"Lord, Save Me From This… So I Can Do It Again" - What Temptation Reveals About Our Soul

Why Would Jesus Need to Be Tempted?

This is our first Sunday of Lent, and what an opener it is for all of us.

Let’s focus on the temptations that the Lord went through. Why would the Lord, who has all divinity in him, be tempted? Why go through this exercise? How could the devil even think he could win? 

Remember, Jesus is God and man. Regardless, maybe there is something about temptation that helps us discover who we are.

The First Temptation: Bread Without Work

The devil says, “If you are the son of God, command the stone to become bread.” In other words, let me give you something that you haven’t worked for. 

The devil always mocks God. The devil always insults God. God says love one another, and the devil will say it’s much easier to hate and much more powerful to hate. I know that’s true. It’s a lot easier to hate someone than to love someone, and to let that hatred last longer than love.

The devil is always insulting God’s plan for us and mocking it.

What does the Lord say? If you want something, work towards it. I gave you a heart, I gave you a brain, I gave you hands, I gave you feet. Work towards it.

The devil likes everything which is easier. What’s easier, tell the truth or tell a lie? Tell a lie. What’s easier, work for something or steal it? Steal.

Does my prayer resemble something where I’m constantly seeking things I don’t deserve? Maybe I need to reflect on that. It’s not intentional, but it’s just part of our fallen human nature. I’m always seeking things, looking for rewards that I haven’t really worked for.

What does Jesus say? One does not live by bread alone.

It’s not the material things. It’s not the luxury that you’re really looking for.

The Real Goal of Education and Life

I’ve been constantly meditating on our ministries here at Mary Immaculate, primarily the school, which is one of our largest ministries. I ask myself, what’s the goal of teaching and educating young people?

So that they go to a good high school? That they go to a great college? That they get a good job? Is that the goal? Is it the material things that matter?

They’re very easy to measure. Ninety-nine percent of our kids go off to do this. A hundred percent of our kids do that. Those are easily measurable.

They are not the goal.

The goal is that we discover who we are and that we know it well. What do we want from our children? That they understand that they are a child of God.

When you know that, you are capable of doing great things. No one in this world is going to crush you.

When you realize that God loves you and that you’re a child of God, you realize the reason why you’re put on this planet, the reason why you have a life. It wasn’t to go to high school or college or to have a job. Those are the minimum, and they are important. But they are not the goal.

The goal is for every child to discover who they are.

“One does not live by bread alone.”

Some of us already got the golden pot. We already got the treasure. We’re all set for retirement. You know better than anybody else, that’s not what makes you happy. Tell the young people.

The Second Temptation: Power at Any Price

“Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, ‘I shall give you all this power and glory, for it has been handed over to me. All you have to do is worship me.’ ” 

You can have all the power you want, just do the wrong things.

We see how people in powerful positions can manipulate other people. We can see it where you work.

Let me tell you, growing up my dad would embarrass the cashier at a grocery store if she made or he made one penny of a mistake. “Where did you go to school? You’re such an idiot. You don’t know how to count!”

I would walk away because I was embarrassed.

But let me tell you something. He got what he wanted every single time. Be loud, be obnoxious, be arrogant, and you will get what you want. Get the power you’re looking for by doing all the wrong things and you will succeed. That’s the temptation.

Hey, one life to live it. Power at any expense.

The Third Temptation: Testing God’s Patience

“Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on a parapet of the temple and said to him, ;'‘if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here. He will command his angels concerning you and they will catch you, support you.’ ”

What’s does our prayer sound like?

Someone once reflected, “Lord save me from this so I can do it again.”

The temptation that God saves me from my stupidities. Why? So I can do it again. Lord don’t let anybody know. Why? So I can keep doing it. I can keep doing it.

Throw yourself. In other words, screw up and God will catch you.

What does the Lord say? You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Don’t test God.

Why These Temptations Matter

Why are these temptations? Because temptations are always a shortcut to a counterfeit. Sometimes we can be perfectly content with the counterfeit. Temptations don’t allow us to experience what we are capable of achieving. That’s it.

When I cheat at school, I’m never experiencing that I’m more than capable of handling this. I’ve actually had a student once say to me, Father, if I didn’t cheat I would fail.

I told them, you don’t know what you’re capable of doing. It requires hard work.

The Lord was in the desert for 40 days. Why? He was God. He didn’t need to be there to discover what he is capable of achieving, or realize the fullest potential of who he is.

The Saints Who Discovered Themselves Through Hardship

If you notice, my brothers and sisters, some of the greatest saints discovered themselves through forced stillness.

St. Ignatius of Loyola spent nine months in a hospital after suffering a war injury. He was a soldier. He wanted to be a career soldier. And instead, spending nine months in the hospital, what happened? He became a soldier for Christ.

When you reflect and you meditate on your life, all of a sudden things that you never imagined you could do and the people you could serve becomes as clear as day.

St. Francis of Assisi was imprisoned for one year during battle. Before that, he was a soldier and a knight from a wealthy family.

That one year he called a grace of God. It turned his life completely around. He rejected all the stupid things he was fighting for. Look at what he did with his life.

Your Call This Lent: Time for Prayer

At the beginning of Lent, this is the first Sunday, these temptations remind us to spend time in prayer and discover who you are. It is never a waste of time. Never.

Don’t ever feel guilty spending time in prayer. Don’t ever feel guilty taking time to reorient your life and see a clearer path to move forward in your life. It is not a waste of time.

The devil says no, there’s so much to do. Get going. You only have so many days of your life. Why would you waste it? Come on.

The reality is, take time to pray and clear your mind. Take time to get away from the distractions.

During this Lent, when you’re driving, turn off the radio. Turn off the music and think and reflect.

It’s scary, the results that can come from that. But in the end, I guarantee you, it will clear your mind and give you a clearer path of how to move forward.

Amen?

Amen.