In the face of temptations- what do you do?
I remember in particular having a series of strong temptations, during my thirty-day silent retreat of all things. You see, during the entire thirty-day period, we were completely disconnected from the outside world, and mostly disconnected from each other at the retreat center. One of the greatest sources of temptation during this time was- you guessed it- my phone. It was just sitting there in my room each and every day, powered off, and waiting for me to just go over there and push the button. See who missed me. See what was going on in the outside world. The possibilities were endless of what I could do if I just flipped the power back on for my iPhone!
Yet, I knew in my heart of hearts that would be violating a major rule of the spiritual exercises- to remain in silence- so I had to wrestle with it often- even to the very end of those days.
Now that temptation? Perhaps its not something we are all dealing with as we go through the thirty days of silence, but we encounter many like it. Some temptations are rather small- maybe say this little white lie or perhaps roll our eyes (even internally) when that person starts talking yet again. Maybe some are bigger, such as the seven deadly sins- maybe a struggle with anger, or with lust, amongst many others. We all experience our own temptations- and they are unique to us as well! What do we do at those moments- especially during these forty days when we are likely feeling a new set of temptations to even break Lenten resolutions?
The first reading for this first Sunday of Lent comes to us from the book of Deuteronomy. We know this book to be a sort of “law book” to the Israelites, because it is where Moses is laying out before the Israelites all of the new laws, rules, and regulations that the people are to abide by. This law is a little different, though, because this is a command in regards to thanksgiving. The people are to go before the Lord, and hand to the priest a basket- to be set in front of the altar. Then they are given dialogue to say- my Father was in Egypt, we were freed when God heart our cry, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. He brought us out of Egypt with a strong and mighty hand- and brought us here to this land of plenty- of milk and honey. So, here are my firstfruits. Then they worship.
What is all of this to say? It is a recognition of the Lord’s intervention and aid. It could have been possible, I suppose, for God to have just left them in their plight, but His love is so great, He didn’t. He reached out His mighty arm to save them, and thus they were able to be freed, and brought to a land of plenty. So, this is all about gratitude for the intervention of the Lord in their lives. Notice too, this isn’t just as if they have directly seen everything first hand, but it is recognizing that God has enabled them to have some great things, even if they are not able to witness them firsthand themselves. They are grateful for the fruit of the earth, so they raise their hands in thanksgiving and offer up those first fruits so that they may show the Lord their gratitude.
The Responsorial Psalm fits with this idea that the Lord freed them from captivity- Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble. The Lord was with them, and continues to be there today.
The second reading comes from St. Paul’s Letter to the Church of Rome. It deals primarily with belief, and the assurance we have that it will come to fruition. As St. Paul speaks to the congregation- He reminds them that the word is near them, int heir mouth and on their heart, and this is the word of faith. Continuing on that theme, Paul says that if they believe that God raised Jesus, they will be saved. For one who confesses, believes, and is justified- if one confesses with his mouth the faith- they are saved. Paul does not mince words either- “no one who believes in him will be put to shame.” This is a profound thing to say- and a very bold claim. If you believe, you will not be brought to shame? Yet, so it is. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So, have faith- and you will not be disappointed- that is the message Paul preaches.
Finally, we arrive at a very unusual Gospel- the Temptations of Jesus in the Desert. We are told that Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing, and was hungry. Then, appears the evil one- the devil himself. He first tempts Jesus- make these stones into loaves of bread. He starts off easy here. Jesus counters with scripture- you shall not live by bread alone. Then Satan shows Jesus the kingdoms. All of these can be Jesus’s if He worships Him! Jesus answers again- You shall worship only God alone! The final temptation is to throw Himself down off the temple- to make a spectacle! The angels won’t let any harm come to Him! Yet, Jesus again answers- you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test. We are told that the devil then leaves- but only for a time- as there is this ominous tone at the very end of the Gospel that the devil has not given up completely- at least not just yet.
This Gospel, in itself, seems to be rather odd, though, because we’d expect that Jesus would not be tempted. He is the Son of God, why would He have to undergo the same things as we undergo? Actually, this is an excellent school on temptation- and on what can happen with us if we cooperate with God’s grace.
