My Sisters and Brothers:
As we begin this Holy Season of Lent, today’s Gospel describes “The Temptations of Jesus in the Desert.” We’re told the tempter (i.e., “the devil”) approached Jesus as he fasted and prayed, and he offered him various alternative options to his purpose and mission. However, in response to each of these “ungodly” temptations, and to paraphrase just a bit, Jesus said to him: “Get away from me Satan, for it is written: Truly, one can only live on the word that comes from the mouth of God, and the Lord your God you shall worship, and him alone you shall serve” (see Matthew 4:4, 7&10).
These “temptations” of Jesus, and his resistance to them, may incline us to reflect on our own experiences of being “tempted,” and our own struggles resisting them. It’s possible when we’ve “given in to temptation” we may have been quick to proclaim the easy excuse “the devil made me do it!” After all, didn’t Eve use the same excuse in the Garden of Eden; after eating from the tree of knowledge, she proclaimed “the serpent deceived me, and so I ate” (see Genesis 3:13). But let’s be honest and admit such rationalizations are simply nothing more than disingenuous “self-justifications.” And isn’t it true such excuses are meant to relieve us from taking personal responsibilities for our actions?
This makes me think of a sign I've seen posted on a tree along a country road on which I sometimes travel. It reads: “Alcohol is Satan’s Brew!” As Catholics, we don’t ascribe to the theology underpinning the sign’s message: that is, our world is a place involved in some kind of not-yet-completed cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil. In such a world, the power of Satan would be very real, as he would continue to command forces and dominions, and he would have the ability to tempt and to destroy the otherwise Godly (this being said, I must here note that people with mental health issues and addictions are subject to forces involving different dynamics altogether; their difficulties and setbacks should never be cited as examples of temptations gone awry due to moral weaknesses–but that’s the subject of another essay). The cosmic battle scenario noted above would suggest the possibility of a devil’s power somehow rivaling the Almighty and Powerful God. And this would involve understandings of spiritual realities Catholics simply do not accept.
We believe everything in the created order is good and holy, because God created all that is; this was affirmed when Jesus was born into this world (i.e., the Incarnation of Jesus Christ confirms the goodness and holiness of everything on earth). We also believe the birth of Jesus anticipated our salvation; because he would die on the cross and then rise from the dead, he was able to accomplish for all people a definitive and final triumph over all sin and death. And so, from a Catholic perspective, the only power of the devil over material things is that “surrendered” by otherwise healthy people said to be “tempted.” We believe such people, especially those empowered by God’s eternal grace, are actually enabled to have complete control over “ungodly” temptations and sins. And so, they must then take responsibility for their failures, because their so-called “losses of control” were really always voluntary, even if something like a so-called “Satan’s Brew” was involved!
Today, as we contemplate “The Temptations of Jesus in the Desert,” we are invited to consider the various “temptations” we might face, and how we can overcome them as we strive to be men and women of faith. We believe “one can only live on the word that comes from the mouth of God, and the Lord our God we shall worship, and him alone we shall serve!” Therefore, let’s not be distracted by the false promises and the deceptions of any “ungodly” temptations that might come our way. And let’s be sure, “the devil really can’t make us do it!” We are in control, and God gives us every power and grace we need to live good and holy lives. And so, as we enter this Holy Season of Lent, let’s seek a renewed sense of our own purpose and mission as people who live in a very concrete and material world! My friends, let’s truly resist all temptations as we “turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel!”
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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