Our Lenten journey began with Jesus in the desert facing the temptations that would have destroyed his mission. Satan tried to persuade him to put his trust in something other than his Father. The same temptations constantly face the Church and every follower of Christ. Yielding to them – relying on prosperity by turning stones into bread, relying on prestige by leaping spectacularly from the pinnacle of the temple into the arms of angels, relying on power by ruling all the kingdoms of the earth and forcing people to comply – would mean working not for God’s kingdom but for our own. God’s promise is infinitely beyond anything that prosperity, prestige or power could offer. Any person or institution which put its trust in such things would inevitably sell the message short. Jesus’ trust in his Father was not just a matter of words. It would lead him to the Garden of Gethsemane: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want" (Mt 26:39). It would lead him to the desolation of the Cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt 27:46) It would lead to giving everything, even his life, into the Father’s hands (Lk 23:46). That unlimited gift is received into the glory that he had with his Father before the world was made (Jn 17:5). The Good News of Easter is endlessly demanding; we constantly find ourselves placing our trust in things that are not God. For all of us, the Easter promise is reached through Good Friday, through giving everything to our Father as Jesus did on the Cross. For most if not all of us, the process of learning to put all our trust in God will be completed only in Purgatory. But Easter is full of infinite promise. Life is a Lenten journey in which we learn that the greatness of what God offers does not rely on the things we cling to. Painful times for the Church and for individuals are moments of learning where our real hope lies and of learning that, because of Easter, a new creation has opened up in which everything that is good in human life will be found, glorious and transfigured, freed from every evil and limitation, in the glory that Jesus shares with his Father (Gaudium et Spes 39) +Donal Murray Easter 2003 ends |