HOMILY FOR THE 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR A. (7)

HOMILY FOR THE 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR A.

THEME: TEMPTATION.

BY: Fr. Karabari Paul

“Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Today, the first Sunday of Lent, the Church invites us to reflect on temptation. The first reading (Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7) tells us of the unfaithful man, the man who allowed himself be seduced by evil and chose to go against the will of God. Thus, he created unhappiness for himself and the rest of humanity. The second reading ( Romans 5:12- 19) describes the behaviour of Jesus who, unlike the first Adam, chose to be the obedient son of his Father. The Gospel ( Matthew 4: 1-11) presents the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness.

The wilderness is a desolate place. It is a place of difficulty. Times in the wilderness can be challenging. And how we handle these challenges counts. Temptation is a very real part of life, and is especially challenging in our wilderness times. We are down, discouraged, afraid, disappointed and lonely. Satan loves to kick us when we are down. The wilderness is a place where we are tempted to stray from our values. We try to rationalize why we are behaving in a certain way, and Satan gives us lots of logical excuses. Our challenge then is to stand firm on our convictions and remain true to our values.

Satan tried to get Jesus to succumb to three different kinds of temptation and they expose our areas of vulnerability 1) Satisfaction without God: Knowing Christ was hungry, Satan asked him to turn a stone into bread. The devil takes advantage of our needs, and it won’t ask for what is beyond you. Remember food comes in different forms. 2) Abuse of God’s grace: Satan then took Jesus to the top of the temple and told him to jump off, saying God would send angels to protect him. Sometimes, even on evil track the devil tells you God is with you. Satan tried to get Jesus to settle for less, and he will try the same with you. Don’t take the bait! 3) Significance without God: Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of this world if only he would bow down and worship him. What an offer! Significance without God! Those who have conquered the stomach, crave for power, prestige and wealth. To cut corners to get to the top is an offer the devil presents to men of all generations. Is it not just to bow down? Anything else? Jesus rebuked Satan with a reminder from Scripture that God alone is worthy to be glorified.

Understand this: Satan will take every legitimate desire you have and try to get you to fulfil it in an illegitimate way. But you can overcome him. How? By staying close to God and living in His Word, ‘He will show you how to escape from your temptations.’ Mary pondered the words of God in her heart and we must do same at all times. The Psalmist wrote: ‘I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalm 119:11). We need to store up God’s Word in our hearts.

Again, Jesus prayed and got himself prepared. Jesus told his disciples, ‘pray that you will not fall into temptation’. We can’t ask the devil not to tempt us but we can always arm ourselves with prayers. Tempting situations can come up regularly, so we need to make sure we are setting aside time to pray. It can be easy to fill our spare time with things like TV and social media, but it’s far more worthwhile to use that time to pray into the situations we are facing and about the parts of our lives where we feel weak and vulnerable to temptation. If we keep facing temptation, we need to avoid becoming frustrated at ourselves and remember God’s grace to forgive us. Then, we need to rely on His help to overcome our temptation.

The only way to keep from giving up when we find ourselves in the wilderness is to persevere. We must rise to meet the challenges head on and persevere in doing what is right, in being faithful to God, in trusting God, in listening to God, and in loving others as God loves us.

The Good News here is that God strengthens us to meet all of these challenges. Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted. Jesus knows what it is like to be challenged. Jesus knows what it is like to be in the wilderness. He has been there. And it was in the wilderness, immediately after His Baptism, that Jesus struggled and suffered great temptations.

There is always good news that comes out of the wilderness times in our lives. Each time we are able to meet the challenge in the wilderness, it helps prepare us for the next challenge that is to come. We struggle with our temptations in the wilderness, and out of that struggle comes character. The crown comes after contest and not before it. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. Whatever our temptation, may we never forsake the values of God’s Kingdom. May God bless, lead, and strengthen us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. You remain in my prayers. Happy Celebration.https://www.catholicforlife.com/homily-for-the-1st-sunday-of-lent-year-a-7

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