28-Feb-2017 Dear Friend, We have just begun the season of Lent. But somehow we do not look forward to this season as lent is associated with penance, fasting and sacrifice. Yet the Church calls it a joyful season because the focus in not so much on doing penance for the sake of doing penance but rather on preparing for the great mystery of Easter. May His word help us to make the right choices and may His spirit guide us to what lies ahead. Have a joyful Lenten weekend! –Fr. Jude. Sunday Ref: First Sunday of Lent “Have mercy on us for we have sinned!” 05-Mar-2017Readings: Genesis 2: 7-9; 3: 1-7; Romans 5: 12-19; Matthew 4: 1-11; In the first reading from the Book of Genesis we have the story of the tempting of Adam and Eve who were given the possibility of making a choice. The basic fundamental choice was to live for God, dependent and obedient to His will, or to say ‘No’ to God, severing themselves from him and live in the illusion that they did not need God. They were tempted by the serpent, the symbol of Satan. They were tempted through deceit. They were tempted to believe that they could be Gods themselves. They disobeyed; they sinned and had to face the consequences of their choice.
TemptationsAn American Indian was giving testimony about temptations. He said, “My brothers, I seem to have two dogs fighting in my heart. One is a very good dog, a beautiful white dog. He is always watching over my best interests. The other is a very bad dog, a black dog, who is always trying to destroy a lot of things that I want to see built up. These dogs give me a lot of trouble because they are always quarreling and fighting.” One of his hearers asked him. “Which one wins?” The young man said immediately, “The one to which I say: ‘Lic em’!” –Shades of: “If you walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh….”H.A. Ironside in ‘Tonic for the Heart’ In the gospel we are reminded that just as the first Adam was tempted, so the new Adam, Jesus Christ was also tempted. Just as Adam and Eve had to make a choice so Jesus too had to make choices and re affirm his obedience to doing the will of his Father. Unlike Adam, he made an irrevocable decision to do the Father’s will no matter what the consequences. In today’s gospel we see Jesus being tempted by Satan. It is a common practice for great religious leaders to go to a remote place to be alone with God and their own thoughts as they prepare to undertake some new direction or vocation in life. Jesus prepares himself by forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert. The prayer and fasting is not an end in itself but a preparation for his mission. Our own prayer and fasting during this season of lent is not an end in itself but a preparation for our conversion and reconciliation with God. For Jesus the temptations came in various forms and were related to the happenings of his life. After fasting for several days Jesus was hungry and was tempted to use his power to satisfy his bodily needs. “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.” But Jesus was not to be put off, he used the word of God to ward off temptation. “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Again he was tempted by Satan to throw himself from the parapet of the temple and force the hand of God into doing something dramatic and flashy. Jesus rejects the sensational way as not God’s way. “You will not put the Lord God to the test.” Still Satan never gives up, he never sleeps, he has yet another try: “I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you will fall at my feet and worship me.” Jesus is tempted by the offer of power and possessions, but he rejects Satan once more with the power of the word of God. “Be off Satan! Scripture says, ‘You must worship your God and serve Him alone!” Is it a saint or a horse?Once upon a time a very earnest young man visited a famous rabbi. He told the rabbi he wanted to become a rabbi and asked for his advice. It was winter time. The Rabbi stood at the window looking out into the yard while the rabbinical candidate gave him a glowing account of his piety and learning. The young man said, “You see, Rabbi, I always dress in spotless white like the sages of old. I never drink any alcoholic beverages; only water. I perform numerous penances. For instance, I always carry sharp-edged nails inside my shoes to mortify me. Even in the coldest weather, I lie naked in the snow to punish my flesh. And to complete my penance, I take a dozen lashes every day on my bare back.” As the young man spoke, a stable boy led a white horse into the yard and took him to the water trough. The horse drank his fill of water, and having done so rolled in the snow, as horses sometimes do. “Just look!” cried the rabbi. “That animal too is dressed in white. It also drinks nothing but water, has nails in his shoes and rolls naked in the snow. Now I ask you, is it a saint or is it a horse?” –The point the rabbi was making was that penance is not an end in itself. What is the purpose of penance? It is not meant to undo the past, nor is it meant to persuade God to erase our sins. We undertake penance to acknowledge we are sinners and we desire to change our lives.Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’ Leading to temptationA young boy was forbidden by his father to swim in the canal near their home. One day the boy came home carrying a wet bathing suit and his father asked him where he had been. The boy calmly stated that he had been swimming in the canal. The father was angry and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” The boy assured him that he had. The father wanted to know why he had disobeyed him. The boy said, “Well, Dad, I had my swimming suit with me, and I couldn’t resist the temptation.” Furious the father asked the boy why the boy had his bathing suit with him. The boy answered with total honesty, “So I would be prepared, just in case I was tempted.”James Valladares in ‘Your Words O Lord are Spirit and they are life.’ Do not be deceived by temptationsA successful female executive stood before the Pearly Gates, facing St. Peter himself. “Strange,” mused St. Peter, “while I think it over, I’ll let you experience a day here and a day in Hell.” So the woman spent an entire day lounging on clouds, playing the harp and her 24 hours passed quickly, and then she was transported to hell, where the devil took her to a beautiful country club where she found many of her old friends having a great time. Before she knew it, her 24 hours were up, and she was back at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said. “I’ve considered your placement and decided I’ll let you choose where you wish to spend eternity.” She replied. “Well, Heaven was nice, but, no offense, I had a great time in Hell.” And back down she went. But this time she found herself in a desolate wasteland covered with garbage. Her friends were still there, but now they were dressed in rags, picking up garbage and carrying it from one pile to another. “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. Yesterday when I was here, there was a golf course and we ate lobster and drank, and danced the night away, having a wonderful time. Now everyone is slaving away shoveling garbage.” The devil looked at her and smiled. “Yesterday we were recruiting you. Today, you’re staff!”Tomi Thomas in ‘Spice your homilies’ We can begin againIt is reported that Thomas Edison’s laboratory was virtually destroyed by fire in December 1914. Although the damage exceeded $ 2million, the buildings were only insured for $ 238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof. Much of Edison’s work literally went up in smoke on that fateful December night. At the height of the fire, Edison’s 24 year-old son, Charles frantically searched for his father among the smoke and debris. He finally found him, calmly watching the scene, his face glowing in the reflection, and his white hair blowing in the wind. Said the sympathetic son, “My heart ached for him. He was 67 –no longer a young man – and everything was going up in flames. When he saw me he shouted, “Charles, where is your mother?” When I told him I didn’t know, he said, “Find her. Bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives.” The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.” Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver his first phonograph!James Valladares in ‘Your Words O Lord are Spirit and they are life.’ Giving into temptation!A story is told of a wealthy woman who travelled to Europe with several friends. Her husband stayed home and played the stock market. While in Paris she found a fur coat that was the most beautiful she had ever seen. She sent a telegram to her husband that said, “Have found the perfect coat for only $ 50,000. What do you think?” He replied immediately with a telegram saying, “No, price too high.” Imagine his surprise when she returned home with that $ 50,000 coat. The angry husband said, “Didn’t you get my telegram?” “Yes,” she said, “and here it is.” The husband looked at that telegram which said, without punctuation, NO PRICE TOO HIGH.” He forgot to put the coma after NO. – The devil, however we may image it –is persistent, and in daily life we often grow discouraged when we have to face the same temptation over and over again. Being tempted is an opportunity to turn more fervently to God. With God’s help we can resist all temptations.John Pichapilly in ‘The Table of the Word’ “Make me once more the boy I was when I was fifteen.”A priest who spent several years as a school chaplain tells the following story. Late one night one of his past pupils, now a young man, came to see him. He had a sad and murky story to tell. After leaving school he entered the world of work. There unfortunately, he got involved in crime. He told the priest that he now wanted to get rid of it. Then he made a most unusual request. He said, “Father, make me once more the boy I was when I was fifteen.” The boy’s earnest request moved the priest deeply. The young man knew that he had tarnished himself. Now he felt a longing for the unstained innocence of his boyhood. Just as Adam and Eve lost their original innocence, so the boy had lost his childhood innocence. But the priest could see that within that young man the boy who had made his first Holy Communion still survived. There is in every human heart, a longing for the lost Eden. No matter how old we may be, Jesus makes it possible for us to be reborn in innocence of character. Now is that moment of salvation!Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’ May the example of Jesus tempted spur us on in our own moments of temptation! Fr. Jude Botelho botelhoj...@gmail.com PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