The devil is an arrogant being. He thinks very highly of himself- so highly in fact, that he thinks he has come up with foolproof ways to tempt Jesus. He’s hungry- let’s start out easy with some bread. Maybe these kingdoms if He worship me? Or if He were a spectacle- no one could doubt Him anymore! So, these were actually tailored to Jesus specifically. Yes, He was hungry- but not hungry enough to succumb to temptation. Or how about those kingdoms? This one is a little harder to understand- but it has meaning! If Jesus worships He can gain, not just those destined to try to live the life of a disciple faithfully- but even those who the devil now grasps! Just worship me- and you can have all of them! But, Jesus again is not deceived, as enticing as it might be. The last one- to be a spectacle- would be to force faith. If you do this- no one will dare doubt in you! Jesus knows, however, that faith has to be a free choice. It cannot be something forced or imposed or it loses merit, and is nothing more than a bunch of robots following commands. So, He overcomes all these personalized temptations of an arrogant being- and is free of him, at least for a while.
In this, we find a few things that we need to be reminded of when we deal with temptations ourselves. First, we all are dealing with temptations- whether you know it or not. It is better if you admit that you do, because that means you are developed enough spiritually to recognize the attacks of the one who is there to destroy your soul. We need not delude ourselves- and if we aren’t being tempted- we are in danger, because the devil will not put effort into what he already possesses. We are all being tempted in some way- and we need to admit too- the devil is smart. He is cunning. He can convince you and I of some pretty terrible or at least less than good things. Don’t sit around and grow lax because you feel he cannot touch you- he is always cooking up a way to exploit our own weaknesses or where he knows we are pone to fall.
Second, what we learn in the temptations of Jesus: there are three kinds of temptations: of the flesh, of the world, and of the devil himself. We struggle in the flesh because the flesh has desires, and not just to eat. To drink- even to excess. To satisfy the carnal longings of the body- even to the level of impurity. To roll around in anger, or grudges because they give us this sense that we have power. There are many of those. Or there are the ones of the world- we want to have wealth, to have possessions, to have the esteem of others, and even to be more heavily favored than others. These are of the world. Then there are the ones of the devil. To put aside the sacraments. And prayers. To follow what we presume is our own will- when in reality we are surrendering God’s will to follow the devil’s which will only lead to hurt, to pain, and to ruin. These are the ones that he wants us to follow.
Then what is the final point? What do we say to these temptations? The answer is- or at least should be- no! We do not accept these temptations. We do not worship nor follow anyone else- except God alone- we don’t even follow ourselves first. We must reject every single one of these traps that the devil sets out before us- no matter how small or insignificant we think they might be. And be aware- the devil is going to convince us that these things are either small- or that we’ve messed up so much already we should just keep going- neither of which are true.
So we need to resist! But be aware- the more that we have caved- the harder it will be to say no to His temptations. If we’ve minimized faith- say we haven’t gone to Mass much- it is that much harder to get back into practice. If we’ve fallen into habitual sin- it is going to be hard to say no! But we must do it! Each time we say no to the devil- it will get easier as we get stronger- and as we say Yes to God more and more. Be aware, though, that the devil will always be cooking up something else- even if he departs for a time. That is why it is important for us to strengthen ourselves and to train- and to ask for God’s help. We also need to regularly examine our conscience too- even daily- so that we can be more and more aware of where the devil is tempting us- and where we might need some work.
Now, this isn’t all meant to be scary, but we need to have awareness. The most dangerous thing in the spiritual life is ignorance and naivety. If we do not pay attention- we are prone to fall. Thus, we need to have an awareness. The devil wants us to fall- but the temptation of Christ shows us that He has been subjected to what we deal with- and He emerges victorious. If He has emerged victorious- it now falls to us to take up our crosses and do the same by His help and His grace.
Sure, we might have a small temptation, such as using a cell phone during a period of silence. Or maybe it is something much greater. It does not matter what size the temptation is. The question that undergirds all of this- when the temptations come up in your life- are you strong enough to say no, and follow Christ instead?
