We celebrate today the first Sunday in the season of Lent. The forty days of Lent before Easter can be related to the forty years that the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness and to the forty days which Christ spent in the desert after His baptism and before His ministry began. These forty days of Lent are a time of trial for us also, just as the Israelites were tested and just as Christ was tempted. Our goal during Lent is to become stronger and more focused in our faith by fasting, praying and offering alms. Our goal is to become stronger in the face of the temptations which we confront in our day to day life.

In the readings today, we see the temptation of Adam and Eve, as well as that of Jesús.  Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent to disobey that which God has told them: You may eat of all except for the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.  The serpent lures Eve into disobedience by enticing her with the promise of being as God Himself, knowing good and evil. Eve sees, the passage states, that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. Eve partakes of the fruit, then offers it to Adam who does likewise. Eyes opened, we see their actions as those of one ashamed.

We find ourselves these days faced with the same decision to make as Adam and Eve had. To obey and trust in God or listen to the voice of the tempter. Temptations assault us everyday.  The serpent who works to damn us by our disobedience to God, presents these temptations to us beautifully wrapped. That shiny wrapper covering what we believe is good for us, leads us to commit sins. 

Did God really say that that clump of cells is an actual baby? It is not, the tempter tells us.  Rid yourself of it and you will be free! Did God really tell you that birth control and adultery is wrong? It is not, the tempter repeats.  You are free to do with your body as you wish, for you -- not God -- you know what is right and wrong! Beneath those shiny wrappers, the enemy hides secularism, relativism, socialism, hedonism.

We, at times, like Eve, want that which we think will put us in control of our own lives, that which will make us in our own way, our own god.

But in the Gospel today, we see Christ in the desert, being tempted Himself by the enemy. He shows how we can resist temptations.

With the first temptation of satan, that of turning stones to bread, Jesús answers that one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  In this reference to the Israelites in the desert having received manna, it is not bread alone which sustains man but the word of God. We know that Christ is the word. So in the Eucharist, we are not receiving bread alone.  We are receiving the word of God, we are receiving Christ himself, body, blood, soul and divinity. Living by the word, by Christ, strengthens us against temptations.

In the second temptation, satan tells Jesús to throw himself off the temple parapet to show that the angels would protect him as was written in scripture. Jesús answers that God should not be put to the test. Many times we experience this temptation, this desire to test God.  We try to make deals with him. Do this for me, and I will do this for you. Show me, reveal to me, prove to me. This testing of God is brought on by our lack of faith in the word of God. “Is the LORD in our midst or not?” The Israelites had asked in Meribah and Massah. It is hard for us to believe that God could be in our midst in our times of trials and tribulations.  Jesús says do not put God to the test. What He really means is to have faith, to trust in the Lord.

The third and final temptation by the fallen one was the offer of the world if only Christ would prostrate himself and worship satan. Again, and more forcefully, Jesús rejects his temptor. Get away satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.

This, my brothers and sisters, is the temptation which we must battle against the hardest. It is in our nature to want the world, to want that which in reality we do not need.  But when the enemy is making such a beautiful offer to us, we find it difficult to resist. The promise of fortune or fame or power brings to mind the same thoughts of Eve at pondering the fruit of the forbidden tree. These things are good and pleasing and desirable. We do not think of the eventual cost, only the perceived reward at the moment.  Only later will we regret what we have done, only later will we feel the shame and try to hide what we have done.

But during lent, we have the opportunity to strengthen ourselves spiritually.  This time of the year we can prepare ourselves to resist temptation. We do as Christ did. We fast and focus on the word of God.  We pray and trust in God and do not test His patience -- nor His love -- for us.

And Instead of seeking to possess all that the world has, let us give what we have to those in the world who possess nothing. Let us give to those who are in need and not think of our own needs or desires first. We usually think of Lent as a time of sacrifice. But we should look at Lent more as a time of mercy and not sacrifice. The difference between acting with mercy or with sacrifice is that when you do something which you see as a  sacrifice, what you do is done at a cost to you. You do it but there is a price you know that you will pay. Sacrifice done for others can be painful. But when we push the idea of sacrifice away, when we do those same things for others with a sense of mercy and not of sacrifice, we place others before us. Whereas sacrifice oft times leaves us with a sense of loss, when we act out of mercy, we feel nothing but love.

So this Lent, let us ponder the mercy of God in His gift to us of His son, Jesús.  Let us pray. Let us fast. Let us give alms. But above all, let our mouths proclaim the praise of the Lord, for He is merciful. He washes us of our guilt and cleanses us of our sin.

May the Lord bless you all.