TrustingFIRST

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F LENT

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It Happens in the Desert, Georgina Furber 2018, Santa Teresa NT

Guidelines for LeadersWhat you will need:

• purple fabric• Bible • large purple candle• matches or lighter

What you will need to do:

Organise for sacred space to be created.

Organise for comfortable seating to be arranged so that those gathered can see the prayer space and each other.

Invite members of the group to take on the roles of

• Lighting the candle • Readers for the Psalm

and Closing Prayer

Welcome and IntroductionsWelcome participants and provide a brief introduction to the program. Adapt the words below to suit your situation.

Leader:

A very warm welcome to each of you.

Let us take a moment to introduce our-selves to the group.

People say their name in turn around the group.

We meet together this Lent with the invitation to recognise compassion as a given and received expression of God’s love for each of us. We are challenged to be this expression to others.

As we gather each week, we will be in-vited to enter into times of stillness and silence, times of reflection and prayer, times of listening and sharing. At each gathering, we will be asked to reflect on a different theme based on the Sunday Gospel.

These gatherings are an ‘unplugged time’ with phones out of sight and reach, turned off or on silent.

We ask that you will respect times of si-lence, share only what is comfortable for you to share and respect the confidenti-ality of the group.

These gatherings are a good opportunity for us to connect with different people so we encourage you to sit in different places each week. The gathering will commence each week at _________ and conclude at _________.

Opening PrayerAs the candle is lit, we begin our prayer:

Leader: We gather in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

In this time of Lent, we recall God’s gracious mercy and compassion, as shown to us in the words and deeds of Jesus Christ. Our Lenten journey calls us to be bearers of God’s mercy and compassion to others.

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Prayer of TrustYou know the way for me,

you know the timeInto your hands, I trustingly place mine.Your plan is perfect, born of perfect love.You know the way: your way is love.

© 1991, Michael Herry fms. Administered by Willow Publishing Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Leader: God of all space and time, your Holy Spirit leads us through the wilderness so that we, like John the Baptist and Jesus, might more clearly hear your voice. May your Holy Spirit guide and direct us, to open our minds and hearts, to be prophets of your word, and to grow into deeper relationship with Jesus your Son.

All: Amen.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 91:1–2. 10–15. R. v.15)All: Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Reader: You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”

All: Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Reader: No evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

All: Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Reader: On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

All: Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Reader: Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honour them.

All: Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Sharing the Good News Leader: As we listen now to the Gospel we ask

God to speak to us through this story. Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells in the scene. Notice if a word or phrase moves you or evokes a response within you. Write this word or phrase in the space provided after the reading.

From the Gospel of Luke (4:1–13)

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”’

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,

saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

After a period of silence the leader invites participants to share their word or phrase. This period is not intended as a lengthy discussion. Participants may add a brief explanation for their choice.

Reflecting the Good NewsIn the beginning, the middle and the end of today’s gospel, Jesus is tempted. A common response to this story is to wonder: how can this be? After all, Jesus is the visible likeness of the unseen God. (Col 1.15) Even more tantalizing is Luke’s insistence that the Spirit led Jesus into temptation in the wilderness. This seems to be at odds with the plea in the Our Father: lead us not into temptation. Clearly, something profound is going on in the wilderness, something that we can’t allow ourselves to side-step, particularly in these Lenten days. Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. That’s where our own faith can be white-anted by these same temptations.

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The first temptation foresees stones turning into bread. An entrepreneur smells opportunity. A magician feigns amazement. A disciple confronts a key question: who do you think we are? Indeed, whose do we think we are? Have we fallen for the claim that each of us can be and can do anything that tickles our fantasy? When we face our truest and deepest self, our soul – often enough through illness, accident, or life – what will we see?

The first temptation is triggered and fed by the hunger of the human heart. Having spent forty days fasting in the wilderness, Jesus is described as “famished”. Like us, he’d eat anything, no matter how out of date or hard to swallow. But there’s something more to this temptation when we recall that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a village whose name means the House of Bread. From his earliest days until his last, Jesus is the Bread of Life to anyone who believes it is possible. Everything else is stone when compared to and contrasted with the Bread of Life. Can you swallow that? The temptation is to desert our deepest self, our truest identity, nurturing our deepest hungers and desires with stone rather than with He who is the Bread of Life.

The second temptation would have us bow down before lesser gods. Real Estate’s key word is location, location, location. How are we tempted to locate or to position ourselves so that we always benefit? In giving us the gift of life, Jesus gives us unlimited opportunities to locate ourselves alongside those with whom Jesus associates; the unimportant, the marginalised, those doing it tough. Yet it is so easy to locate ourselves close to tin-pot gods who promise much but deliver so little.

The third temptation sees Jesus being encouraged to throw himself off the heights of the Temple with the expectation that

God will happily intervene, sending angels to protect him. How fanciful, imagining that we call the tune God dances to! Both on the pinnacle of the Temple and on the cross on Calvary’s height, Jesus chose to remain, rather than to come down. To love is to remain. To flee is to fear. And fear drives out love.

