Relying on God and His Gifts
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
On this First Sunday of Lent, the Sacred Scriptures remind us of the wiles of the Evil One. Even the Incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, confronted the prideful and hateful work of the “Ruler of Demons” as he was tempted in the desert. The Devil, a fallen angel, is the “Father of Lies.” This demonic being specializes in deception and distortion.
With Adam and Eve, Satan twisted God’s words and made Eve believe that God had not been honest with her; the Serpent caused Eve to doubt God’s goodness. That is how the Tempter works. He pridefully tried to derail even Jesus. But, because Jesus is a divine person with both a human and divine nature, he was able to resist the temptations.
You and I, wounded and weakened by sin, are not always so successful at warding off the seductions of the Devil. That is why we must, for our own spiritual good, rely heavily on God and the gifts he has provided through Christ’s Church to help us resist Evil’s temptations and pursue good.
This Season of Lent, the preparatory time before the celebration of Holy Week and Easter, affords a wonderful opportunity to grow in spiritual strength so that we are better equipped to fend off the spiritual attacks and temptations of the Devil. The disciplines of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving, help us to spiritually get in shape, so to speak.
Of course, the Devil is not the only source of temptation. Temptation also comes from the distorted priorities and values of a fallen world. While all was created good, sin has brought about deformity of certain goods. Another source of temptation is the “flesh,” the disordered attitudes and affections that sometimes lure us to sin – things like pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth, these things come from our hearts. The Lenten disciplines and the Season’s invitation to repentance helps each of us to resist all forms of temptation.
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
