HOMILY for Thu in Week 3 of Lent

Jer 7:23-28; Ps 94; Lk 11:14-23

“Others, to test him, sought from him a sign from heaven” (Lk 11:16). Just as in the wilderness, when Jesus encountered Satan and was tested, so the same Greek word is used again here; Jesus is being tested, tempted, not alone and in a secluded place, but now among the crowds, presumably in a town. And this is not the last time that the devil returns to tempt and test the Lord. 

This dynamic of repeatedly being tested and tempted to vainglory, pride and power is important because it shows that Jesus has to make a conscious choice again and again to embrace his mission, to remain faithful to his Father’s call, to walk the way of the Cross for our salvation. 

There is a certain theory, very popular in moral theology, called the ‘fundamental option’, which basically says that once we’ve made a radical commitment, a fundamentally free choice for God and to follow Christ, then it is unlikely, even if we were to commit morally grave acts such as murder or adultery, to change that orientation towards God. But this theory is dangerously flawed, and contradicts Scripture and the moral tradition of the Church. Because, as our First Reading reminds us, it is possible for a people who are radically committed to God in a Covenantal bond, to turn from him. And this happens because each sinful act we commit rejects God’s wisdom to some degree. We prefer our own wisdom, the allure of sin, the pressure of the crowds, our addictions and our emotions. And, so, we turn from God towards ourselves and the crowds. Hence, Jeremiah says: “They did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward” (Jer 7:24).

Jesus’ rejection of the crowds’ temptation in today’s Gospel thus reminds us that in every moral decision that we make with freedom and knowledge, we have a genuine choice that has consequences for our moral orientation. We are formed by our deliberate actions either in God’s image, through grace, or in our own sinful image. So, we’re urged in our psalm response to listen to God’s voice “today”. In doing so, we reject Satan and his temptations, and we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and direct us. Hence, the Spirit, who is called “the finger of God” casts out the demons that would lead us astray. And the “kingdom of God”, or more properly, the rule of God comes upon us. Because when we reject sin and embrace God’s call, listening to his voice, to Christ his Living Word, and we turn towards him, then God’s rule, his reign of love, is “upon us”.

In this way, every time we affirm our fundamental “yes” to God, we are tested and strengthened by our moral decisions again and again to embrace our Christian vocation, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Christ (cf Mt 16:24). But a heart that is divided cannot stand. So, if today we should hear the Lord’s voice, let us not harden our hearts to him (cf Ps 94:8).