1 March 2020
First Sunday of Lent
No one was with Jesus when he underwent this temptation ordeal, and so he alone is the source of what took place. Before beginning his mission, he had to be tested. Being the God-man was no exemption.
How does he show me that his response to these temptations is also a personal challenge for me? Well, let’s see.
In the first temptation he had to face the challenge to opt for easy success that would win for him admiration on all sides. So, here he shows me that making choices that can please others takes second place to do what I first ought to do to please God.
Presumption was the second test; confidence poorly understood. Our Father never ceases to look after me. Rather than calling on him only in perilous situations, I should remain faithful to him, united to him, asking him daily to know and to put into effect his will for me.
In the third test Satan asks Christ to turn the purpose of his mission into personal gain for himself. Here he shows me that I too have to orient my whole life toward God. All events, every person that come into my daily life, are challenges to do precisely that.
I resolve this Lent to read some Scripture daily to learn how Christ pleased his father in all he did; how he remained faithful to that presence and how he put into effect the mission He gave him to do.