HOMILY FOR THE 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR A. (4)

HOMILY FOR THE 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR A.

THEME: Knowing the Tricks in Temptation

BY: Fr. Luke Ijezie

Genesis 2: 7-9; 3: 1-7
Resp.Psalm 51:3-6,12-14,17
Romans 5:12-19 or 5:12,17-19
Matthew 4:1-11

This first Sunday of Lent presents before us the reality of temptation and warning us of the possibilities of falling into sin. The three readings help us to reflect on the tricks or tactics of the tempter and the agony that follows a fall.

1. It is good to point out that being tempted in itself is not a sin. We need not feel guilty that we are being tempted. The Gospel of today from Matt 4:1-11 makes us understand that Jesus himself was tempted. What matters is how we respond to temptations in our lives. Jesus was tempted in every way we are tempted but did not sin. On the other hand, the first reading from Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7 narrates how the first Adam and his wife were tempted and they fell.

2. In both the temptation of Adam and Eve and that of Jesus, we see something similar: the tricks of the tempter. He comes to present a new and attractive reality which he proposes as the reward for doing what he presents. To Adam and Eve, he entices them with the illusion of being like God and knowing good and evil. To Jesus he promises fame and riches. We easily get bamboozled by these promises. We find them in all moments of our Christian life. The tempter lets us dream of things we are not in a position to possess or attain.

3. Another trick of the tempter is his tendency to challenge what God says. To Adam and Eve, he convinces them that God was not saying the whole truth about the forbidden tree. To Jesus, he problematises the reality of his being the Son of God. Even though God already proclaimed Jesus as His Son at the Baptism scene, the tempter still wants Jesus to prove that he is God’s Son by turning stones into bread. Why would Jesus embark on such empty proof when God already proclaimed him so? But this is the tactics of the tempter to make him depart from his real identity and begin to show off. The enemy easily catches us here.

4. The aim of the tempter is usually to frustrate God’s purpose for us and so destroy our future destiny. He did it with Adam and Eve. He comes to try same with Jesus hoping to undermine the whole salvific ministry of Jesus. The effect of the first fall by Adam is the sin that came into the world, as Paul explains in the second reading of today from Rom 5:12-19. The triumph of Jesus succeeds in undoing the harm of sin caused by Adam.

5. Our only hope of survival from falling into the traps of the tempter is always to cling to Jesus. Our mortal frame is prone to falling but the power of Jesus comes to our help. In this Lenten period, we battle with the tempter in diverse ways, but we dare not battle without the spiritual weapons that Jesus offers us, which are his presence and his word. These we touch and encounter in every liturgical and Eucharistic Celebration. May we feel this divine presence every moment as we battle with the myriads of trials and temptations that confront us everyday!

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