FROM THE DESK OF FR. PHIL

Reflection: Sin never shows itself in pure form—as raw evil. If it did, its ugliness would repulse us. Rather, it masks itself and hides under the guise of something good or attractive. This is how temptation works. The snake did not say, "Eat that fruit and you will be ashamed of yourselves and alienated from God." Rather it says, "You will be like gods." Now that's attractive! Satan came to the Lord Jesus in the same way, with apparent goods. You are hungry, make these stones bread; you are the Son of God, prove your trust in him; you could run the world. Jesus was tested in the same way that Israel was tested in the desert (see Deut 6-8).
What distinguishes Jesus' response to the tempter from Adam and Eve's, or even ancient Israel's, is that he doesn't get lost in the apparent good, and he confronts seeming truth with real truth. Bread is not a substitute for God; you must not test God; you cannot trade obedience for power.
To truly enter into the spirit of Lent is to grow in freedom, in discriminating wisdom, and in truth. It allows us to see through the cheap attractiveness of temptation and become inclined to the deeper truths that underlie our hearts' deepest, truest desires.
Meditation: What in my life attracts or tempts me to substitute truth for comfort, the status quo for conversion, apparent goods for the only true good in my life?
Prayer: Lord, it is so easy to be deceived. Give me wisdom to discern truth, and the courage to live that truth in my life.
Wishing you all a prayerful Lenten Season!