1st Sunday of Lent

Gospel Reflection

Matthew 4:1-11

Lent began four days ago, on Ash Wednesday, with a Mass that included a special way of showing sorrow for our sins and the desire to fully repent of all that separates us from God —it was the imposition of ashes. This ceremony asked us to acknowledge the humble origin of our bodies in the earth’s elements, and the fact that in due time our bodies would turn back into dust. The real purpose was, however, to recognize that all we are, body and soul, we owe to God’s creative power and goodness. Of ourselves we are nothing. So we need God. We need his forgiveness. We hope for His love. We wish to be renewed in Him.

The pride of our first parents, enkindled by another proud creature—Satan, a fallen angel—made them think they could stand alone as gods, autonomous and self satisfied. The truth was that they couldn’t and shouldn’t. Instead they could only find completion and happiness in responding to God’s love with love. Subsequent to the Fall—that is, the first or original sin—the resulting weakness of each human person resulted in many other kinds of sin being committed. This is one the of points St Paul makes in his letter to the Romans. Sin is wrongdoing, understood not only as some form of injustice, but also as something that moves us away from God. It is an affront to God’s love.

Yet we trust in God’s forgiveness of our sins. We hope He will lead us to new life, and eventually eternal life in union with Him. That possibility is guaranteed for us by what Jesus, his Son, did for us. As St Paul teaches, He took up the role of Adam to undo what Adam did. He faced Satan, allowed himself to be tempted as Adam had been tempted. He showed what the response should have been.

Actually, Our Lord bore three temptations, under far more difficult circumstances. He was severely physically weakened through his strenuous fast. He was not living in a Paradise, but in a hostile wilderness. He was completely alone. In that state, He refused to please the flesh (This was to encourage us to fight against all sins of weakness such as gluttony, faults against chastity and temperance). He refused to give way to pride and presumption. He proclaimed that God alone was to be worshipped—as the unique source of all that is good— and to Him all thanksgiving should be shown.

In Eden, Satan won a victory in his campaign against God. In the wilderness, he saw himself defeated by Jesus. But in due time he would try to make a comeback against the One he could not understand, only to fail again. However, he persists in his efforts against all the living,  especially anyone who seeks to follow Our Lord. Pope Benedict XVI, in his message for Lent, has written: “It is a powerful reminder that Christian faith implies, following the example of Jesus and in union with him, a battle ‘against the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world’ (Eph 6: 12), in which the devil is at work and never tires – even today – of tempting whoever wishes to draw close to the Lord: Christ emerges victorious to open also our hearts to hope and guide us in overcoming the seductions of evil.”

Staying close to Jesus, through prayer, acts of self-denial and the effort to think more of the good of others and not just that of ourselves, together with the consoling help of the holy Eucharist and sacramental confession, we will remain safe and ever stronger.