This Lent we will have a homily series on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The title of this series is “Healing our Wounded Hearts,” because we will take the opportunity to focus on how this beautiful Sacrament Jesus has given the Church can heal our hearts that are wounded and broken by sin. Each Sacrament Jesus has blessed the Church with is a powerful channel of His grace, especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I promise you won’t be bored as we reflect on the Sacrament of Reconciliation over the next 5 weekends. I think of it like examining a beautiful diamond. As you spin it around, all of its various facets catch the light in different ways. So let’s take this journey together during Lent to understand the beauty and power of Jesus’ grace which comes to us in Reconciliation to heal us in deep and profound ways.
While I was praying about this Sunday’s Gospel I kept thinking of paintball, of all things. The first time I went paintballing was when I was in seminary. I remember being fairly put off by the bulky face shields we were required to wear. They were uncomfortable and fogged up easily as you ran around the paintball field. But then something happened that changed my perspective. I got shot in the face! The facemask made a lot more sense after that. I realized that an awkward face shield was worth it to avoid getting a paintball in my unprotected eye. I’m no doctor, but I bet that wouldn’t turn out well. Over time, I became more used to the face shield, to the point where I barely noticed it on my face in the heat of combat.
I would imagine that those of you who played football had similar experiences with your pads. Probably the first time you tried them on they seemed bulky and cumbersome, but over time you got used to them and they became easy to wear while running, catching, throwing and tackling. Or if you are in law enforcement, I bet there was a period of adjustment to wearing a bulletproof vest before you got comfortable in it. You firefighters probably can remember how heavy your suit felt the first time you donned it. But once again, practice probably made it easier to handle.
Armor is something that we need to get used to, but once we have, it becomes almost an extension of us, helping us compete in ways we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. I’m sure right now in some lab they are testing out new body armor to help soldiers fight in the field. When we go into combat, it makes sense to use armor that we are comfortable in. This helps us fight and defend ourselves effectively.
Jesus goes into the desert to do combat with the devil in today’s Gospel, and He certainly goes into that fight with armor ready. The desert in Sacred Scripture is a place of trial and testing. The people of Israel were tried in the desert for 40 years and only then were prepared to finally enter the promised land. Jesus enters the desert to show all of us what it looks like to fight using the full armor of God.
The desert is the perfect place for Jesus to show us how to behave in temptation, because it was a place where He was pushed to His human limits. Jesus was fully human, like all of us. His body required nutrition, but as the Gospel reading tells us, Jesus ate nothing during the 40 days he spent in the desert. In one of the greatest understatements ever, St. Luke tells us, “He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over He was hungry.” Ya think?! Studies have shown that humans can only survive for about 40 days without any food. So humanly speaking, Jesus is in a very weak state when the devil comes to Him. This is how it is with us. The devil tempts us all the time, but he especially goes after us when we are not at our best, on a human level.
The devil is no idiot. He knows that we have legitimate needs, but he wants us to make those needs into an idol. When we are hungry, he wants us to make food our god. This is what the temptation to turn the stone into bread is all about. And how does Jesus respond? Calmly and powerfully with the Scriptures: “One does not live on bread alone.” Next the devil tempts Jesus with power, falsely claiming that he can give Jesus ultimate earthly power and glory. Again, Jesus responds with the true authority of God: “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you serve.” Finally, the devil attempts to get Jesus to put Himself in harm’s way by falsely interpreting the Scriptures to Jesus. But once again, Jesus responds with the power of God’s Word: “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Jesus shows us how to respond to temptation–not with our own power, but relying solely on the power of God. When we turn to God and allow His power to be our armor, no temptation can overcome us.
We experience temptation through three different ways–the world, the flesh and the devil. Firstly, there is the world. We live in a fallen world and things are not set up to help us grow in virtue. Just look through the movies and shows available on the different streaming services and you can see that this is the case. Many things out there in our world can pull us away from God and the person He has made us to be. If we want to become better versions of ourselves, we have to resist the temptations of the world. It is the same thing with our flesh. Not our literal flesh, but our weak spirits. Even though we have been cleansed from sin and renewed by Baptism, there is still concupiscence in us. Concupiscence is our tendency to be attracted to things that will harm us. We know we shouldn’t eat the whole pint of ice cream, but dang, it’s so delicious! Our flesh fights against the best version of ourselves, too. Finally, there is the devil and all evil spirits. The devil and all the fallen angels want to separate us from God, others, and the person God made us to be. When we give into the devil’s tempting thoughts, it always harms us and our relationship to God and others.
So the important thing to do is recognize that while we are in this life, we are in a battle and we need armor. Jesus shows us today what the best type of armor is–God’s grace. When He quotes God’s Word in the face of temptation, Jesus shows us the power of God at work in humanity. Jesus was fully human, and as such He let the power of God carry Him in the midst of temptation. When we are being tempted, the secret is not to focus on the temptation, but to focus on God. If we focus on ourselves when our flesh is enticing us to sin, we turn ourselves away from God and shut ourselves off from His power. When we try to argue with those tempting thoughts the devil puts in our minds, we ignore the voice of God inviting us to trust in Him. When we immerse ourselves in the brokenness of the world, we ignore our Father who made us for more than just this world.
This is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is so powerful. It gives us the ability to be armed with God’s grace for the battle of life. Too often, we keep on falling into the same temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil because we fail to embrace the armor of God’s grace for the strength to get through them. If we only go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation maybe once a year, it is that much easier for us to forget about the armor this Sacrament gives us.
We tend to think of Reconciliation mainly in terms of being cleansed from sin, but it is about more than that. Reconciliation is about admitting our failures in battle, being healed from the wounds of those failures, and then being clothed in fresh armor to go into battle victoriously in the future! In one of the versions of the Act of Contrition, we pray: “I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.” The key words there are, “with the help of Thy grace.” If we are to be successful in the battle with temptation, we need to have the armor of God’s grace firmly in place. How do we do this? Through simple prayer, turning to Jesus when we are in the midst of temptation. When we turn to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our moments of trial, we tap into God’s power to carry us through!
At the end of Reconciliation, I usually say, “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace.” This means to go in wholeness, to go with God’s grace as your armor. I want to challenge each of you to pray about making Reconciliation a monthly habit. Doing this will help you each month to let God put that armor of His grace on you once again so that you can fight well in your daily battles and thus become a better version of yourself.
It may feel a bit awkward at first to go to Reconciliation that often, but think of it like getting used to new armor. It is a bit awkward at first, but over time, it becomes part of you. Reconciliation is supposed to be part of us, constantly there to strengthen us, with God’s help, to confess our sins, do penance and amend our lives.
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for never abandoning us in our temptations, but helping us with your abundant grace. Jesus, thank you for giving us the Sacrament of Reconciliation to heal us and give us the grace to conquer temptation. Holy Spirit, increase our desire for the Sacrament of Reconciliation in our lives so that more and more we can be victorious in the fight against sin. We ask this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen. +