First
of all, let me say that it is good to be back with you after my vacation. The
season of Lent has crept up upon us very quickly this year. It seems that we
just finished the Christmas Season and now we need to submerge ourselves into
spiritual preparation to celebrate the Resurrection.
Reflection
for the First Sunday in Lent: 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 us wisdom to discern truth, and the
courage to live that truth in our lives.
Additional
Mass and Stations of the Cross: Each
Friday evening at 7 PM we will celebrate the Eucharist followed by the Stations
of the Cross at 7:30 PM. This year we will pray the Stations of the Cross
entitled: A Way of Peace. Please join us to celebrate the Eucharist and the
Stations each Friday evening.
Fr. Phil
