1st Sunday
of Lent
Ever since the Second Vatican
Council the Church has employed a three year cycle of readings in the Liturgy.
The cycles are simply labeled A, B, and C. In the A cycle the gospel readings
are usually taken from the gospel of St. Matthew. The B cycle features the
gospel of St. Mark, and the C cycle the gospel of St. Luke. However, the Church
has always used the account of the Temptation of Christ in the desert for the
first Sunday in Lent.
Today's first reading is also
about temptation. It is the story from the Book of Genesis about the temptation
of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In this ancient reading we get a clear
picture of the nature of temptation. It is clear that in the garden of Eden,
Adam and Eve had everything they could have desired. The trees were
"delightful to look at and good for food." It reminds us so much of
our own society where we live in the richest country in the history of the
world, and enjoy the highest standard of living of any people on the face of
the earth. Still, it is not enough and so many of us seek "the forbidden
fruit."
We don't need serpents to
tell us that anything we want to do is ok, that everything is permitted and
that nothing can harm us. I just remember the headlines in the newspaper about
the young drug addict accused of the cold-blooded murder of two innocent
jewelry store owners. His mother was also a heroin addict. Isn't it possible to
imagine the scene over 25 years ago when she--only a teen age girl--was tempted
by some snake to experiment with drugs. Did the tempter say, "your eyes
will be opened and you will be like gods." Certainly, there have been
plenty of songs and films saying pretty much the same thing over the past 25
years.
It's not for nothing that the
Church contrasts the story of the temptation of the first man and woman with
the temptation of Christ. Matthew begins his account by noting that Jesus was
led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, "to be tempted by the
devil." This episode follows almost immediately upon the Baptism of Jesus
in the Jordan where a voice from Heaven had proclaimed, "Thou art my beloved
Son, in Thee I am well pleased."
Matthew says that Jesus
fasted for 40 days and then the devil appeared to Him and presented Him with
three different temptations. Lucky for us that we are such small fry or such
easy marks that the devil doesn't have to personally bother with us. Our
temptations are not so dramatic. One of the greatest Christian authors of the
last century, C.S. Lewis, wrote a book entitled, "The Screwtape
Letters," in which he described how a petty bureaucrat from Hell tried to
tempt a young man with the mundane, ordinary temptations that we all experience
in our lives.
Nevertheless, the Devil
tempts Jesus in ways that we all can understand. Please note however that
despite all attempts today to glamorize the Devil, our tradition has always
believed that he is a liar. In fact, just like all tempters he cannot help but
lie or otherwise distort the Truth. Even when he quotes Scripture, as he does
here, he twists the meaning. Our Lord
is the Truth, the Devil represents the complete absence of Truth.
The first temptation deals
with our basic human needs. Of course, it's not just about food and hunger.
It's about all the things that we think that we must have to sustain our
standard of living. Maybe we don't all want to be millionaires but we all know
how the frantic search for the things of this world can destroy our basic human
relationships. As our Lord said, "One does not live on bread alone."
In the second temptation the
devil takes our Lord to the top of the Temple in Jerusalem looking down over
the parapet 450 feet straight down to the Kidron valley and urges Him to
"throw yourself down." Maybe
we don't think that it's serious when temptation stares us in the face, but
sometimes when it does we are on the brink of the precipice with the rest of
our life on the line. Our Lord's words should be a guide to us all. "You
shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.
The third temptation deals
with the search for "power and glory." Lying again, the Devil claims
that all the kingdoms in the world have been given to him and that he will give
them to Jesus "if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." Every day in the newspapers we read about
some politician, CEO, athlete or entertainer who is in trouble with the law.
Most of us are not such big shots but we know of the power struggles that go on
in our own families, our schoolyards, our workplaces and even in our churches.
At the Jordan John the
Baptist said that he must diminish so that the Lord could increase. It is just
the opposite with the search for "power and glory." Once again, our
Lord quotes from the Book of
Deuteronomy; "The Lord, your God, shall you worship and Him alone
shall you serve." Of course, the
best way to worship is available to us at Mass each and every day during Lent.
Let's try to take a half hour out of our hectic schedules during the week to
humble ourselves before the Lord.
Our Lord's words show us the
way to true happiness. But as St. Paul points out in today's second reading
something has gone horribly wrong. We were created to live in a beautiful
paradise but when sin entered the world, pain and sorrow and even death were
the result. Lent gives us an opportunity to get back on track. It gives us an
opportunity to examine our lives and see how far we have succumbed to the
temptations that constantly face us. There is hope if we follow the example of
Jesus, for through His sacrifice, "acquittal and life came to all."
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Reading 1. Genesis 2: 7-9; 3: 1-7
Reading II. Romans 5: 12-19
Gospel. Matthew 4: 1-11 (Temptation in the Desert)
