Lent - Day Five - Temptation and Grace

Gospel	Luke 4:1-13 ©

The temptation in the wilderness

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone.’

  Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says:

You must worship the Lord your God,

and serve him alone.’

Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said to him ‘throw yourself down from here, for scripture says:

He will put his angels in charge of you

to guard you,

and again:

They will hold you up on their hands

in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’

But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said:

You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.

We arrived at the oasis late on Saturday night.  We tended the camels, put up our tents, and ate a wonderful dinner and sat around the campfire together.  Some of our number, myself included left the circle and went to the neighboring caravan where a party was being held and to say that we joined in would be the understatement of the decade.  The wine was flowing, the dancing was beautiful and after a hard day of labor, it was great to let loose.  That is where the problem came in for me.  My head was dizzy with wine and I saw her.  Her face was the face of the woman of my dreams, her nose was perky and her eyes shimmered in the light of the bonfire. Her movements to the music were like the moves the cobra uses to confuse and hypnotize his prey.  I was hypnotized and approached her.  She smiled at me and pulled me into the circle.   I began to move in time to the music always watching those dark, mysterious, shimmering eyes.  A shudder went through my body and I reached and touched her face with the back of my hand and felt cool, smooth flesh and I looked and her smile beckoned me to do more.  I had been in the company of bearded men now for five days and had not seen a woman in that time so I would have been interested in her even if she had a humpback, harelip, and smelled like a goat.  I was entranced.  She danced and I followed her every move and she got closer and closer to her tent and with a coy smile, she entered it.  I made the move to follow so as to sample the treasures this desert blossom would provide.  Then, something made me stop.  I was a married man, I had no right to sample the charms of this desert flower, the Master had explained how sacred was the bond between man and woman when they married that no one on earth could break that bond asunder.  I turned on my heal and ran from the party, the men sitting around who had been watching me laughed and pointed their fingers at me.  The vixen came out of the tent when I failed to enter and something made me turn and look at her.  I then saw that her beauty concealed danger.  And being laughed at or not, I made my way back to our caravan and with my head still spinning I took my place at the fire.  I noticed then that the Master was looking intently at me. He gestured to me and I came to Him and we adjourned to a private place away from the others.  We sat facing one another and I looked into His eyes.  There was no disdain or even judgment in them only a love that ran as hot as lava and as deep as the ocean.  I felt compelled by my conscience to tell Him everything that had transpired, how I had allowed myself to be tempted and how I willingly would have violated my wedding vows had I stayed at the party for even a moment longer.  He said this to me:

"My son, I understand what happened to you for I was tempted sorely by the devil himself after a fast of forty days.  He offered me food, power, and treasure and I can honestly say that for just a moment, I thought that I might accept a small piece of bread for I was very hungry.  But then I realized that should I do so, my mission here would be over because the devil would have won.  He quoted scripture to me, and I spouted it back to him.  Eventually, I wore him down and he departed in disgrace.  What you did, drinking until drunk and then allowing the devil to tempt you with a loose woman was sinful because you made the choice yourself to drink and to consort with a prostitute and you walked that path with full knowledge that it would have you away from God.  Your punishment should you have had to stand before The Father would be terrible.  But I, your Master, offer you forgiveness if you grant me your word that you are sorry."

Tears formed in my eyes and I told the Master that I was heartily sorry for all my sins and with help of God's grace, I would sin more and stay away from things that were sinful.  He said that "This is all that is required.  Go and sin no more. I absolve you of  all of your sins."

One of my companions who had accompanied me on the excursion to the party sat down next to me and told me how all of the men in the other caravan were laughing and wagging their head at me because I did not prove my manhood by entering the tent of the woman.  He said that he did and was going to regale me with what happened when he happened to see the Master looking intently at him, gesturing him to come and visit.  My friend looked at the Master and shook his head, left the fire and retired to his tent to sleep off the wine.  The Master sat back in His chair, visibly saddened.  I looked at him, He saw me, our eyes met and the universe was made a better place by His smile.  Tomorrow was Sunday, we would rest here at the oasis and no labor other than the preparation of meals and the tending to the camels would be undertaken.  Considering the amount of wine I had consumed, this rest would be needed and would be a good thing.  I fell onto my cushion.  I heard the voice of Samuel speaking to one of his fellow camels and then I fell into a restful and very deep sleep.

Economics of Heaven 101

Do not ignore this one fact, beloved,                                                     
that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years
and a thousand years like one day.
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard "delay,"
but he is patient with you,
not wishing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,
and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar
and the elements will be dissolved by fire,
and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.



Since everything is to be dissolved in this way,
what sort of persons ought you to be,
conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion,
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames
and the elements melted by fire.
But according to his promise
we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.

There have been a lot of wise men and women in the Church that have taken 2 Peter's message to heart and lived a life where the economics of heaven is more important to them than the economics of earth. These fortunate people have a different view of the universe than most of us have. 

Let's take St. Francis of Assisi as an example.  He understood that the things of this world were temporary. He understood that he needed a certain amount of food and water and shelter in order to live and he spent as little of his life as possible in seeking this absolutely small amount.  Even the little bit that he allowed himself would be given away to someone who was in greater need of it.  On the other hand, Francis would not take a king's ransom in exchange for his relationship with Jesus.  He valued that more than anything that this world had to offer him.  St. Francis became St. Francis because he understood the value of things both temporal and eternal. 

In this letter, we are being reminded that what we see as delay on God's part, is not delay, but His patience with us.  He wants all of us to be with Him in heaven.  God wants all of us to understand a little better every day the economics of His Kingdom.  If everything that we have is going to end up as ashes, then why covet everything material so greatly?  This does not mean we have to eschew all of the things on this earth.  We are entitled to keep ourselves clothed, fed, warm, and dry but we are also called to do what we can to help others achieve their own basic comfort level as well. Is it okay for me to have an abundance while you have nothing?  Sometimes it is, especially if you have been given the chance to upgrade your circumstances through work and you have decided it was beneath you.  But, on those occasions where you are not at fault, you have every right to expect some assistance from those that have more. 

This can be a complicated subject but I think that I can break it down into one simple concept.  Share what you can with those that need it the most.  If you do this then your economics will not be found wanting when the Lord returns for us.  

 The souls in Purgatory need your help today. Please, pray for them.  Not everyone who dies goes directly to heaven, one or two of us might need some time to release the attachments to sin that we did not release fully on earth.  Death does not qualify you for heaven, holiness does.  Is it possible that as they are you might someday be?