FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT Cycle "A"

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Cycle “A”: Mathew 4, 1 – 11

The Judean desert is a dreadful place. Burning hot by day, and bitter cold at night. Sand that pierces the eyes, and dry jagged rocks that allow for no vegetation or yield a drop of water. Scorpions and lizards that are the only living accompaniments, and no comfort from them. Try talking to a lizard or playing with a scorpion. In an ambience that is utterly blank and sere, you can expect no sustenance whatsoever. There is nothing for it but to depend absolutely and totally on God. That is what the desert stands for: complete dependence on God. How many of us have not been in our personal desert where we could expect no human support but depend totally on God ? We came through all right.  So why shouldn’t Jesus have his desert chance, too ? Perhaps his experience could serve as a mirror in which to see and assess ourselves as we embark upon Lent.

Jesus’ temptations mark the beginning of his professional life. Our Leader was anxious to get the fat out of his body, brain, and spirit. Before he would preach to us, he had to prove himself and show us that he practised what he preached. So he hit upon the idea of a 40-day retreat in which he would turn his back on food, and pray as if his life depended on it. When he was baptised in the Jordan, he was declared Son of

God. So we might have expected him to begin his work straight away. Instead, he went and fasted in the desert for forty days. When we are facing some great task or challenge, we too need to prepare by spending time alone with God. If God is calling us to work for him, we can expect the devil to tempt us away from our noble task. This is a cause for us to be alert, but not discouraged. We do face a struggle, but by battling temptation we can grow in wisdom and spiritual strength.

So came old Nick with the temptations for Jesus. Although it is open to debate, one gains the impression that the dialogue took place in the mind of Jesus, in the sultry heat-haze of the Palestinian wastelands. Physically weakened by hunger and thirst, Jesus was perhaps struggling to maintain his composure amidst the feelings of discomfort and exhaustion. Silently, unexpectedly, the battle begins.

The temptation of the bread speaks of the desire of our bodies to be spoiled, petted and pampered. We too face the lures of sensual pleasure, of materialism and of worldly power and success. Second, the leap from the Temple suggests that we are anxious to forget our limited human condition. So we want to take off and fly. People leave the ground with alcohol, drugs, sexual indulgence, fantasies and daydreaming.

The third temptation  -  to call the world our own. We are the bosses and the world must revolve around us. We want to dominate and overpower people who are weak and more open to attack. We can pick off the weak miles away. Every mother’s son or daughter of ours has the seeds of these temptations lurking very comfortably within us. We eat and drink too much, spend too much on our own selves, and give very little of our time or money or leisure. We fast very, very seldom. And do I have to say we pray too little? The devil can use even things that are good to draw us away from God – he used verses from Scripture to tempt the Lord

Today’s Scripture reading sketches the world as it is: the great world around us and the little world of our personal life. The history of both worlds is scarred with broken promises, misplaced affection and shattered dreams. The story of an unequal combat with evil in its many forms, that may leave us with a sense of dejection. As for Adam and Eve, they are not some shadowy, pre-historic humans. They are you and I, the image of every man and woman in this world, called to share God’s life (the tree of life), yet preferring another’s precarious and empty promises. This is exactly what sin is: rejection of the only love that can bring us true happiness. And the result ? Hatred, division and death. Yet this is only one side of the picture. Evil personified, and Adam, its victim, are only the foil to the Hero of God’s drama of salvation, Jesus Christ.

In today’s 2^nd. reading, St. Paul forcefully declares that by aligning ourselves to the obedience of Jesus we can overcome evil and be pleasing to God. We can also look to Jesus for help in all our temptations, knowing that “because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Heb 2, 18).

So today we open the book on a fresh Lent. Jesus issues every one of us a new licence, a licence to hunt. And the animal we are going to hunt is our honourable selves, or should I say dishonourable selves. Christ would have us remember Plato’s great line: the greatest victory in the world is that of self-conquest. This, I wager, was the ultimate reason why the usually taciturn Jesus told the disciples of his own temptations which they wrote down for us. The final score was Christ 3, and Satan 0. Jesus is saying: “As I, so you.”

Each of us should have a Lenten programme. For example, spend some time with someone who is sick and lonely. Forgive an enemy. Go to confession. Read the Scriptures; cut down on prime time TV. Love someone who does not deserve it. Fast from smoking, drinking, eating. When Lent is done, each of us should be a more interesting Christian than we are at this moment. We want to personify Jesus Christ, not impersonate him.

PRAYER: Lord and Servant, Jesus Christ, help us all to follow you into the desert, with you to fast, denying ourselves luxury, refusing the tempting ways of self-indulgence, the way of success at all costs, the way of coercive persuasion, making use of others to serve our purposes. Show us how to cope with a God who cares, and in that assurance remain steadily loyal in serving Him. As we turn to you in times of temptation, grant us the faith to resist and the wisdom to perceive the lies of the devil, so that we may endure to the end as your disciples.