First Sunday of Lent: the world, the flesh and the devil

He remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan

 Mark 1: 12-15

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021824.cfm

May bountiful blessing, O Lord, we pray,

come down upon your people,

that hope may grow in tribulation,

virtue be strengthened in temptation,

and eternal redemption be assured.

Through Christ our Lord.

(Prayer over the People)

With a very brief mention in our Gospel, Mark relates to us the desert experience of Jesus immediately after his baptism by John in the Jordan river.  Unlike the extended more detailed and frankly more interesting narrative of the same event by Luke and Matthew, Mark nonetheless offers us only a mention.  Matthew (4: 1-11) and Luke (4: 1-13) fill in the details by telling us of the three temptations, Jesus’ dialogue with Satan, Our Lord’s steadfast resistance to all three, and the devil’s intent to return another time.  We can only imagine that Satan was perplexed by Jesus, not quite understanding what his mission was all about initially. 

Yet, we do know that Jesus was in a battle; a war as it were with the forces of evil and Satan himself.  His whole mission was to defeat Satan and gain back final victory over sin and death.  Lent leads us to share in the Paschal mystery, the death and resurrection of Christ, and to come out victorious at the other end.  The Resurrection of Jesus is the grand exclamation point in which God wins and forever extends to us new hope and promise.  That the final word is no longer death and despair but now life and eternity in heaven for those who are faithful. 

Despite all that “good news,” we still know that we inhabit a broken world and share a broken human nature.  The final victory is yet to come when the power of evil is destroyed and God’ kingdom will triumph at the end of all time in the resurrection of the dead. 

In the meantime, the daily confrontation with the powers of darkness continues.  Because we are marked for Christ in baptism, we bear his likeness, we are enemies of the demons.  Their whole existence is to cause division, lies, discouragement and lead us away from Christ. Yet, with the power of God we too can overcome sin.  Jesus own temptation in the desert is to not only establish his superiority but to assure us that in times of temptation, times when distortion and pride tempt us, we can turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel. The words spoken as ashes were imposed on our foreheads just a few days ago, are reminders to us of our mission as disciples of Christ.  We are to “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

How are we tempted?  The longer versions of Jesus’ temptation teach us as principally in three ways:  the world, the flesh, and by the devil. These three ways are not new but present to us three areas where we should be aware.

The world: as temptation to pride and power, to riches and authority.  Jesus was shown all the kingdoms of the world by Satan and tempted to abandon his mission rather than suffer the humiliation of the cross. He resisted and did the Father’s will out of love.

The flesh: to satisfy the sensual desires of our bodies without regard for self-discipline and our proper dignity.  Jesus was tempted to turn stones to bread to satisfy his hunger which must have been very great at that point.  He resisted, knowing that life and his mission was about more than momentary pleasure.

He was taken up to the high point of the Temple and tempted to test God by throwing himself down and daring the Father to send angels to rescue him.  Jesus answer was that one does not defy God and presume on his grace as if God was at our command.  Honestly as well, God has given us a free will to choose or to not choose him.  So many of the problems of our lives often are traced back to our bad choices and not something God has inflicted upon us.  

The devil seeks to deceive us, lie to us, for he is the enemy of all that is good, holy, true and beautiful. Rather than to carry our cross along the way with Christ, he would rather we abandon our call as sons and daughters of Christ and selfishly seek our own way. 

While life is indeed a beautiful thing, a gift from our Creator, we know that we are weak, in need of a Savior, and to stay on the mark Christ has shown us, protects us from doubt and fear.  “Jesus, I trust in you” is a simple way, I think, to resist temptation in its initial beginning. 

This Lent, pray more, be more generous and less selfish.  Think of others before yourself and offer the sacrifice of time for others.  Go without for a change and offer that sacrifice for those whose lives are surrounded by false idols of wealth, pleasure and power. 

Much to reflect on this holy season as we accompany each other in the way of Christ.  The world, the flesh and the devil: be aware but overall place your faith in the Lord and be faithful to the Gospel.