Homily for the Week of February 17, 2013

First Sunday of Lent (C), 2013 Deut 26:4-10; Ps 91:1-2, 10-15; Rom 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13 "The times when you have seen only one se We begin today a time of spirituality and prayer known as Lent. Lent is a time of 40 days when we are invited to refocus ourselves on what it means for you and for me to be a follower of Jesus. Each year Lent is that time when we are given 40 days during which we can sharpen our focus on Jesus, and if necessary, to straighten out the paths of our life. This weekend I want to talk about temptations. The Gospels tells us that Jesus went out to the desert for 40 days and was tempted by the devil. It may surprise us that Jesus was tempted. But it should not surprise us. Everyone is tempted. Often Catholics confuse temptation with sin. A temptations is never a sin. In fact temptations are necessary if we are going to be truly a spiritual and holy person. Many times a day we are tempted to do something wrong or something bad. So very often each day we may find it difficult to do what is right. And there can be years in our life during which we have an endless struggle between being good and being bad. In fact a temptation can lead us to be a better person. For instance, if we are tempted to anger, then we may learn to be forgiving; if we are tempted to do some impure action, then we can find ways of being chaste; if we are tempted to be critical of others, we may a way to see some good points in others. We can be tempted to all kinds of horrible and shameful actions, but as long as we do not give in to them they remain temptations. Sometimes the smaller temptations are actually harder to deal with. We are rarely tempted to murder, but we often be tempted with getting even or arguing or complaining -- sometimes with those who love us the most. If a mad and mean dog confronts us there are usually certain things we can do to protect ourselves. However, it can be much more difficult to deal with hordes of mosquitos at a cookout on a warm summer night. To live as Jesus wants us to live is most often a daily battle with pesky insects than with mean dogs. The best help during times of strong and never ending temptations is to talk honestly about them to someone you can trust, who will give you some practical suggestions. That is sometimes done in an honest confession. We heard in the first reading how Moses saw the need to remind his people to regain their focus. He reminds the children of Abraham just who gave them all they have. And how God came to them when they were in need. During most of the 40 years they were in the dry and forsaken desert they spent most of their time complaining. They were starving to death. They were depending just on themselves because they had forgotten God. It took Moses to remind them over and over again of the stories of how God had come to the help of so many in the past and even their families. Moses told them that they needed to return to God. God had never let them down. Don't despair, he told them. Our gospel reading gives us the story of how Jesus was tempted. Let us take a closer look at how Jesus was tempted. He went to the desert to pray. After fasting for 40 days his defenses were down. While in the desert he was tempted by the devil three times. He was tempted He was tempted to have power over hunger. Satan tempts Jesus to use his wonder-working powers to satisfy his own physical needs The devil wants Jesus to turn the stones into bread, and he would never be hungry again. He could feed the world. He was tempted to have political power and authority over all the world. All this will be yours if you worship me. That is the temptation we have when we say: if I were President, if I were Pope, if I were my Mom or My Dad, if I were the teacher, if I were the Cop. Think of how much good we think we could do! He was tempted to become famous and have power over death and the suffering that comes before death. But why doesn't Jesus give in to the temptations? Because he believed that God is his God. It may be news to many of you that the most common and hidden temptation is lack of faith. Too often we can be tempted to satisfy our hungry hearts by ourselves rather than with the love of Jesus. Our society is filled with billboards, newspaper and magazine ads. For example the 4 1/2 hour long Oscars this weekend will be interrupted about every 3 minutes to tell us to buy this or that so as to be happy. Unless we have developed a set of moral and family values, these are all temptations to find Jesus where he is not. Sometimes we turn to Jesus as a last resort, but even then do we really believe that he can help us? And lack of faith then leads us to stop praying and to stop practicing our faith. Paul says that Confession on the lips leads to salvation. Can we state clearly and with conviction what it is we believe? and then let our actions be the test of how well we live as we say we believe. Jesus could. God cannot keep us from death. But in our faith we believe that God is with him, loves us and is our strength. Today on this First Week of Lent, Jesus offers us both a challenge and a comfort. If we try to fast and pray more, we can expect temptations like those of Jesus. But when we push them away we can expect to become more in tune with Jesus and make good choices. The greatest comfort is that Jesus also was tempted, but he learned to remain faithful to God. Let us put our faith in the final words of the Lord's prayer: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen