FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
6 MARCH 2022
Jesus
is filled with the Holy Spirit, who had hovered above him in the form of a dove
when he was baptized. His identity is
confirmed by the Father’s voice: “This
is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Now the Holy Spirit leads his Beloved Son into the desert for forty
days, where he is tempted by the devil.
Saint Luke uses the Greek word diabolos,
which literally means the “slanderer” or “false accuser.”
Not only is
Jesus the Beloved Son of God, he is also a son of Adam. Our first parents heard the half-truths of
the slanderer and fell for his half-truths.
Eve saw that the forbidden tree was good for food. It was a delight to her eyes. The slanderer told her that it would make her
wise. As a result, they convinced
themselves that God was withholding something from them. Their disobedience introduced death, the
ultimate separation from God.
Jesus is
also a descendent of his ancestors, who spent forty years in the desert going
from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. They too were tempted, and failed each
time. When they complained that they had
no food, God sent manna. When Moses did
not come down immediately from Mount Sinai, they doubted that God was with them
and worshiped a golden calf of their own making. When they won battles against their enemies,
they forgot that God had been the source of their victory.
In the
desert, Jesus has fasted for forty days.
As a son of Adam, he is hungry and very vulnerable. The slanderer exploits his weakness and
tempts him to use his power as the Son of God to turn stones into bread. Jesus resists the temptation, because his
mission is to serve the needs of others, and not his own. He resists the temptation to receive immediate
power and glory, because this would be a shortcut to avoid the cross. In resisting the third temptation, Jesus
understands that his mission is not to be a showy demonstration of power. The slanderer departs from him for a time,
knowing that there will be other vulnerable moments when he can tempt Jesus to
depart from the mission given him by his Father. Jesus will resist all the temptations of the
slanderer. He will conquer the power of
sin and death by entering into death himself.
Only after embracing his Father’s will and entering death will he receive
dominion over all kingdoms of heaven and earth.
The Holy
Spirit has led us, the Church, who have become the Father’s beloved sons and
daughters through Baptism, into this forty-day desert of Lent. We are sons and daughters of Adam and
Eve. We are descendants of the Israelites
in the desert. We have believed the half-truths
of the slanderer too often. There is
nothing wrong with physical pleasures in themselves. But when we put all our energy into sensual
gratification, we fall into gluttony and lust.
When we embrace power and riches as ends in themselves, we are prone to
avarice and greed. When ostentatious
displays become our goal, we become prideful and full of ourselves.
If we can
embrace the Lenten disciplines for these forty days, we can learn to strengthen
our faith and turn more completely to the Lord Jesus, who died and rose that we
might have life. When we fast, we learn
to master a better sense of self-control.
When we give alms, we learn the lesson of detachment and avoid the
temptation to create false needs. When
we pray, we humble ourselves before God, relying on his grace. These disciplines are not intended to punish
us for our sins. Rather, they are
intended to strengthen our wills to make choices that bring life and not death. They can make us more resistant to the lies
of the slanderer who takes advantage of us when we are vulnerable. These disciplines are intended to prepare us
to renounce the power of the slanderer and to affirm our faith in the Father,
the Son, and Holy Spirit at Easter.
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