Dear Friends,
The church on the first Sunday of Lent each year gives us the gospel where Jesus is praying in the wilderness and is tempted by Satan. Recognizing temptations is the first step on our Lenten journey. The temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness were not temptations to do great evil, but they were temptations to find human solace without effort. Temptations to eat when he was hungry, to have power and glory on a worldly plane, and to have freedom from physical harm. These are the desires we all face – to have our basic human needs met. And, when we do not receive these things we begin to question God: Why am I sick? Why am I poor? Why don’t things go smoothly for me? We are all tempted by the evil one to enjoy the kingdom of this world rather than the kingdom of God. Since there are only two kingdoms, we have to choose which one we want – this world’s kingdom or God’s kingdom?
It is interesting that after the temptations in the wilderness, Jesus returns to his hometown where he presents the plan for what he is about to do and is rejected by the people there. He then heads immediately to Capernaum, which is close to Nazareth and on the lake. There a man possessed by a demon confronts him. The demon says to Jesus, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” Jesus tells him to be quiet and come out of the man. But, Jesus’ real answer to the demon’s question is “yes, I have come to destroy you.”
The kingdom of God is built on all that the kingdom of Satan is opposed to. Instead of rivalry, there is to be love. Instead of accusation, there is to be cooperation. Instead of violence, there is to be peace. Instead of domination, there is to be liberation. The demonic is all that is negation, pro-death and anti-human. Jesus brings life, forgiveness, and love.
So we may wonder, why didn’t Jesus just completely destroy the devil and all the evil that he brings? I f that was Jesus’ answer to the demon’s question, why is the devil still around and tempting our world so strongly? The answer is tied up in the mystery of God’s love. God’s love for us is so great that God sets us free. That freedom allows us to choose against God and the values of God’s kingdom. For God to remove all evil, God would, in a sense, take away our freedom. God’s love for us is what limits God’s options. Jesus’ own death and resurrection did destroy the power of evil to capture us forever, but evil still exists and is ever present in our world today.
We are invited as followers of Jesus to reject the temptations of this world in the same way that Jesus did. Living with our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can be a people of love, people that forgive, people that offer service to our neighbors. We can reject rivalry, violence, fear, and domination. We can join Jesus in helping create the kingdom of God right here and now.
Our journey through Lent will lead us to Holy Week and our meditation on Jesus’ trial, suffering and death. We will come to know that Jesus is not far from us in our trials and sufferings. However, as we journey, we need to call to mind that we know the end of the story. Easter does not disappear during our Lenten journey. We believe that the old way of arranging the world is dead. We believe that death is destroyed and we do not need to live in fear. We believe that there is a heavenly homeland waiting for us. This is what St. Paul told us when he says, “We walk by faith and not by sight.”
That beautiful reading from the book of Revelation (chosen often by families for funerals) tells us, “The One who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God and he shall be my son.” If we believe this, then no temptation offered by this world can even compare. Let us live now as the children of God.
Peace,
Fr. Damian