Corpus Christi Blog

Faith in Temptation

02-14-2016HomiliesFr. Chad King

We have entered into the great season of Lent. We can call it a desert time--a time to grow in simplicity and purification and to focus on building a deeper relationship with our Lord.  St Luke in our Gospel tells us that before Jesus begins his public ministry, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, if you are familiar with the bible you will notice that before the important figures of salvation history can begin their work, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jeremiah, David, and so on, there is a period of testing or trying. Much like after the schooling, medical students, for example, will go through an internship, a period of testing, before they can begin their work.  And this time is important; it has a very significant purpose.  Just as Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, so we too are led by the Holy Spirit into our desert during this season of Lent.   May we see Lent as an important time for us. 

Lent and our desert time is important because the desert represents a stripping away so that the fundamental things appear.  Let me say it again so you can remember it, the desert strips away so that the fundamental and important things appear.  In the desert, unlike the city, there is a sense of quiet and peace.  In the desert, there are limited distractions, no secondary matters, no diversions.  Conversely, our lives seem full of diversions, doesn’t it?  Our lives are full of things that distract us from the fundamental things.  The desert is a place where one can be stripped of the diversions, to focus on the basic, the simple, and most important things in life.  Likewise in the desert, we aren’t talking secondary matters, but about survival, life and death matters, and so the desert concentrates and focuses the mind and the heart.  Lent offers us an invitation to come into the desert.
Although Jesus did not have to struggle with sin the same way that we do, nonetheless in his humanity Jesus was really and truly tempted by Satan in the desert.  We can learn how Jesus overcame three of the most basic temptations that we are all faced with.  With this knowledge, then and only then will we be ready and prepared to begin our work.

Luke says that in the desert, Jesus fasted.  For 40 days Jesus didn’t eat anything.  I certainly don’t recommend us going to that extreme for Lent.  Then in the most obvious statement in the Bible, Luke says that, Jesus was hungry.  You think? After not eating for 40 days, yea I can imagine Jesus was pretty hungry. But notice, it was then that the devil tempted him, when Jesus was most vulnerable.  Satan tempted Jesus by saying, “if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread”.  Now obviously, we know that bread or food drink are not bad in and of themselves, but every spiritual master would say that to make food and sensory pleasures the most basic good of our life is very dangerous.  Yet we know that an awful lot of people have a sensualist, a materialistic attitude toward life.  Eat, drink, and be merry.  Food, drink, and sex become the dominant concerns of life.  There are a lot of people who are addicted to food, drink, or sex, pornography in our society.  So this temptation by Satan is not so much about bread as it is to make sensory and sensual things most important in life.  So what do we learn from this encounter with Jesus and the Tempter?  We learn that what is most basic is always is doing the will of God, to enjoy food and drink and the sensual things can be a good thing, but to make it the most important is wrong because, as Jesus says, we cannot live on bread alone.  Life is not just about sensual pleasures.  And once we know what is most basic, the important things, then the sensual pleasures, the food, drink, and sex won’t become disordered, but we will know how to handle them appropriately.  We don’t live by bread alone, but as Scripture says, by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  That is what should be the organizing principle in life.  So as we enter into Lent, as we are able to be stripped of the extra and be focused on the fundamental things in life, a good question to ask ourselves is: Have we let the sensual pleasures be central in our life?  And, what could we remove in order to get closer to our Lord?

In the second temptation Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and says that he will give all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus if he just worships him.  Doesn’t anyone else see the irony here? Satan shows the Son of God, the One through whom all the world came into being, the One who already has the whole world in His hands, and now Satan says that he will give everything which He, as the Son of God, already has.  But seriously though, notice how the kingdoms of the world are referenced, they are described as belonging to Satan.  Where does worldly power and glory come from, it comes from the devil.  However, notice that all power and glory are not bad, after all Scripture says that God is all-powerful, and that God is full of glory.  But notice that it is talking about worldly power and worldly glory.  If one worships, if one is consumed by worldly power then in deed there is a problem.  God might give someone power, just as some people might experience some sense of glory.  We can think of some political figures in history, but we know that the power is only given so that good can be done with it.  But it is God’s plan, not the power and glory that is fundamental.  God’s plan for you might not involve power and glory.  In fact God’s plan for you might call for you to be forgotten, even dishonored.  Think of the Little Flower, St. Therese, from a small town in Lisieux, France who lived only 24 years, hardly known by anyone except her family and the few sisters in her convent.  Certainly she was without any worldly power or glory.  Yet, she so thoroughly followed God’s plan for her life that she became a Saint with such amazing influence.  Take also, St. Maximillian Kolbe, talk about someone being powerless and dishonored, even to the point of being executed.  But he, and all the Saints, followed God’s plan.  Jesus responds, “You shall worship the Lord, him alone shall you serve”.  We are called to recognize what is most important in life, it’s not worldly power or glory, but serving and doing the will of God.  So an important question to ask ourselves after we reflect on the second temptation is: are we chasing worldly power and glory or are we seeking God’s will for our lives? 

Thirdly, Satan takes Jesus to the top of the parapet of the Temple in Jerusalem, and invited to throw himself down from there only to be supported by the angels.  At first it may not be clear what this temptation is about, what it is for us is the swelling of the ego.  The Temple was the grandest place on the earth, it was the place where God dwelled and was worshiped.  It was the high point, the summit of the Israelite way of life.  And so Satan puts Jesus in the highest place, and tempted Jesus to put his ego in the center of everything.  That is what the essence of sin is.  In many ways, sin is putting ourselves in the center of everything.  It is what we as sinners do, we make ourselves little gods.  We put ourselves in the center of the universe.  You see, our lives are not about us, they are about God.  God must be in the center, God’s plan for us must be center.  Jesus says, “you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test”.  If we put ourselves in the center, then we are putting God to the test.  So another question to ask ourselves this Lent: am I the center of my attention or are am I willing to do the will of God for my life?

And so my brothers and sisters, this Lent we are invited, we are led by the Holy Spirit into the desert.  We must ask ourselves these 3 fundamental questions if we are seeking sensual pleasures, worldly power, or if we are prioritizing us in the center instead of God.  I know if we reflect on these questions we will be led to make the changes in our lives that will help us draw closer to God.  The Church in her wisdom gives us these 40 days to refocus on God, together let’s be stripped and focus on God and doing His will in our life.

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