Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 10, 2008 - First Sunday of Lent
[Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11]If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.... If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.....All these I will give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me!
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2008 FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT [Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; and Matthew 4:1-11] If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.... If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.....All these I will give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me! Many parents (and formation directors) know that the way to guarantee a child will try to do something is to forbid it! Accepting external limitations does not come easily, especially when there is that rationalizing little voice that says, "The reason you can't do it is because those adults (or whatever authority) want to keep "it" all for themselves. Why deny yourself that "it" when "it" is so desirable? Why accept a limit on what you can have?" Temptation is about limits and our ability to accept them. When these limits concern our relationship to God (and neighbor, too), the stakes are high. Adam and Eve are unable to resist the temptation to the ONE thing they are forbidden to have! They cannot accept God's "Because I said so!" The tempter cleverly makes God look selfish. So, Adam and Eve, with all the incredible richness and power that they had been given, decide to stake it all on the one thing they are told they cannot have. They (and all of us as well) lose! St. Paul masterfully compares Christ with Adam. The temptation in the desert is to abandon the restraints of the mission that Jesus had been given and instead take hold of power, appetite and wealth. Jesus resists the temptation and wins (and so do all of us as well). The "Beloved Son" of the baptismal scene is an obedient Son. Obedience confronts us a thousand times a day. Each time it does, so does temptation. The range of examples runs from the trivial to the dangerous. It may be company policy, "doctor's orders," civil law, church law, moral law, our health, parents' rule, stop sign - it all says, "You must not......!" And that little voice says, "Oh yeah.....well we'll see about that!" Since all just law comes ultimately from God and is a participation in God's own law (as St. Thomas Aquinas so wonderfully points out), the stakes are high. As long as we think we can do what we want, we will be losers. If we can accept the fact that we are creatures and much loved by God, and therefore dependent, we will be winners. As with Adam and Jesus, the choice is ours to make. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
71 ms
4
