TV Mass Homily 3/05/2017

“Jesus was led by Spirit into the desert” the Gospel reading begins. One would think that is a good thing. The Spirit only seeks the good. Then the Gospel goes on to declare that the Spirit did this so that Jesus would “be tempted by the devil.” Temptation is not good – or is it. Why would the Spirit lead Jesus, fully human, into an environment to be tempted? Perhaps to teach us that the wiles of the evil one need not envelop us. Perhaps that it is spiritually healthy to identify and then confront our temptations and turn away from sin.
The season of Lent is an opportunity to reflect upon the temptations we face and confront those we have not handled well. God in his love and mercy through his Church encourages us to do so and strengthens us and heals us when we are truly contrite.
A man recalled an instance from his youth. He and a friend had crawled up onto the roof of a garage. They were proud of themselves, their courage and their accomplishment pumped them up. They were delighted at being able to look out over the neighborhood from that high perch, seeing things from a perspective they had not had before. Then an unfriendly young neighbor jeered their accomplishment and challenged them that if they were so brave they should show it by jumping down from the roof and not climbing down. At this taunt, the man recalled that then as a boy he stopped looking up and out but looked down and became dizzy. That is how the devil works when we are not prepared to confront it.
The devil tried to lure Jesus into looking down to the world and not up to God the Father. Jesus faced his temptations in a way that teaches and encourages us; He cited Sacred Scripture. To respond to the temptation to compromise because he was hungry after having fasted for forty days, he cited Sacred Scripture:” one does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” To the temptation to question whether he trusted that God really loves and would protect him, he cited Sacred Scripture:” you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” And to the temptation of gaining power over others at the price of bowing down before the evil one and thereby rejecting God the Father, he quoted Scripture: “the Lord, your God, you shall worship and him alone shall you serve.” Each verse of Sacred Scripture is worthy of a Lenten reflection and all are supports in fighting temptations.
Temptation itself is not a sin but it is a test of faith; how we respond to it can become sinful if it results in breaking our relationship with God, looking down to the world rather than looking up to and living in obedience to God the Father.
In the first reading Adam and Eve responded to the temptation of Satan in the guise of the serpent to eat from the one tree in the Garden of Eden that God said they should not for it would lead to death, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The first couple was tempted to determine for themselves what is good and what is evil, to assume godlike powers. The sad result continues today.
Recently I attended a workshop for bishops offered by the National Catholic Bioethics Center. One of the frightening topics was the manipulation of embryos which seek to create perfect children based on laboratory genetic selection drawing from multiple mothers and fathers mostly unknown. This is like eating from the tree of life and assuming to have knowledge of good and evil better than God the creator. What this playing God portends for our future is scary. Just because we can do something does not mean we ought to do something; there are always consequences some we cannot anticipate.
St. Paul in the 2nd reading reminds us that Jesus is the healing bridge between the original sin of Adam and Eve and the forgiveness of sin accomplished on the cross. Lent is an opportunity for an examination of conscience: do we yearn more for the bread of worldly life than for the bread that comes from heaven; do we put the Lord our God to the test to make our life easier today or do we trust in Him in anticipation of the eternal tomorrow; do we worship other gods, money, power, pleasure, acceptance, technology, ourselves, or do we worship Him alone?
The fact is that we rarely approach temptation in such a holistic way. Like lost sheep we often nibble our way to giving in and therefore to sinning. The story is told of a woman who was shopping for a new dress. She found one she liked but it was very expensive. She decided to try it on anyway. She looked beautiful and so she bought it. When home she showed it to her husband who agreed that she looked beautiful. However when she told him how much it cost, he declared.” Why didn’t you say get behind me Satan, and avoid the temptation.” She jokingly responded, “I did and Satan said it looks beautiful from the back too.”
How can we turn away from sin? First we need to fess up in earnest. Father forgive me for I have sinned. Then we need to establish coping mechanisms, such as calling on the Blessed Mother for guidance, St. Joseph for protection and Jesus himself in prayer and the sacraments.
St. Bernard wrote: “nothing restrains anger, curbs pride, heals the world of malice, bridles self-indulgence, quenches avarice and puts unclean thoughts to flight as does the name of Jesus.” It is quick, it changes the subject and it calls us back to the one who walks with us and who is our final goal.
Sometimes though we just have to learn the hard way and allow it to shape us and remind us of the high standard to which Jesus calls us. As for that young boy on the roof, how did he respond to that taunting peer to jump down, that temptation? “Well,” he wrote, “let me just say that my ankle is always the first to know when rain is heading our way.” He jumped and learned the hard truth that there are consequences when we give into temptation, when we sin. May this season of Lent awaken us and strengthen us to forgo temptation and to go to Christ through His Church for forgiveness when we do not. May these forty days of Lent heal and strengthen us so that we are freed to fully experience Easter joy.