Dear Friend, Every day of our life we are called upon to make choices. At times we make choices of things that are not good and can hurt us because we do not clearly see their consequences or because we are tempted by the pleasure of the moment. All of us are tempted and temptations in themselves are not bad, it is how we deal with temptations that make all the difference. Temptations test us and reveal the stuff we are made of. One would like to think that only sinners are tempted yet the fact remains that the holier people are, the greater is the temptation. Even Jesus was tempted.
May we be renewed in spirit this weekend! - Fr. Jude ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Sunday Reflections: First Sunday of Lent Renewing the Covenant 09-03-2003 Readings: Genesis 9 : 8-15 1 Peter 3 : 18 - 22 Mark 1 : 12 - 15 The first reading of today reminds us of the covenant, the agreement between God and Noah immediately after the flood. From ancient times people made all sorts of agreements, between village and village, tribe and tribe, individual and individual. Even today agreements and pacts are made between different parties, groups and nations. We all understand that agreements are generally made between persons and parties basically equal to each other; there is a give and take, a yielding and an agreeing to; and both parties are expected to keep the terms of the agreement. The agreement with God and Noah was different. There was no equality between the two and the promises were one-sided. God promised never again to destroy humankind, he bound himself but asked nothing in return from Noah. The only reason for this agreement, this covenant was God's great love for humankind. God gave a sign of this covenant to his people. "Here is a sign of the covenant I make between myself and you. I set my bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." This symbol of God's covenant, the rainbow, would be a sign of peace for all peoples. Before the covenant, evil had been on the increase since Adam's sin and Cain's murder of his brother Abel. God had sent the flood to destroy that evil age and permit a new beginning with a new creation. God's covenant with Noah assured humanity of a future. Other covenants would follow each with its own symbol. The sign of the covenant between God and Abraham would be circumcision; while that with Moses would be the Sabbath observance. All those covenants were between God and a chosen group of people. The final covenant would be in and through Jesus Christ, between God and all people, and the sign of that covenant would be baptism, by which all would be made sons of God. We may be tempted at times to believe that God is out to get us, but He cannot do so because he has tied his destiny to ours. He sees us not as sinners but as his loveable children. God's View One weekend while barnstorming airplane rides, my pilot husband took up a farmer for a thirty minutes sightseeing flight. Not a word was spoken during the whole time, as they both looked down on the incredibly beautiful summer countryside. Climbing out of the plane later, the man turned to my husband and drawled, "Now I know why the Lord has so much patience with this old world. He has a better view of it than we got." Mrs. R.L.Weeks from 'Tonic for the Heart' by Frank Mihalic The Gospel of today from Mark begins with the words: "The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days and was tempted by Satan." The same spirit, so gloriously present at Jesus' baptism drove Jesus out into the desert to be tempted by the evil one. Yes, it is the Spirit that led Jesus to be tested. Tests are not there to make us fail, but, as with athletes and students, to make us better and stronger. In Jesus' case this test would be between him and Satan. On Jesus' part there were compelling reasons why the devil would be allowed to tempt him. Just as the first Adam brought sin upon the human race by succumbing to the temptation of Satan, so Jesus, the second Adam, would redeem us all from sin by overcoming the temptations of Satan. Jesus also wanted to teach us by example. The Gospel tells us that he was led into the desert. On the one hand the desert was a place where the people felt closest to God. In the desert the Israelites had received the law; in the desert they had become a covenanted people, in the desert they had been fed with spiritual food and been given spiritual drink. On the other hand the people also considered the desert a place for wild beasts and the place where Satan ruled. At that time wild beasts symbolized demons. At his baptism Jesus had experienced the divine world in the voice of his Father and the appearance of the Spirit. In the desert Jesus would now experience the demonic world. We could ask the question: But is there a devil? Does Satan really exist? 'Satan' from Hebrew meant simply an adversary. In the Jewish Scriptures, Satan often is the enemy of all humanity. Satan's other title is 'Devil'. This comes from the Greek word 'diabolos', meaning one who deliberately and maliciously slanders someone in the presence of God. While the Jews were in captivity they were influenced by the Persians, who saw two powers from which a person must choose: light and goodness or darkness and evil. Satan was seen as the adversary of God and stood for everything that was against God. Whether the devil is a person or not, he exists as the essence of evil in the world. At one time it was believed that the devil and his power was at work within us, instigating us and goading us to sin, but when the devil was externalized as a personification of evil, somehow people stopped believing that the devil exists. Yet we see evil in various forms around us and whatever name we give it we have to admit that the evil in the environment around us has an impact on our lives. We also have to own responsibility for the evil in this world. Just as the good that we do merits God's blessing for us and for others, so also the evil we commit, even the most secret sin adds to the sinful milieu around us. Temptation, Everyone's Price During the civil war in America it was illegal to trade in cotton. Nevertheless, many greedy traders tried to buy cotton in the South, smuggle it through the Union lines, and sell it at great profit in the North. One of these profiteers approached the captain of a Mississippi steamboat and offered him $100 if he would run his cotton up the river. The captain refused reminding the cotton merchant that it was against the law. "I will give you $500," said the merchant. "No," thundered the captain. "Make it $1000," went on the dealer. "No," the captain repeated. "I'll give you $3000," the merchant insisted. At that the captain drew his pistol, pointed it at the tempter and shouted. "Get off this boat! You are getting near to my price." Someone has said that everyone has his/her price. Msgr. Arthur Tonne The gospel of today ends with the admonition of Jesus: "The time has come, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and Believe in the Good News." Lent is the time to come back to the Lord, perhaps we have strayed away from the Lord for too long; we cannot abuse the patience of our God. The Kingdom of God is at hand, it is not something that is to happen at sometime in the future but right now and here. "If not now? When? If not here? Where? If not you? Who?" Will we heed the invitation to change our minds and hearts and come back to Him? May we find strength in Him to fight against temptation every day of our life. Fr. Jude Botelho www.netforlife.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- 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 web site www.netforlife.net - Thank you. =============================================================================== This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================================================
