Today, after our pre-Lent program, we are celebrating the first Sunday of Lent. We are called to give much time to our daily meditation, sacrifices and fasting for the remission of sins. We must do some kind of penance, personal and communal, and for our constant omission of the practice of Christian piety. We are called to focus on our spiritual redirection of our life towards God.
On the first Sunday of February, February 4th, some of us missed fulfilling our Sunday obligation because of the snowstorm. There were 10 to 12 inches of snow on the ground, and most of the roads were hardly passable for the commuters. Drivers experienced the difficulty to see their own direction because of the heavy snow. This is an image of our own burden and the sins we carry for so long that we lose track of our own direction, and we don’t realize to stop, look, and listen to signs and warnings available for us to know where we are in our relationship with God and others.
Today is an opportunity to heed and listen to the Words of God to journey around here on earth, with confidence and determination, to reach our destiny of eternal life with God.
The epistle today, taken from the 2nd letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, begins by calling the people, including us, to work together and that the grace and love of God, which St. Paul has been preaching, is not to be in vain. One way of doing this is to be reconciled with God and others. St. Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah (49:8): “In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Right now, he tells us, is an acceptable time; the day of our salvation is right here. God is bestowing favor and salvation at this very moment as he addresses his letter to us too.
This epistle relates also to our experience of finding joy, happiness, and peace in the midst of hardship, pain, rejection and persecution. There is always peace that Christ bestows upon us, which no one can take away. More importantly, our common experience that living out the gospel of love and peace overcomes those difficult and threatening experiences of hatred and violence. If we compare ourselves with St. Paul, most of us will find that we give up too easily in the face of crisis. I believe that Christ has been present in every experience. Our sufferings are indeed, as were for him, a privileged time to share in the sufferings of his Lord.
The gospel of St. Matthew narrates to us the temptation of the Lord as part of his public appearance. Satan tempted Jesus in three specific ways: (1) to turn stones into bread, (2) to cast himself off the temple, and (3) to worship him. We are often tempted in similar ways. What lessons could we get from this gospel pericope as we journey through Lent?
The evangelist Matthew tells us, “The Spirit led Jesus out into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” Though Satan tried to tempt Him, he was not successful in deceiving Jesus, for He is the new breed of humanity, faithful to listen to the voice of God and being driven by the Spirit, who was guiding Jesus in this experience of temptation. Jesus came out victorious because He was prepared by the Spirit to encounter and to face temptations from the enemy of God. Jesus never succumbs to temptations, even during the most vulnerable moment before His passion, when Satan seduced Him to abandon His mission; however, He placed Himself in His Father’s hands, completely keeping His Father’s will.
Satan challenged Jesus to prove His divinity and, in doing so, meet his own need for food. Satan said, “Tell this stone to become bread.” Temptation takes advantage of the situation of Jesus meeting His physical need; however, Jesus trusts His Father despite His own ability to perform a miracle.
Jesus is not teaching a spirituality which overlooks physical need. Jesus declared that man does not live by bread “alone.” Of course, we need food to live, but there are other needs of man besides food. This broadens the scope of temptation to all material things, like desires for money, cars, wealth, and other possessions. While it is fine to have and enjoy those luxuries, it is our attitude towards them that counts. Where is our heart? Jesus sets the right priority. We are simply called upon to trust God to provide our needs in His time, in His way, and with His result. Fulfilling the Will of God and being obedient to Him is more important than food and other attractions to material things.
Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and asked Jesus to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple to show that God had been watching over the care of His Son. Satan was demanding the fulfillment of the promise. This is also our temptation when we jump into a task or position in our community to appear that we are doing God’s work, and we become presumptuous and unwittingly fall prey to Satan’s temptations.
Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and shows Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.” Satan added, “All these I will give Thee, if falling down Thou wilt adore me.” Satan has temporary power as an enemy of God, but the kingdoms of the world absolutely belong to God and Christ, His Son. Thus, Satan builds on deception and false claim to gain power through idolatry. When we continue to worship other things or people and offer wrong allegiance with our hearts and affection, other than to God, to gain power is idolatry, which will result in our spiritual disaster.
As we journey deeper into this Lenten season, may we be attentive to the inner and outer voices that shout their false promises. Let us seek out Jesus, even in deserted places. May this gospel give clarity that we worship God alone by following Christ’s example.
God bless you.
Fr. Arlon, osa