Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by
the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was
hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, "If you are the Son of
God, command that these stones become loaves of bread." He said in reply,
"It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that
comes forth from the mouth of God."
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the
parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning
you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against
a stone." Jesus answered him, "Again it is written, You shall not put
the Lord, your God, to the test." Then the devil took him up to a very
high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate
yourself and worship me." At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away,
Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall
you serve."
Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
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Reflection:
The story is told of a man who had been faithful to his wife all
throughout their marriage. When he was asked about the secret of his
faithfulness, he answered: “I always remember our marriage vows and I’ve learned the secret on how to avoid
temptations or tempting situations by rejecting it outright.”
Everyday in our lives the tempter is always there to bait us with his
wicked temptations. For example the temptation to steal, to betray the marriage
vows, to be arrogant and so forth. What is the antidote to all these
temptations? It’s our perpetual connection with God.
The devil is always at our backs watching us and the moment he sees that
we are not connected with God. He will immediately present himself as an
alternative. All of us are candidates to be in the ring with these temptations.
But it’s actually not impossible for us to defeat these wicked enticements by the
devil.
How did Jesus rejected the three temptations of the devil in the gospel?
In each temptation He was always invoking the name of God in His words and
deeds. So, it’s the same with us; as long as we are always connected with God
in our worship and in our deeds we are safe to avoid the many attractive
yet wicked enticements of the devil.
In this first Sunday of Lent we are reminded to always be connected with
God. And to allow God to take control of our lives not us and the devil taking control
of our lives.
Are you always connected with God and do you always allow God to take
control of your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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