First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:4-10/Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2.10-11.12-13.14-15 (R. cf. 15) Second Reading: Romans 10:8-13/Gospel Acclamation: Matthew 4:4b/Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
Theme: With Christ, I Can Overcome Temptations!
We are already in the 40-day journey of the Season of Lent, a period of special grace borne out of self-denial, penance and conversion. With prayer, fasting and alms-giving, we enter the spiritual battlefield to wage war with our spiritual enemies under the commandership of Jesus himself. Today, the first Sunday of Lent, we are presented with a very common human phenomenon we meet daily on our journey, namely, temptations. The readings show that temptations are germane to the human condition and that when they occur, God never abandons us; rather, he is right there with us to overcome them. They also show us their origin, nature, causes, effects and how we can overcome them in the power and grace of God. It is towards this direction, we now cast our gaze.
In the first reading, the Israelites make a confession of faith. They remember the goodness of God to them in their moments of temptations and afflictions. In return, they offer their first fruits to him. They do this because, they see that God is love, and he is able to intervene even in the worst of conditions, the so-called ‘impossible’ situations of humanity. In this regard, we read thus: “A wandering Aramean was my father; and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. Then we cried to the Lord the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders; and he brought us out into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Deut. 26:5-9).
Again, we notice that Moses teaches the Israelites how to show appreciation and give thanks to the Lord for delivering them from the cruel hands of their slave-masters, Egypt. He tells them to offer their first fruits to God in this vein: “You shall take the first fruits which your land yields, the land the Lord, your God, is giving you, and place them in a large basket and bring it to the place chosen by the Lord, your God as a dwelling place for his name” (Deut. 26:2). The priest shall then take the basket of first fruits and set it down before the altar of the Lord (cf. Deut. 26: 4). The Israelites then say: “And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me” (Deut. 26:10). After this, they bow before God in worship (cf. Deut. 26:11). Thus, a life of gratitude, praise and worship must attend our Lenten journey.
Furthermore, we should understand that God never leaves us to our fate even when the going gets tough. Rather, he comes to our help in moments of distress, pain, suffering and seeming shame. Most of the time, we become so much aware of the temptations, but less aware of the presence of God. We are conscious of the difficulty, the angst is too strong, and we limit the ability of God whose grace is enough for us and whose power is manifested fully in weakness (cf. II Cor. 12: 9).
Like the Psalmist, we need to be more aware of the divine presence and like the Israelites, cry out to God thus: “Be with me, O Lord, when I am in distress” (cf. Ps. 91:15b). Let us learn to ‘hide’ ourselves in the shelter of the Most High and the shade of the Almighty, which is prayer. This involves a practical union, a conscious, personal and intimate relationship with God. We have the assurance from the second reading that: “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13). Surely, a life of fervent and committed prayer is needed in our daily Christian lives, but it must characterise and be intensified in our Lenten observance.
Apart from prayer, let us also exercise our faith in God and employ the invincible artillery of the word of God when we are tempted. The word of God is a powerful force, and so St. Paul tells us in the second reading: “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach” (Rom. 10:8). We are to confess with our lips and believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord and that, by his resurrection, he has defeated even our worst enemy, death. God’s word deepens our faith, and with it, we will never be put to shame (cf. Rom. 10:11).
In addition, we learn in today’s Gospel that the origin of temptations is the devil, even though our own sinful and untamed desires can also make us susceptible to temptations (cf. Jas. 1:13-15). St. Luke presents Jesus as one undergoing a long fast spanning forty days and forty nights. As our master when he became human, he was tempted; so also every human being would be tempted! We cannot be human and not be tempted. Like Jesus, all of us will also be tempted always: “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Lk. 4:13). The opportune time presented itself throughout the earthly life of Jesus. For instance, when Peter tried to prevent him from going to Jerusalem to die for the world, Jesus called him Satan, that is, Tempter in Hebrew (cf. Mk. 8:33). In the Garden of Gethsemane, he was tempted again not to undergo his passion and death (to drink the cup) which will bring salvation to the whole world (Mt. 26:39, 42, 44). Here, we see Jesus combining strong faith, genuine fasting, deep prayer and the unadulterated and well-interpreted word of God as spiritual ammunitions to combat the devil. He has given us a lesson, and every disciple of his must be schooled in and conversant with spiritual weapons for spiritual warfare so as to overcome our own temptations!
Beloved in Christ, we would always be tempted in the areas of pleasure, power and possessions. Yet, we need to overcome our three spiritual enemies: Devil’s temptations, worldly pleasures and concupiscence. When the Israelites are tempted in the desert, they succumb but Jesus remains resolute, faithful and obediently trustful. By his power, we too can stand firm in temptations. He is faithful and will never let us be tempted beyond our strength. Rather, he will give us together with the temptation the means to escape and to resist (cf. I Cor. 10:13). For this, let us be happy, hopeful and joyful! We pray that we may feel the loving embrace and ever-abiding presence of God with us, and may he equip us with his grace now and always. Do have a spirit-filled Lent! Remember: #With-Christ-I-Can-Overcome-Temptations#
