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Homily for the first Sunday
of Lent - Year A - Mt. 4:1-11
by
Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen
" Then Jesus was led up by
the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he
fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And
the tempter came and said to him, «If you are the Son of God,
command these stones to become loaves of bread.» But he answered,
«It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Deut. 8:3)»
" Then the devil took him
to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said
to him, «If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it
is written, "He will give his angels charge of you," and "On their
hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a
stone." (Ps. 90:11-12)» Jesus said to him, «Again it is
written, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." (Deut. 6:16)»
" Again, the devil took him
to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world
and the glory of them; and he said to him, «All these I will give
you, if you will fall down and worship me.» Then Jesus said to
him, «Begone, Satan! for it is written, "You shall worship the
Lord your God and him only shall you serve." (Deut. 6:13)»
" Then the devil left him,
and behold, angels came and ministered to him. "
Homily:
" Then Jesus was led up by
the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. "
Saint Paul said to us: "Be
led by the Spirit." (Gal. 5:16 ; cf. Rom. 8:14) Therein is all of our
Christian life! It is the very life of Jesus, though the Savior of men
lived this life to an extent that will never be given to us to live.
Nevertheless, it is our model, and the life of Jesus must be imitated
as perfectly as possible. If Jesus was tempted by the devil, under the
guidance of the Spirit, then we, his Body, his Church, we too must be
tempted in turn...
If we are truly led by the
Spirit, then, at the moment of temptation, we will notice the presence
of the devil, who prowls around us, seeking someone to devour... (cf. 1
Peter 5:8) At that moment, whether it is we who are tempted, or someone
else, such as one of our acquaintances, we must be able to say to
ourselves: "The devil is near!" But, if we are guided by the Spirit,
let us not be afraid: Jesus conquered the devil, and we too will
conquer him!
" And he fasted forty days
and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and
said to him, «If you are the Son of God, command these stones to
become loaves of bread.» But he answered, «It is written,
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God." (Deut. 8:3)» "
The devil will tempt Jesus
in three ways, each of which concerns goods, whether spiritual or
material, interior or exterior, that we possess or can possess. So,
first, Jesus is tempted in his body, which is the material good that
each one of us necessarily possesses and cannot get rid of. Like any
material good, our body can be used well or badly. Here we must remain
in the just mean. For example, we must eat to live, and not live to
eat, as the saying goes. All of our senses must be under the control of
the spirit, which in turn is guided by the Spirit of God.
It is very important to
dominate our body. For, as has just been said, it is a material good we
cannot get rid of: whether we want to or not, we possess a material
body. This is why the devil considers it the first point to attack. But
as the devil is a pure spirit, who doesn't have a body, our own body
can be our first source of strength. At least it can be if we allow
ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, who will teach us to use our
body well, with a view to the Resurrection in the Lord...
By every means, the devil
will seek to turn our body away from its true use, which is the Glory
of God. First of all, the very beauty of our body annoys him: he would
like to destroy it, for example, by persuading illustrators to invent
extra-terrestrial species with deformed heads, hideous-looking
humanoids that are supposedly more intelligent than we are. On the
other hand, the devil seeks to exalt our body, to excess, but still in
order to destroy it. Without speaking of pornography, let us mention
above all today's favorite themes: the equality of the sexes (whereas
man and woman are complimentary - which means that one brings to the
other what the other lacks), which leads straight to homosexuality,
which is a crime and a sin against nature.
" Then the devil left him,
and behold, angels came and ministered to him. "
I will not speak this time
of the second and third temptations of the Lord. I direct the reader to
my previous homilies
( 1999
2002 ).
In conclusion, let us have great confidence in
Divine Providence, which watches over us, through the Holy Spirit, and
the angels, which are his servants. May the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
accompany us throughout this Lent 2005, a privileged time of the year,
which leads us to the Resurrection in Christ!
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