Homilies

RESIST TEMPTATIONS AND BE FREE

This Sunday we celebrate the first Sunday of the season of Lent. As we know the period of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. Probably some of us had the chance to receive ashes on our foreheads. This gesture is a symbol of our humanity, our brokenness and our weakness. The period of Lent will last for forty days and it is a time of preparation for Easter.

It is important to note that at the beginning of the Church, Easter was celebrated every Sunday. Later on the early Christians thought it wiser to have a considerable period of time to prepare for the celebration of this most important feast of Easter hence, the birth of Lent. The forty days are a time of preparation. During this period Christians reflect on various events in the life of Jesus leading to his passion, death and resurrection. Lent is a period of renewal through prayer, fasting and sharing with the poor. Lent is also a time of reconciliation with God and with one another.  It is a good time for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The Liturgy of the Word this Sunday draws our attention to reflection on temptation and sinfulness that came through our first parents Adam and Eve. By the sin that Adam and Eve committed and by the sins we commit every day, we drift away from God and lose our closeness with our loving Father. Very often we are tempted by a lot of things to choose our personal desires rather than commit ourselves to the will of God.  We really lose our freedom to choose.

We see in the Old Testament story today that, with so many trees in the garden to choose from, it was not hunger that drove our first parents to taste the forbidden fruit. Like a child who willfully plays with matches after being warned by their parents, Adam and Eve didn’t pay attention to the loving guidance of their Creator.  They defied their Creator. Curiosity, self-interest, disobedience and pride made them give in to temptation.  While Adam indirectly blamed God as well as the woman, and while Eve blamed the deceiving snake, clearly it was their failure to be free and to choose what they really knew was best for them.

This happens so often around us today.  Some politicians grab power and money for themselves and don’t respect the people they should be serving.  Some marketeers cheat us and raise the prices dishonestly when we go to buy some food for our families.  Some teachers won’t give a place to a child in school unless they receive money in a brown envelope!

Yes, we so often give in to temptations, become unfaithful, and allow ourselves to be seduced by evil and choose to go against the will of God. Consequently we really lose our freedom and make ourselves and others unhappy.

The Gospel of Matthew today describes that Jesus himself went through serious temptations in his mission of salvation. Yet he was able to say, “Get behind me Satan!”  This message helps us to reflect on our own temptations and how we can face them with freedom.

It is really true that each one of us is tempted in life, not just once or during forty days in the desert, but daily. From moment to moment we are tempted to give in to such negative forces as pride, greed, despair, apathy, indifference and dishonesty. A child at home, probably out of envy for what other pupils have at school, is tempted to steal some money from the jacket of his father so that he can buy what others have. Very often workers in companies and businesses are tempted to swindle their employers sums of money on the pretext of improving their own lives. In villages many people may be tempted to harvest from other people’s fields when they see that their own crops have not done well. We can go on and on mentioning the various situations in which we are faced with a lot of temptations. It is important to reflect on this fact of life.

While our first parents failed to resist the temptation, Jesus on the other hand triumphed and did not give in to temptation. Adam and Eve are punished for choosing wrong.  But Jesus is strengthened to continue with his work of salvation, because he freely chooses to be faithful to his calling. While we share in the weaknesses of our first parents (Adam and Eve), we can also share in the strength and freedom of our Saviour Jesus, who is our model in fighting temptation and sin.

When we meet this first week of Lent in our small Christian communities, let’s ask ourselves questions like this:

• Do I really feel free in the choices that I make every day, in my family, in my place of work, at church?

• What are the biggest temptations that I feel and that limit my freedom? 

• What help do I need during this season of Lent from my small Christian community and from my Church to really be a free person?

By resisting temptation, and by helping others to resist temptation, we can echo the strong words of Jesus in today’s Gospel:  “Get behind me Satan!” 

SKETCH.

Let us have a Member of Parliament campaigning and promising all sorts of things to the electorates. The people then vote for him/her on the basis of the promises. He/she then goes to parliament and is then given constituency development funds and other relief foods. He wonders whether to use the money and things for his\her own personal gain. Finally resists temptation and takes the goods to the beneficiaries.

COMMUNITY PRAYERS.

• God, help us to stop exploiting and hurting each other for our own personal interests. Let us pray to the Lord: lord, hear our prayer,
• Lord Jesus, teach us to follow your example this Lent and help us resist the lies and deceits of the devil’s temptations. Let us pray to the Lord: lord, hear our prayer.

[Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, P.O. Box 37774, 10101 Lusaka, Zambia]