Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent Year C (2)

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent Year C

Theme: Three Paths that Lead to Ruin

By: Fr. Anthony O. EZEAPUTA, MA.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Peña Blanca, New Mexico, USA

Homily for Sunday March 6 2022

The Gospel text for this first Sunday of Lent (Lk 4:1-13) recalls the temptation of Jesus in the desert. The three temptations of Jesus point to three paths that the devil always pretends to offer and that promise great success. However, on the contrary, these three paths lead to damnation and ruin. They include greed for material possessions, human vainglory, and the exploitation of God.

Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert, and then he was hungry. Satan thought that he had found a weak spot to manipulate Jesus. As a result, he tempted Jesus three times. First, he invites him to turn stone into bread (v. 3); then, from above, he shows him all the kingdoms of the world and the prospect of becoming a powerful and glorious messiah (vv. 5-6); and finally, he takes Him to the pinnacle of the temple of Jerusalem and invites him to throw himself down, thereby displaying His divine power in a spectacular way (vv. 9-11).

Greed for material possessions is one of the devil’s most subtle and pernicious methods of deception. It always begins with our legitimate and natural desire for a better life, nourishment, fulfillment, and happiness. The danger is that these desires will never satisfy us and may even cause us to drift away from God.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord,” Saint Augustine writes in his Confessions. “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.” Saint Augustine encapsulates a sentiment that resounds profoundly within the human person. Restlessness is the desire to be satisfied and fulfilled, which can become an idol for us and make us want to be like that.

“You shall have no other gods before me,” the first commandment states (Ex 20:2). In this first temptation, Jesus teaches us how to overcome our desire for material possessions. As a result, he declares, “Man shall not live by bread alone” (v. 4).

“All this will be yours, if you worship me,” the devil promises in the second temptation. The devil wants Jesus to doubt who he is, the Son of God. He wants him to find his self-worth and value in created things instead of the Creator. The devil might also tempt us by seeking our self-worth and value through the gods of money, success, power, and obsession to get our praise from men and women. Substituting the worship of the Creator with that of his creatures might give us a taste of the euphoria of short-term happiness. However, they will fade away. As a result, Jesus says, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve” (v. 8).

The third temptation is to exploit God for personal gain. “It also says, you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test,” Jesus says in response to the devil, who invites him to seek a visible miracle from God. It is because of this that we ought not to pray for graces that will make us happy, instead of the glory of God.

The holy season of Lent is a time to pay attention to these three paths that can ruin us. Therefore, let us benefit from Lent as a privileged time to purify ourselves and to feel God’s comforting presence in our lives. May the Virgin Mary, who is an example of how to be faithful to God, help us on our journey. She can help us always reject evil and welcome good.

Fr. Anthony O. EZEAPUTA, MA.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Peña Blanca, New Mexico, USA
Homily for the First Sunday of Lent, Year C
March 6, 2022