Dear Friends in Christ,
As we come to the First Sunday of Lent, the Church invites us to reflect upon Christ’s 40 Days in the desert, struggling with evil but remaining faithful to His Father who had sent Him on a mission to proclaim the Good News of salvation to the world. St. Mark’s account of Jesus’ battle with temptation is brief but meaningful. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, probably so that He could pray more easily and deeply there. Many holy people, throughout the history of Israel, who lived before Christ, had sought out the desert’s silence so that there
they could commune with God without the noise and distraction of urban centers.
Yet, instead of finding quiet and stillness in the desert, Jesus met Satan who attempted to get Jesus to abandon the mission the Father had given Him. However, Satan’s tactic of tempting
the Lord ultimately proved futile. Jesus remained faithful to the Lord, helped by God’s angels. After His spiritual battle, St. Mark tells us that Jesus began His public ministry. What are the tactics that Satan will use against us this Lent? How will He attempt to distract us from receiving Lenten
grace? What are the temptations the Enemy will thrust upon us as we seek greater holiness, deeper prayer, self-discipline and more expansive charity?
The spiritual battle of Jesus with Satan teaches us that temptation will inevitably come to us. Yet, as Jesus was victorious over it, using prayer, Scripture, faith and force of will as weapons, so He can make us sharers in this same victory in our own lives. The more we are open to grace, the more we will receive from the Lord strength against temptation, clarity of discernment and a greater desire to please God in all that we do.
Lent affords us a new opportunity to name the temptations we frequently face. What are our most frequent temptations? How do we avoid them? What are new ways that God is showing us to be victorious over them?
The lives of the saints show us that the more we try to get closer to God, the more we will be tempted to abandon that goal by the Enemy. At the beginning of Lent, we have good intentions to take seriously our penance and to welcome true conversion of heart. But, we can be sure that these good intentions will be tested. When they are, let us ask the Lord to pour out His graces upon us so that we may share in His victory over evil.
In Christ,
Fr. Michael