7-2-05 Dear Friend, Today we begin a new season, the season of Lent. Lent is associated with penance and people do not look forward to this season, yet the Church calls Lent a joyful season because the focus is not so much on penance for the sake of penance, but rather on preparing for the great mysteries of Easter. May His Word help us to make right choices. Have a joyful Lenten weekend! -Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: First Sunday of Lent Lead us not into temptation 13-2-05 Readings: Genesis 2:7-9; 3: 1-7; Romans 5: 12-19; Matthew 4: 1-11; In the first reading from the Book of Genesis we have the story of the tempting of Adam and Eve and in the Gospel we have the story of the tempting of Jesus. These are two sophisticated stories, and are not meant to be taken literally. They are essentially about making choices. The reading from Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve were given the possibility of making a choice. The basic fundamental choice was to live for God, dependant and obedient to His will, or to say 'no' to God, severing themselves from him and live in the illusion that they did not need God. They were tempted by the serpent, the symbol of Satan. They were tempted through deceit. They were tempted to believe that they could be Gods themselves. They disobeyed; they sinned and had to face the consequences of their choice. Temptations An American Indian was giving testimony about temptations. He said, "My brothers, I seem to have two dogs fighting in my heart. One is a very good dog, a beautiful white dog. He is always watching over my best interests. The other is a very bad dog, a black dog, who is always trying to destroy a lot of things that I want to see built up. These dogs give me a lot of trouble because they are always quarreling and fighting." One of his hearers asked him. "Which one wins?" The young man said immediately, "The one to which I say: 'sic em'." -Shades of: "If you walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.." H.A. Ironside in 'Tonic for the Heart' In the second reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans Paul reminds us of the social consequences of sin. Sin is never a private affair affecting only myself. When we sin all our relationships get affected: our relationships with our inner self, our relationships with our brothers and sisters, our relationship with our God and our relationship with nature and the world in which we live. The harmony is shattered and division and disintegration sets in. However, Paul reminds us that just as Sin came into the world through the disobedience of one man, Adam, so through the obedience of one man, Jesus Christ, forgiveness and reconciliation is granted to us. In the gospel we are reminded that just as the first Adam was tempted, so the new Adam, Jesus Christ was also tempted. Just as Adam and Eve had to make a choice so Jesus to had to make choices and re affirm his obedience to doing the will of his Father. Unlike Adam he made an irrevocable decision to do the Father's will no matter what the consequences. In today's gospel we see Jesus being tempted by Satan. It is a common practice for great religious leaders to go to a remote place to be alone with God and their own thoughts as they prepare to undertake some new direction or vocation in life. Jesus prepares him self by forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert. The prayer and fasting is not an end in itself but a preparation for his mission. Our own prayer and fasting during this season of lent is not an end in itself but a preparation for our conversion and reconciliation with God. Is it a saint or a horse? Once upon a time a very earnest young man visited a famous rabbi. He told the rabbi he wanted to become a rabbi and asked for his advice. It was winter time. The winter stood at the window looking out into the yard while the rabbinical candidate gave him a glowing account of his piety and learning. The young man said, "You see, Rabbi, I always dress in spotless white like the sages of old. I never drink any alcoholic beverages; only water ever passes my lips. I perform numerous penances. For instance, I always carry sharp-edged nails inside my shoes to mortify me. Even in the coldest weather, I lie naked in the snow to punish my flesh. And to complete my penance, I take a dozen lashes every day on my bare back." As the young man spoke, a stable boy led a white horse into the yard and took him to the water trough. The horse drank his fill of water, and having done so rolled in the snow, as horses sometimes do. "Just look!" cried the rabbi. "That animal too is dressed in white. It also drinks nothing but water, has nails in his shoes and rolls naked in the snow. Also rest assured, it gets its daily ration of lashes on the rump from its master. Now I ask you, is it a saint or is it a horse?" -The point the rabbi was making was that penance is not an end in itself. What is the purpose of penance? It is not meant to undo the past -the past is done. Nor is it meant to persuade God to erase our sins and forego the punishment we deserve for them. We undertake penance to acknowledge we are sinners and we desire to change our lives. Flor McCarthy in 'New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies' Satan represents the power and the embodiment of forces that go against Jesus trying to dissuade him from his mission, which required total obedience to God. Temptation puts subtle pressure to deviate, to give in to bodily needs and pleasures and seek our will rather than the will of God. The temptations of Jesus were real and he had to struggle against giving in to them. His tempting was not a one-off event. He was tempted several time and the temptations would continue right through his life -till the very end. His victory in the desert was not the winning of the war, but merely the winning of the battle. For Jesus the temptations came in various forms and were related to the happenings of his life. After fasting for several days Jesus was hungry and was tempted to use his power to satisfy his bodily needs. "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves." But Jesus was not to be put off, he used the word of God to ward off temptation. "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Again he was tempted by Satan to throw himself from the parapet of the temple and force the hand of God into doing something dramatic and flashy. Jesus rejects the sensational way as not God's way. "You will not put the Lord God to the test." Still Satan never gives up, he never sleeps, he has yet another try: "I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you will fall at my feet and worship me." Jesus is tempted by the offer of power and possessions, but he rejects Satan once more with the power of the word of God. "Be off Satan! Scripture say, 'You must worship your God and serve Him alone!" Like Jesus, we too will be tempted throughout our lives. Temptations by themselves are not bad; it is how we confront them that makes all the difference. By constantly struggling with temptations we become stronger. Each time one is tempted to do evil but does good, one becomes stronger. The battle over evil is never over as long as we are here on earth. However we cannot fight temptations all by ourselves we need God's help. Firstly we need to acknowledge our weakness and sinfulness in the words of today's response psalm: "Have mercy on us, O Lord for we have sinned." Secondly, we can find our strength and response to the wiles of Satan by having recourse to the Word of God. May the example of the tempted Jesus spur us on in our own moments of temptation! Fr. Jude Botelho [EMAIL PROTECTED] PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my website: www.netforlife.net Thank you!
