TEMPTING AS IT MAY BE:
Scripture: “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial He will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.”
– 1 Corinthians 10:13
Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner person, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a ‘delight to the eyes’ and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death.” – CCC page 2847
Brothers and sisters, the readings today speak to the trials that we all share, even our Lord: temptation. We may not all be tempted by the same things, but we are all tempted in one way or another. One thing is certain, none of us are immune to temptation.
As scripture points out, after Christ’s baptism, He wandered through the desert for forty days and was tempted by the devil. And it is easy to see why the devil would tempt Jesus; He was bringing the Kingdom of God to invade the kingdom of this world – satan’s world.
However, satan can only operate in the realm permitted to him by God. In other words, he can lead us to temptation but he cannot force us to sin. That is left up to us – or not – by the gift of free will. We cannot quote the famous saying from the 1970’s: “The devil made me do it.” No, brothers and sisters, he did not. We choose to sin of our own free will.
Sinning is never our goal, but because of our human weaknesses and our personal likes and dislikes, our desires will override our hearts. As Jesus Himself said, “Stay awake and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh weak.” All this means is that we human beings know what we ought to do, but our humanity is unable to always overcome our pride, arrogance, anger, hatred, and other desires one
hundred percent of the time. We will stumble at times – we will fall at times.
The readings today also remind us that in order to overcome temptation and sin, both faith and obedience are required; we cannot be victorious against temptation without them. Brothers and sisters, they confound evil every time, and they can also comfort us in suffering; but most importantly, the can and will save us from eternal death.
The true path to salvation lies in obedience to God, which is the basis of ‘right-relationship’ with God and each other. And this is the backbone of what Jesus constantly preached; His whole ministry was about loving God with our entire being, and loving each other as He has loved us. We hear this all the time, and we want to do it, but find it very difficult. Like He said: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
It is also important for us to remember brothers and sisters, that obedience to the Lord has always been challenged, and that history will continue to repeat itself until we realize that freedom is actually born from obedience. Temptation and sin cannot break in when we humble ourselves enough to receive the love that God has for all of us – equally.
The conflict between good and evil did not end with Jesus’ victory over the devil in the desert. It has always existed, and is still very present in our world today, and is even more subtle. Therefore, brothers and sisters we have a choice to make: Which kingdom will we serve – the one that promotes the love of the self and everything that it requires; or will we choose the kingdom that has power over these earthly pursuits?
“The devil tempts that he may ruin;
God tests that He may crown.”
-St. Ambrose
