Homily for Lent 1 - March 6, 2022

 

Homily for Lent 1

March 6, 2022

Temptations and How to Overcome Them

 

            The story goes that a man who was running a fruit stand at a market had to step away for a moment, so he put a note on his large basket of apples that read, “Do not take – God is watching.” Some cheeky fellow hand-wrote a note and put it on his basket of oranges that said, “Take all you want – God is watching the apples.”

            Temptation – it’s everywhere. Among our friends, at parties, on the internet, even within our own thoughts. But our Gospel gives us wisdom on what temptations to watch out for, and how to fight the battle so that Christ can win the victory in you.

            First, in our Catholic tradition, there are three “sources of temptation”. We receive temptation through the world, the flesh, and the devil. All three of these are present in the Gospel today; let’s look at them separately.

Jesus is tempted to turn stones into bread, satisfying the cravings of the flesh. So…why is that bad? He’s hungry, and there’s nothing wrong with eating when you’re hungry, right? The problem is that He is eating at the wrong time – He is supposed to be fasting. The flesh tempts us by wanting pleasure at the wrong time or in the wrong way. Eating isn’t bad – but eating too much becomes gluttony. Drinking alcohol isn’t bad – only getting drunk and abusing it. Sex is a good and beautiful gift from God – but becomes sinful when it is used outside of a marriage between a man and a woman, open to life. Sleep and rest are beautiful, but if we do them too much then we become lazy and neglect our daily duties. So when we say that the flesh is a source of temptation, we aren’t saying that the body or its desires are bad. But we need to respect God’s plan for how we enjoy the pleasures of the flesh.

If we find that we are tempted to seek pleasure in the wrong way and our flesh becomes a source of temptation, then the antidote is fasting. Giving up desserts or TV for Lent helps to deny and train the flesh so that it becomes disciplined. We want our bodies to more easily choose that which is truly good – and this requires self-denial. If we can deny ourselves a chocolate bar, we have strengthened our will to have mastery over our flesh, which makes it easier for us to deny ourselves that fourth beer or that immoral sexual temptation.

After the temptation of the flesh, Jesus is then presented with the power, the riches, and the glories of every Kingdom – the things of the world are in His grasp. Once again, is the world and its possessions and riches bad? Not at all – but they become a snare when we make them an end in themselves. Money, possessions, physical beauty, power – none of these things should become an end-goal in themselves. Rather, all of these things are given to us so that we can serve God, love others, and bring the world to Heaven.

So if the empty and passing things of the world are our biggest temptation, then the antidote is almsgiving – generosity to the poor. Giving money or items to the poor puts “the world” in its proper perspective – it makes us realize that our lives cannot revolve around possessions or power.

Finally, the devil tempts Jesus to throw Himself off the temple, telling Him to command God to rescue Him. This is the most insidious of all sources of temptation: a Satanic pride that says that we get to tell God what to do. We may say, “Oh, who would tell God what to do?” I can give you plenty of examples, but here are just a few that are very common.

I once knew a man who would always say that religion is just a crutch, that he didn’t need anyone to help him live his life – he was a self-made man, and would keep it that way. Other people do not pray daily because they believe they can figure out life on their own, they don’t need God.

Some people disagree with Church teaching on this or that – I remember a man saying to me in Confession, “Oh Father, I don’t think such-and-such is a sin.” I asked him where he got his information that this particular sin, which had always and everywhere been taught as immoral by the Church, was somehow now okay. He said, “Well, I just don’t think God has a problem with me doing that.” So, the fact that this action is clearly wrong from Scripture and has been taught as wrong for two thousand years was irrelevant to him…and he gets to decide it’s okay for him? That is a philosophical error called “moral relativism” – which stems from the pride that says, “I get to be the determiner of right and wrong; I get to tell God what He should approve of.”

So what is the antidote to this kind of pride? Prayer. Prayer recognizes that we aren’t in control. Authentic prayer isn’t, “God, You must bend to MY will and do what I want you to do,” but rather, “Lord, Your will be done. I humbly submit to Your loving, holy will.”

There we have it – the three sources of temptation: the world, the flesh, and the devilish pride. The antidotes are our Lenten disciplines: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. How did Jesus deal with these temptations? He didn’t entertain it but shut it down immediately; He used texts from Scripture to defeat Satan; He didn’t rely upon His own strength but the strength of His Father. We can use these techniques too, because all of us are tempted – even the saints.

St. Jerome had such a temper and was so tempted to raging fits of anger that he carried around a large rock and when he felt himself growing upset, he beat his chest with the rock to prevent him from raging! (A later Pope, passing by a painting of St. Jerome with the rock, commented that if it weren’t for the rock, he would never have become a saint!). St. Francis of Assisi was so tempted with lust that he threw himself into a thornbush to rid himself of the temptation. St. Theresa of Avila felt strong temptations to doubt her faith, so she pricked her finger and wrote out the Creed in her own blood. Even the great saints underwent temptations, and we will too until our final breath.

But with the strength of Christ, and with the weapons of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil will never overcome us. Christ has already won the victory – by our faith and humble trust in Him, He will win the victory in us, as well.