The Temptation in the Desert

The readings for the first Sunday in Lent focus on temptation and sin.  One of our main endeavours in Lent is to become stronger in 

our resistance of temptation, stronger in the battle against sin.  We undertake such acts as fasting, almsgiving (charity), prayer and penitence in order to help us grow closer to the Lord and stronger in our faith.

In the Book of Genesis we hear the sad account of the first sin of Adam and Eve and in particular the temptation that led to their fall from grace.  The devil is cunning and first questions whether God actually gave an instruction not to eat the fruit of a particular tree.

When this question is met with a good response, the devil resorts to lying to Eve and tempting her by saying that if she eats the fruit, “…you will be like God.”  It is an appeal to vanity and pride and Eve succumbs.

Since the first sin, sin has been the general human condition, and so the psalmist cries out to God in guilt, “Have mercy on me, God in your kindness…O wash me more and more from my guilt…”  St Paul writing to the Christians in Rome reminds them, “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin…”

In the Gospel reading, however, we see Jesus being tempted but resisting sin.  Jesus had been led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness for forty days and nights.  Lent is our opportunity to do our best in entering into some sort of desert to get closer to God.  We can do this, as the Church instructs us, by prayer and penance, almsgiving and acts of charity, and by fasting and abstinence.

The big question is not, “What am I doing for Lent?” but rather, “What sort of person do I want to become by the end of Lent?”  By the sacrifices and devotions and kindnesses we undertake, by the grace of God, we will become more and more the people we are called to be.  

God bless, Fr Kevin.