REFLECTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT: All of us struggle with temptation. Jesus struggled. Jesus was truly tempted. Temptation is so potent – so juicy and so appealing! It was no different for Jesus – those things he was tempted with a very strong part of him wanted to do them, and it was so compelling, so convincing! But Jesus resisted the temptations he faced, not only in today’s Gospel account, but throughout his whole life. All temptations can be resisted. Many people prefer to blame everything else for when they fail. We steal because society owes it to us. We have an affair, which we wouldn’t have done if our spouse had been more pleasing to us. It wasn’t our fault, so something else must be to blame. We can find all sorts of reasons and justifications for our wrong actions. We give-in to temptation. We might even get to the point where we decide that our wrong action isn’t really wrong after all. Some people drift through their lives, satisfying every desire, every lust, and every ambition. Every temptation becomes an invitation that is readily accepted without any thought, and their lives become so twisted and so self-absorbed, that they have become caricatures of themselves, but cannot see it. Others, however, know the dimensions of temptation, and want to do something about it. What do you do when you are caught in that unreal place where every fiber inside you says to do it, while a more faint voice says not to do it. Every temptation is filled with a potency that excites and entrances us. That is the very moment when we simply refuse to give in, and walk away to consider something else! Often, this is easier said than done! However, the closer we are to God in the experience of faith, combined with an attitude of honest self reflection, the more able we are to resist our temptations, and to live out our lives as more authentic disciples of the Risen Lord!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 03:06:51 +0000
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