What if we say no this Lent to stones masquerading as fulfilling bread; if we say no to settling for a God who is too small; if we say no to expecting dramatic interventions by God? Amid all these ‘nos’, we might say a big ‘yes’ as we wander in the wilderness where the Spirit doggedly leads us.

Leader: After the group has watched, read or listened to the Gospel Reflection invite each person to contemplate quietly to hear the words echo in their heart.

Echo in the HeartTake a moment to write down any personal insights, new ideas, questions or challenges you have from the Gospel Reflection.

Living the Good News – Lives of CompassionThis week Peter Arndt shares his experiences of compassion, given and received.

• What are my responses to the story this week?

• What encouraged me, challenged me, inspired me?

Sharing and DiscussionQuietly reflect on the questions below.

When you are ready, share with the group your response to one or two questions.

• What/who are some of the ‘lesser gods’ we are tempted to ‘bow down before’ in society today? How might these be an opportunity for growth in the spirit?

• What are the hungers of the human heart you witness around you? What does Jesus as the Bread of Life offer to satisfy these?

• Reflect on an experience of temptation/being in the wilderness in your own life. What/who was helpful to you at this time?

• How can we position ourselves alongside those with whom Jesus associates?

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TAKEHOM

EActs of Compassion - Day by Day

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Lent is a transition time, a time to look honestly at our journey of faith as walk with Jesus to the cross.

Jesus’ wilderness experience was a pivotal moment in his journey and his extended period of temptation was a profound time, which would determine how he would move forward. Jesus faced himself, and his willingness to stay true to God’s path.

• How can we allow this Lenten period to be a time of looking honestly at our journey of faith and our willingness to say yes to God?

• During this week, take some time to reflect upon the things that fill your heart.

• Does your heart belong to God, or are you easily led by other distractions?

• In what ways is Jesus the bread of your life?

Lent is an opportunity for shedding the excess and clothing ourselves in Christ.

• Do you look to things and/or people to provide a sense of wholeness, or do you look to God?

• Take a few minutes to reflect upon the ‘time wasters’ and the ‘money wasters’ that you allow into your life. During this week, what action could you take each time these temptations lure you?

When Jesus was tempted it was a watershed moment – when he faced himself and confirmed who he was, in the very depth of his being.

St Clare of Assisi knew that wholeness came from facing herself through the mirror of Christ’s love and mercy. She invites us to gaze upon ourselves and see Christ within, to be transformed into the mirror of eternity.

• Are you able to allow yourself to see Christ when you gaze at yourself in the mirror (both physically and spiritually)?

Place your mind before the mirror of eternity; Place your soul in the brilliance of glory;

Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance; And, through contemplation,

transform your entire being into the image of the godhead itself,

so that you too may feel what friends feel in tasting the hidden sweetness

that, from the beginning, God Himself has reserved for His lovers.

… May you totally love Him who gave Himself for your love

at Whose beauty the sun and the moon marvel Whose rewards and their uniqueness and grandeur have no limits….

St Clare of Assisi, ‘3rd letter to Agnes of Prague’ in Clare of Assisi: The Lady – Early Documents, p51.

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Closing PrayerLeader: This week we are invited

to put aside our fear and travel with Jesus to the desert places: to place our trust in the God who is there by our side and who protects us from harm.

We are challenged to open our minds and hearts to truly hear and respond to God’s word.

No One Lives on Bread AloneNo one lives on bread alone,But on every word that comes

from the mouth of God.

1. Worship none but God alone. Serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

2. Do not test the Lord your God, For his kingdom will prevail at the end of time.

3. Jesus through your holy cross, Make me strong in faithful love in the time of trial.

© 2013, Michael Herry fms. Administered by Willow Publishing Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Leader: Confident in God’s love and compassion, we pray:

Reader: Give us trust in the Holy Spirit who urges us into the wilderness and accompanies us during our doubts, temptations and times of trial.

God of mercy and compassion:

All: Hear our prayer.

Reader: Give us hunger for Jesus, the true Bread of Life, that we may be bearers of your life for others.

God of mercy and compassion:

All: Hear our prayer.

Reader: Give us the courage to resist the shine and lure of the ‘false gods’ which draw us away from your life-giving grace.

God of mercy and compassion:

All: Hear our prayer.

Reader: Give us the courage to hope in you and to know that even though we may be fearful, we do not walk alone.

God of mercy and compassion:

All: Hear our prayer.

Leader: Lord God, in every age you have been your people’s help and guide. You call us to hear your word and to respond with willing hearts and minds. On our journey to you, may we always be sustained by your living Bread, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, holy and mighty God, for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

BlessingLeader: May the Lord bless and keep us,

May the Lord shine his face upon us, and be gracious to us, May the Lord turn his face towards us and grant us his peace. (Num 6:22–27)

All: Amen.

Leader: Before we take leave of each other, let us share a sign of peace.

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