue with him.” He has already started to implement this plan and is committed to bringing the peace he has found to his family, community, and parish. By choosing a nonviolent, dialogical path, Alex has also been able to mediate other conflicts, including one in which a neighbor attempted to kill another.

Our second reading reminds us that through one righteous act, life came to all. May we, this Lenten season, be strengthened by Alex and so many others in our Cloud of Witnesses who resisted and overcame temptations of violence and abusive power. May Jesus’ mission to defeat evil in all its manifestations give us the courage to be strong in our example and actions. May we be arduous workers for a just and nonviolent society and promote the right to a dignified life for all.

Photo credit: Earl Wilcox at Unsplash.