Homily, March 9, 2025
From The Pastor
Within the theological virtues of faith and love, hope is the common goal that unites us as a community of believers in the promise of God’s gift of redemption. Faith draws us toward a trusting relationship with God who seeks our oneness. Love is the essence and identity that stirs the heart and soul to the truth of who God is, and why God draws us to the Divine Self. Hope is the fruit of faith and love that animates the meaning and purpose of our lives.
At the beginning of the new year, Pope Francis initiated a biblical Year of Jubilee under the title ‘Pilgrimage of Hope.’ Why? It is an ancient practice of the Old Testament carried into the Christian era that celebrates the movements and actions of God that have culminated in our redemption through Christ. The Pope has chosen the theme of Hope to challenge and inspire all Christian people to cling to the promises of Christ and to promote gospel life in our generation. Its focus is reconciliation and peace.
Given the state and condition of our world today, the Pope calls us to live our faith in active and mature ways not only for our personal salvation, but to give witness to Christ for the sake of others. The world is longing for hope against the uncertainty of the social breakdown of our time. Christian hope is built on our identity in Christ and the meaning and purpose to which the Christ-life calls us. If our hope is only built on the things of this world, our lives will be restless, ill-directed, and focused only on personal stability, security, comfort, in the illusion of control. Our hope in Christ and the redemption he has gained for us leads and calls us to so much more.
The Lenten season is a prime opportunity to refocus ourselves in the faith we profess in God and the gift of the Lord Jesus. Hope is an undeniable necessity that creates the stability of mature human growth that leads to a virtuous and meaningful existence. For those seeking the promises of Christ, the gospels give us a clear template of what our life in Christ is to look like.
Lent is a time of personal reflection that attends to the faith we profess and what it means to us in the reality of our daily lives. Faith has little meaning if we fail to realize the hope and promise we are given in the dying and rising of the Lord Jesus. In Christ we are created. Our fullest identity is in Christ. Through Christ we are redeemed. In the power of the Holy Spirit the meaning and goal of our lives is eternal life. Please ponder the big picture here as you begin this holy season. In the big picture of God’s personal love for you in Christ, how is that bearing fruit in your life? The big picture: you are in Christ, holy and beloved, baptized and initiated into the Kingdom of Light, rescued from the Kingdom of darkness. God has claimed you and made you his own. In the dying and rising of Jesus your sins are forgiven, you have been made whole, worthy to enter the glory of heaven through Christ.
What does this mean to you personally? How does it affect the way you live and direct your life? Are you accepting all God has offered, promised, and confirmed in the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus? In Christ, what do you hope for? In Christ, do you live with the peace of hopeful trust in the surety of eternal life? In the confusion and uncertainties of the world, are you able to turn to the Lord in prayerful confidence of his provident care?
The readings today all point us in this direction. The first reading reminds us of the roots of our redemption. God rescued and claimed the Israelites in their cry for help under the weight of oppression. With a keen eye on the oppressed and the downtrodden, God receives our ancestors as his own forming them as his people made holy by their acceptance and surrender to God’s promise. The desperate and the suffering are given new hope in the actions of God.
Through the temptations in the desert, Jesus strengthens his identity in God as he commits to the meaning and purpose of his life. Jesus needed to test the resolve of his human nature against the temptations of Satan. Notice the Devil tempts Jesus in his identity with the Father. ‘If you are the Son of God…’ This will always be the primary temptation of the Evil one. When we are tempted in wide and various ways, we are being tempted to forget or give up our identity in God through Christ. Sometimes its for the sake of comfort and pleasure. Other times for power and glory. The temptation may be a direct temptation to worship someone or something other than God. All are against our nature and identity in Christ whom we profess as Lord and Redeemer.
As you begin the Lenten season, ponder your identity as a beloved of God. Stir up your love for Jesus. Find ways to love God through love or service to others. Pay attention to what gives you hope. What gives you peace with secure trust in God through all we have been given in the Lord Jesus.
God does not need Lent, we do. Consider sincere ways to focus your prayer, some act of self-denial, and show intentional care and concern for those in need. Build up your hope in Christ. Inspire hope in others. God bless you all.
Father John Esper
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