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To: Salvation
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The Temptation reveals three important things

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, February 17, 2013, the First Sunday of Lent | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Dt 26:4-10
• Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
• Rom 10:8-13
• Lk 4:1-13

“The whole story of the Temptation is misconceived,” wrote Monsignor Ronald Knox, “if we do not recognize that it was an attempt made by Satan to find out whether our Lord was the Son of God or not.” In so writing, he echoed many of the Church Fathers, who pondered the question of what Satan knew and what he wished to accomplish in tempting Jesus in the desert. St. Ephrem the Syrian wrote, “He tempted Jesus because a definite sign of Christ’s divinity had not yet been given from heaven.” Yes, Ephrem noted, Satan was aware of Jesus’ baptism, but thought the true identity of Jesus couldn’t be known until he was tested in spiritual combat, through temptation.

It is a point worth contemplating on this first Sunday of Lent for three reasons: temptation reveals the nature of our enemy, it reveals the reality of our situation, and it reveals the identity of the sons and daughters of God.

The enemy has many names, including Beelzebul, the evil one, the ruler of the demons and of this world, the serpent, and the tempter. He is not a metaphor or a myth, but a real creature, a fallen angel. Pope Paul VI, in an audience titled, “Confronting the Devil’s power” (Nov. 15, 1972), said that refusing to acknowledge the devil’s existence or to explain him away as “a pseudo-reality, a conceptual, fanciful personification of the unknown causes of our misfortunes” is a complete rejection of Scripture and Church teaching. Ironically, the refusal of so many—including not a few Catholics—to admit the true identity of the devil is itself a dark triumph for the great deceiver.

The name “the devil,” comes from the Greek word diabolos (Latin, diabolus), which means “slanderer” or “accuser.” He seeks to accuse and slander each of us before God in his relentless desire to destroy souls. In doing so he has a certain advantage, namely, that on our own merits we have no real defense against his accusations. The reality of our situation is stark: we are sinners who often give into temptation and, in doing so, make ourselves subjects of the ruler of this world.

This fact is part and parcel of Jesus’ forty days in the desert. His time there was a purposeful re-enactment of the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert. But whereas the Israelites failed, repeatedly, to obey, trust, and worship God, Jesus overcame the devil’s attempts to have him disobey, distrust, and deny God. “At the heart of the temptations,” notes Pope Benedict XVI in Jesus of Nazareth, “as we see here, is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives.”

We are rarely tempted to flatly deny the existence of God or to publicly curse him. Rather, we are tempted to gradually replace God, the highest good, with lesser goods: food, comfort, safety, possessions, and position. People rarely go from Christian to atheist in a matter of days or weeks. As Benedict points out, the devil is just as pleased when we demand that God caters to our wishes as he is when we reject God altogether. They are, in the end, not so different, especially when it comes to destroying the life of grace. 

“But,” some protest, “Jesus had an advantage: he is God!” Yet all who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ (cf. Rom 6). We are children of God because, by the work of Jesus, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Today’s epistle states what is required in the face of temptation and trials: confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.

In facing the enemy and rejecting temptation, Jesus revealed himself. Lent is our opportunity to do the same, in the name and power of the Lord.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the February 21, 2010, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)


45 posted on 02/17/2013 6:26:20 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Regnum Christi

Lenten Training Camp
| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
First Sunday of Lent

Luke 4:1:13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, ´One does not live by bread alone.´" Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me." Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written: ´You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.´" Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said 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 guard you,´ and: ´With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.´" Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, ´You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.´" When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, in this season of Lent, I want to draw closer to you. I believe that you truly became one of us to save us as an act of love beyond all human understanding. I know I can count on you to carry me through each day. I know that in all circumstances you are with me. I want to love you more than myself and say “yes” to your will in every moment. I trust totally in your grace. Thank you, Lord! This Lent, I want to learn to love you as you deserve by being the person you want me to be.

Petition: Help me, Lord, to take advantage of this Lent and draw closer to you.

1. Holiness and Temptation: Have you noticed in the gospels that the only times we see Jesus being tempted by the devil are those in which Christ was in prayer or was doing penance ? It’s when he’s in prayer or fasting that he is assailed by the devil, as in today’s Gospel reading or in the Garden of Gethsemane on Holy Thursday. A similar pattern frequently appears in our lives, too. We make a decision to do something good and then promptly find it hard to do. What can we conclude from this? The fact is that when we’re mediocre, we run no risk of becoming holy and spoiling Satan’s plans . Thus, he has no concern for us. It’s when we start to strive for holiness that we will find ourselves face-to-face with temptation, because the devil begins to put all sorts of obstacles in our paths.

2. Detachment from Self: Lent is a time for us to renew our awareness of the suffering Jesus endured for our sake. That awareness should lead us to action. In this Lenten season t he Church invites us to a greater self-sacrifice. Sacrifice helps us to be more detached from the sources of temptation that can keep us from reaping the full fruits of Christ’s redeeming work and from loving God with an undivided heart. That’s why our Lenten sacrifice should really be something that purifies our hearts and makes us more generous with others. Our sacrifice should make us less self-centered. It should make us better followers of Christ.

3. God as Our Point of Reference: Overcoming temptation is not an easy business. In fact, it’s impossible without God’s grace. When Jesus was tempted, he showed us what our reference point should be: God. All three times the devil tempted him in the Gospel, he answered by putting God’s word and God’s will first. In order for us to persevere in our Lenten resolutions, we must center ourselves on God and rely on his grace. That means living close to Christ in Scripture – especially the Gospels. It means staying close to him in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to know myself better so that I can see what I need to do in order to live a holier life. Give me resolve, perseverance to keep up the good fight and carry through, and humility to seek your grace. Without you I can do nothing.

Resolution: I will offer my Lenten sacrifice with enthusiasm and constancy today, relying on God’s grace.


46 posted on 02/17/2013 6:31:09 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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