Gospel-Homily for First Sunday of Lent (2025)

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Years ago, I knew a priest with a long gray beard. People referred to him as the Santa Clause priest. He was very inspirational. Soon after I was ordained, I talked to him about my early struggles in the priesthood. For example, when I got yelled at because the youth group got into the bingo balls and lost a few of them. And when I got yelled at for the snow on the church steps because there was a blizzard, and when I got yelled at by some of the folks in the back of the church– “I couldn’t hear you.” That is because the speaker in the back didn’t work. This lamenting prompted the Santa Clause priest to ask me, “Peter, do you pray?” I replied, “Of course, I pray. What priest doesn’t pray?”  He continued, “That is not what I mean.  Do you pray in a way that your batteries get recharged? Are you transformed? Are you a new man who can do things you could never do before?”  I truthfully answered, “That usually doesn’t happen.” He then advised me, “Peter, you need to learn how to pray.”

When Jesus entered the garden of Gethsemane, He looked like a soldier who wanted to desert the army. He fell to the ground. He was weak and afraid, and he asked His Father to allow the cup to pass by Him. When Jesus left the garden, He looked like a five-star general who was about to save the world. And He did. He was entirely transformed! What happened in such a short span of time? Prayer. Jesus wanted us to see what happens when we pray.

Running a marathon is an amazing experience. Yet, it is not just about crossing the finish line. It is about what you do before you get to the start line. It is the lonely hours of training in the dark, the advice you get from the coach and experienced people, and the time you charge the batteries when you are transformed to do something you were never able to do before.

It says that Jesus went into the desert to pray, charge up his batteries, and transform himself to do things he never did when he was a child in Nazareth. He is preparing to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, raise the dead, and save the world from sin. That is why we need Lent. We need these forty days to charge up the batteries, to transform ourselves to do things we never were able to do before– to be generous as never before, to make and keep promises better than before, to carry the cross and forgive like never before. Christianity is not about attempting to do great things; it is about what we do before we attempt to do great things.