Invocabit 2024
Invocabit – The First Sunday in Lent
St. Matthew 4.1-11
February 18, 2024
You’re a sinner, it’s true. David says in Ps. 51, “Surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Confessing this entails the danger of acceptance. Why change? Why even try?
In today’s Gospel, the Lord Jesus shows us how to fight sin. But that would not be enough, if we were left to our own strength.
St. Andrew of Crete, an eighth-century bishop and hymnwriter, addresses his own weaknesses in his Great Canon of Repentance: “The mind is wounded, the body is feeble, the spirit is sick, the word has lost its power, life is ebbing, the end is at the doors. What then will you do, wretched soul, when the Judge comes to try your case?”
“The mind is wounded, the body is feeble, the spirit is sick, the word has lost its power, life is ebbing, the end is at the doors. What then will you do, wretched soul, when the Judge comes to try your case?”
“The mind is wounded.” This is not reserved to those whose brains have suffered an injury, or who have an intellectual disability. The mind is wounded by the sins of others; the memory of betrayal, rejection, and lies embitters.
The mind is also wounded by our own sins. They make us callous to sin – or laden with guilt, and thoughts of worthlessness.
Chiefly the mind is wounded by poor discernment, calling good evil and evil good.
“The mind is wounded, the body is feeble.” Your body is feeble not just because it is dying, but because it controls you. The desires for food and drink, sleep and substances to ward it off make us slaves to desire. Cravings consume. Attempting to truly fast reveals how feeble we are.
“The mind is wounded, the body is feeble, the spirit is sick.” The spirit which should seek union with the Holy Spirit instead is turned inward. We are twisted and corrupt.
“The mind is wounded, the body is feeble, the spirit is sick, the word has lost its power.” Where is the Word of God in your life? Does it drive your decisions? Does it shape your soul? Or, when it is used, is the Word of God simply chosen in bite-sized pieces to justify what you’ve already decided?
“The mind is wounded, the body is feeble, the spirit is sick, the word has lost its power, life is ebbing, the end is at the doors.” If today you will not heed the call to repent, then when? How much time left do you really have? “What then will you do, wretched soul, when the Judge comes to try your case?”
You have not imitated the saints. Your life mirrors the world and its ways.
The Ten Commandments are far from your mind. You are slow to forgive. And are you growing worse?
Would you not have turned the stones into bread, if you had that power? Would you not leap from the temple’s pinnacle, and soar through the air, dazzling the crowd? Would you not seize the kingdoms of the earth, imagining you could use them for good?
The Son of God became man to destroy the works of the devil. The Son of God became man to be faithful where you are not. The Son of God became man to call you to repentance.
He summons harlots and thieves to repent, receive His absolution, and sin no more.
He summons you also. But you will need to in fact repent.
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders, “Tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you” (Mt. 21.31). Why? Because they listened to John the Baptist, who said one word to them: “Repent!”
The Lord Jesus took on our flesh. He experienced everything you experience: hunger and cold, loneliness and fear, desperation and pain. He was tempted in every way you are.
He sympathizes with your weaknesses. He comes alongside you and says, “I was hungry for you; I was alone in the wild places for you; I was hounded by the demons for you. For you they called me mad. They told lies about Me, falsely accused Me. They offered Me riches, threatened Me with stones, lashed Me with whips. They crowned Me with thorns, pierced Me with nails, ran Me through with a spear. In all this I know your weakness and sorrow. On Me were heaped your sins. I was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your iniquities. By My wounds you have healing.”
Glory be to the Lord Jesus, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit has loved us who, by sin, have made ourselves quite unlovely. Let us fast with Him, watch with Him, pray with Him, and most of all take up His Word.
This day, this week, this holy season put the Word of God deep into your heart. Put it on your lips early in the morning. When in the heat of the day sloth, anger, or greed comes upon you, take it up again. Respond to the assaults of demons, world, and flesh by saying, “I do not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Respond to the assaults by saying, “I will not put the Lord my God to the test.” Respond to the assaults by saying, “I will worship the Lord my God only; Him shall I serve, come what may.”
Respond to the assaults with the continual cry, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner!” He fought with the demons and won. He fought the world’s allurements and won. Through fasting and denial He made His flesh weaker than yours, but He did not submit to its cravings. He will support you all the day long through this troubled life. Commend yourself to the Crucified Victor, for He will abundantly pardon, strengthen, and bless you, come what may.
✠INJ✠