by Fr. Tommy Lane
As the priest imposes ashes on our head on Ash Wednesday, he says either, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” or “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” Whichever one the priest says, it is full of meaning. Remembering that we are dust and to dust we shall return, reminds us that the goal of life is literally out of this world. Our goal is heaven. “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” is also full of meaning as it is what Lent is all about.
The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent each year is an account of Jesus overcoming Satan’s temptations in the desert. Two years ago, we listened to Matthew’s account (Matt 4:1-11), last year we listened to Mark’s account (Mark 1:12-15), this year we listened to Luke’s account (Luke 4:1-13) and next year we begin the cycle again with Matthew’s account. The temptations were attempts to deflect Jesus from his mission to save us, attempts to turn Jesus from the very purpose of his Incarnation, becoming a human like us. Of course, Jesus did not yield to the temptations. Jesus and the Father were perfectly one. Everything that Jesus said and did came from the Father. Being so perfectly united with his Father, we could say that Jesus was consecrated to the Father. Twice in John’s Gospel, Jesus refers to himself being consecrated to his Father (John 10:36; 17:19). Jesus being consecrated to his Father means Jesus does only the will of his Father and is at one with his Father. We see this in Jesus overcoming Satan’s temptations and above all in Jesus’ offering of himself to his Father on Calvary for our salvation.
Priests and religious are consecrated to God but since around the time of St. Margaret Mary in the 1600s and her visions relating to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, consecration is viewed in a wider way. Since then, it has been common for many people to consecrate themselves, their families, and their homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It means being faithful about being Christian. I think we could say that it means surrendering our feelings and our desires to God’s will, surrendering our mind, our will, our thoughts, and our heart to God, and surrendering our body to God’s will. It means consciously and intentionally uniting ourselves with Jesus in living according to his will. Surely, we could say that is what Lent is all about: consciously and intentionally overcoming temptation like Jesus in our Gospel, so that we can be faithful Christians. To put it another way, Lent is about consecrating ourselves to Jesus (or we could say, renewing our consecration to Jesus in our baptism). Jesus was consecrated to his Father, united to his Father, and during Lent we want to consecrate ourselves to Jesus, uniting our heart with the heart of Jesus to do only God’s will.
Many people also consecrate themselves to Our Lady. They unite themselves with Our Lady as much as possible giving themselves to her and offering her all their prayers and sacrifices so that she can use them for the benefit and salvation of those most in need whom she knows best. In turn, we can expect Our Lady to protect us and intercede before her son Jesus for us and bring us closer to Jesus.
I would like to conclude by reading a consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is associated with St. Margaret Mary. As I read this prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I invite you to follow along and make it your own prayer and your own wish, and an expression of what Lent means for you.
I give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ my person and my life, my actions, pains, and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being other than to honor, love, and glorify the Sacred Heart. This is my unchanging purpose; namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore take You, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.
Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God the Father, and turn away from me the strokes of His righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in You, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from Your goodness and bounty.
Remove from me all that can displease You or resist Your holy will; let Your pure love imprint Your image so deeply upon my heart that I shall never be able to forget You or to be separated from You.
May I obtain from all Your loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Your Heart, for in You I desire to place all my happiness and glory, living and dying bound to You. Amen.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2022
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the First Sunday of Lent Year C
Overcoming Satan during Lent like Jesus in the desert 2007
Jesus our Model for Lent - Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving 2013
Related Homilies: Refocusing on Jesus during Lent 2024
Overcoming Sin and Temptation during Lent - Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving
Dying and Rising with Jesus during Lent
Overcoming Temptation and Sin during Lent because We Love Jesus 2008
From Ashes to New Life with Jesus 2020
Reliving the Temptations of Jesus
stories for Lent
Old Testament Readings during Lent