The readings for the First Sunday of Lent - Year C may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030925.cfm
On this first weekend of Lent,
the evangelist St. Luke tells us of Jesus' journey into the desert,
where He faced temptation for forty days.
For us,
Lent is every bit a time of battling temptation against the devil,
just as Jesus did.
You know,
we don’t talk about the devil much.
We don’t talk about hell much.
In fact, we often doubt they exist.
And the devil wants it that way.
Our unbelief makes his job so much easier.
In the desert, Jesus suffered temptations, as we all do.
Being “filled with the Holy Spirit” doesn’t make us immune to temptation.
In fact, it probably guarantees temptations will come harder and more often.
Because we have something of value - our soul.
And the devil wants it.
But we don’t need to be afraid, because God wants it too.
And Jesus has passed this way before.
Jesus fasted for forty days.
Weak, hungry, vulnerable, and needing food that God was not giving Him.
So the devil hit him at his most basic level of need - Jesus’ physical hunger.
Aiming to get Jesus to doubt himself and doubt God.
The devil uses the same tactic against us.
At times we can feel like God doesn’t care.
That he doesn’t appreciate our effort,
that God is asking too much.
And we can forget that suffering is part of the human experience.
This doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us.
Jesus dismisses this first temptation,
by turning to sacred scripture for nourishment and strength.
Failing at getting Jesus to give in this first time, the devil changed tactics.
He offers to give all worldly power to Jesus if Jesus will worship Him.
Again, Jesus rebuffs his advances turning to sacred scripture for support.
Now, the devil may not offer us the whole world,
but at our weakest moments,
he absolutely tempts us
to choose worldly ways,
focusing on immediate gratification
and our tendency to think of ourselves first.
After failing for a second time, the devil tries something even more devious,
tempting Jesus to test God.
He does this,
knowing that for Jesus to give in to this temptation
would jeopardize his whole public ministry that is yet to come.
But Jesus responds confidently - once again quoting sacred scripture.
Finally, the devil left him - but only temporarily
as he will show up in the garden of Gethsemane later this Lent in the form of a serpent.
The same form he used to usher in our fall in the Garden of Eden.
He keeps coming at us as he came at Jesus in the desert.
But unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus stayed the course.
Unlike us, Jesus never fell.
Yet the devil and his temptations persist.
He tries any way possible to get us to doubt God’s plan.
He targets our weaknesses and our tendency to get down on ourselves.
He uses our sense of unworthiness and impatience.
Who would choose hunger over food?
Who would choose poverty over riches?
Who would pass up greatness and reward now with no guarantees of what comes next?
We might ask ourselves similar questions when we are faced with temptation.
Justifying the choice we want to make and minimizing the sin.
And that’s exactly what the devil wants us to do.
Yet Jesus gave us the answers to the test.
Jesus countered each temptation with sacred scripture.
We too must arm ourselves with God's word to resist temptation.
Just as Jesus fasted for forty days,
we are called
to practice self-discipline and sacrifice during Lent.
Amidst life's distractions,
we must prioritize our connection with God through prayer and reflection.
Rather than testing God,
we must pray for greater faith in His wisdom and timing,
trusting in His plan.
And when we fall short - as we all do -
we must do a proper examination of conscience
and go to confession to get right with God
and receive the sacramental grace we need to be strengthened
for the battles ahead.
Always mindful that Jesus faced these temptations not only to overcome them for himself
but to teach us how to resist temptation in our own lives.
This week,
let us pray for the trust, humility and perseverance
we need to follow His example.
