Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - Tuesday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jas 1:12-18 and Mark 8:14-21]No one experiencing temptation should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death. [James]
FEBRUARY 18, 2020 [Bl. John of Fiesole, OP a/k/a Fra Angelico]
Back in the 1980's, I had to consult a medical doctor who prescribed a fairly high dose of a steroid called "prednisone." Many people who have to take this will testify that one of the side effects is a feeling of hunger. So the doctor gave me some wise advice which I have found helpful in all kinds of circumstances. She said, "This will make you hungry but you don't have to eat!" Temptation is like that medication.
Temptation is not always to do something that is inherently evil. It is the desire that matters and that desire can lead us astray when we allow our body to develop a craving for something that may be good but which we do not need, let alone something that is dangerous. We are not helped by our culture that preaches satisfaction and pleasure at all costs.
Years ago, the comedian Flip Wilson had a routine in which he impersonated a woman named Geraldine who pretended to have a good angel on one shoulder and a devil angel on the other. When she gave into a craving that was expensive, etc., she would said, "The devil made me do that." The best antidotes to temptation are faith and common sense. God has given us a wonderful freedom which we surrender when we allow ourselves to ignore our faith and our common sense in favor of satisfying an unreasonable craving for something. The now all too common addictions to drugs and pornography begin with curiosity that moves to desire to addiction. The story in Genesis of the serpent and the apple is a good one to read. The Letter of James tells us to pray for wisdom and discipline. God will be generous in helping us. AMEN