Homily for Lent 1 - February 21, 2021

 

Homily for Lent 1

February 21, 2021

The Free Gift of Love

 

            The difference between Christianity and all other religions is that all other religions are man’s search for God, while Christianity is God’s search for man.

            It was He Who took the initiative and sought us out. He extended His hand in friendship through His covenants, which He first swore to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. He urged us through the prophets to be faithful to that relationship. But even that wasn’t enough – God was desperate enough for us that He took on flesh to win us back to Him. Upon the Cross, he swore the new and everlasting covenant, written in blood, inscribed by nails, upon the parchment of two beams of wood.

            During Lent, we often focus on things we do for God. We pray, we give things up, we fast, we give generously to the poor. And these things are good – but we do these things only because God acted first – it was He who called to us long before we ever called out His Name; it was He who loved us even before we knew who He was. Everything we do for God is only a response of gratitude for what He has already done for us. Salvation is already purchased, and it is a free gift given to those who receive the gift with gratitude.

            There was a thirteenth-century saint named St. Mechtilde from Germany, who was going through a deep spiritual crisis. She was doubting whether she could be saved. Despite being a nun and consecrating her whole life to God, she feared that her sins were just too overwhelming. For years she went through this trial, until finally she had a vision of Jesus, Who showed His Sacred Heart to her. He told her to observe the great love that burns within His heart, and said, “Consider how great is My Love: [as I said in the Gospel], as the Father loves Me, so I love you.” She was immediately consoled and reflected: if the Father can love Jesus perfectly, so can Jesus love us perfectly, despite our weaknesses!

            Of course, feeling unworthy is not just a problem for the middle ages! Just this past week I spoke with someone who said they felt unworthy of God’s love. I told him, “Yes, you are unworthy. So am I. That’s the point. It’s a free gift – we don’t earn it, we receive it.” We don’t do our Lenten penances to try to earn salvation, or to deserve His love, or be worthy of Him. We can never deserve it, earn it, or be worthy of it. We receive the gift of love and salvation, we delight in it, we live our lives in gratitude for it.

            So this can help us to actually rejoice in our Lenten penances, because our Lenten penances are not our attempts to earn salvation, but a generous response of love to Him Who first loved us. All we need to do is cooperate with the grace He is already giving us freely. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are three ways to open ourselves to that grace. What a difference it is to realize we don’t have to earn salvation, but only to receive it with open hearts and generous souls!

            One day Saint Francis went missing. His religious brothers looked everywhere, but could not find the saint. A couple days passed, and finally a couple of the brothers found him in the middle of the woods, crying and holding a crucifix. He was calling out over and over again, “Love is not loved! Love is not loved!”

            The immense love of God for us is overwhelming, everlasting, endless. It’s so nice to know that we don’t have to earn it, deserve it, or be worthy of it. All we have to do is accept it with open hearts and grateful lives. The invitation has been offered – will you accept?