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18 February 2012
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
(Violet) Cycle B, Year II (February 26, 2012)
Gn 9:8-15/1Pt 3:18-22/Mk 1:12-15
Throughout the history of human salvation, particularly in the Old and the New Testaments, we can always observe some instances of test or temptation by the devil to the chosen persons of God such as Adam and Eve, Samson, Job, the Israelites, David, Peter and even Judas. It seems, as described in the book of Job, that God has given to Satan the authority over the earth to put to the test those whom he would like to as long as he never touches their lives for the power over life and death belongs solely to God.
In the gospel we see that Jesus is put to the test by the devil. We know the story from another gospel how the devil tries his best three times to put Jesus to the test and how Jesus triumphs over such temptations by the devil. We see the secret of Christ’s success over such temptations in His forty days of prayer and fasting. One with God in His solitude in prayers, Jesus has been also one with the animals. Indeed, deep communion with God brings us also to a deeper communion with the whole creation. Tired by His sacrifices and the tests of the devil, Jesus Christ is taken cared by the angels after the temptations. This shows that when we triumph over the temptation, the devils leave us and the angels administer to us.
As normal persons, we have experienced being tempted by the devil in many ways. If we are not aware of such temptations, it is because we have already fallen to the bait of the devils. When we are aware of the temptation, it means that we have not yet fallen to the enticement of the devil and we still have the opportunity to battle against the temptation and against the devil. Such opportunity is a call for us to stand firm in our faith and to ask the grace of God and the help of the angels to protect us from the snares of the devil and to win over those enticements of the devil. Weak our human nature is, we can never defeat the devil without the help of God and even of the angels and of the saints. There is always the need to pray especially when temptation is around so as to be prepared to combat against the lure of the devil.
On the other hand, temptation is also a test in the sense that God permits the temptation of the devil to test our faith and faithfulness in God. The reason why God has gifted us with the free will is for us to choose good over evil and choose better over good. We are never permitted to choose between evil. We must be aware of the choices that are presented to us in our daily activities. As Christians, we ought to choose only the things that will glorify God and never the things that will simply pumper our ego and selfishness. As long as there is a temptation, there is an opportunity for us to prove that we love God and that we will do the things according to His will and teachings; and there is an opportunity for us to gain more merits by becoming faithful to God.
Temptation is a work of the devil and as such, we have to avoid it and ask the grace of God to defeat such temptation. But temptation can never happen without the permission of God. So when there is a temptation, it is a clear sign that God is testing our fidelity to Him and we ought to do our best to pass the divine test so that we may not only gain favor from God, we may also be more united with Him in eternal love, life and happiness.
