First Sunday of Lent C, Lk4,1-13

The struggle against every temptation must not be underestimated. Let us not compromise with sin!

The Lenten season – which we are beginning – is a time to be used properly. It will help us in many ways in our life. What, for example, can we realize right at the beginning of it?
The professor finished his lecture and, as usual, asked: “Does anyone have a question?” One of the students spoke up: “Professor, what is the meaning of life?” One of the students, who was about to leave, laughed. The professor looked at the student who had asked him to see if he was serious. It was true. “I’ll answer it for you.” He pulled a wallet from his pants pocket, and it was a small mirror, no bigger than a coin. Then he said: “I was a little boy during the war. One day in the street, I found a broken mirror. I hid the biggest part of it. This is it. I began to play with it, and it bewitched me that I could direct a beam of light into dark corners where the sun never reached, into deep holes, cracks, and hiding places. I kept the mirror. When I became an adult, I discovered that it wasn’t just child’s play but a metaphor for what I could do in life. I am also a piece of the mirror that I don’t know as a whole. But with what I have, I can send light – truth, understanding, knowledge, goodness, and tenderness – into the dark corners of the human heart, and I can make a difference. Other people can see it and do it too. That’s the meaning of life for me.” We can realize that our struggle against temptation can also become a souvenir for the victory of others.

We find an example in Jesus’ response to the tempter: “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone.'” But also from the words, “It is written, ‘To the Lord your God you shall worship, and Him only you shall serve.'” And at the third temptation, Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'” (Luke 4:4, 8, 12)!

The Gospel event occurred at the beginning of the Lord Jesus’ public ministry when He spent forty days in the wilderness. We may speak of an allusion to the forty years’ journey of the Jews through the jungle. It was a time of severe trials for the Jews when the nation succumbed to temptations on several occasions. It was also when the Jews had to mature their relationship with God. Similarly, in the history of the Church, the apostles, the saints, the confessors had to develop when, amid the people with whom they lived, they had to prove that they belonged wholly and entirely to God. That those years of testing brought them confirmation in their faith means that they are faithful followers of the Lord Jesus, who fasted in the wilderness and was tempted in connection with his messianic vocation. In no way do we doubt the authenticity of the events Jesus went through, nor do we want to diminish their value. He, who took upon Himself our sins, longed to know the power of temptation, so He underwent them to show us that we too are to overcome the seductive power. Eve “saw that the tree was good for food, and beautiful to look upon, and enticing to know; so she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…” (Gen. 3:6). Jesus took on the nature of man. He, too, starved in the wilderness. He chose to save man, and therefore He wants to show every man victory over temptation. St. John points this out by saying, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For nothing in the world, neither the lust of the flesh, the eyes, nor the boasting of riches, is of the Father but the world. And the world shall pass away, even the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abides forever.” (1 Jn. 2:16-17). Jesus answers the devil with three quotations from Scripture, but this is not a babble of learned formulas but a precise redemptive delivery of the answer. It is a kind of existential confession taken to a higher plane.

Though contemporary man laughs at the devil’s existence, the believer realizes more and more that the devil is not to be underestimated. The devil exists and has some power with the consent of God. As a being endowed with reason and free will, man must prove himself faithful to God. We are weak and tainted by egoism, and this also plays its part with the devil because he does not act on every person in the same way. The devil is a tactician.
Therefore, we must be aware of what temptation is. Temptation is a trap, a snare that leads us to sin. St. Paul writes to Timothy about the temptation of riches: “For those who desire to become rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge men into destruction and perdition” (1 Tim. 6:9). Temptation is often an attractive, hypnotic Fata Morgana, an illusion of gain, benefit, pleasure. And only then does it become apparent that lying has short legs, that one does not grow rich on a man’s iniquity, that laziness ruins a man’s plans, that laying the blame on another man does not save one from it. But all this afterward. Now temptation looks ghostly, wittily inviting, presents itself in bright colors, assuring that it is a quality, that nothing will happen by it, that no one will know, that nothing is done, that others are likewise proceeding, it has the various colors of the rainbow, it incites, it charms, it offers perspectives. True, only then follows disaster, tragedy, mud, sorrow, grief, loss of a clear path, hopelessness. Human injustice often follows; injustice causes misfortune. And that “then” maybe tomorrow, days, years from now, but it will always follow like a returning wave, a wave bringing evil.
What is the crucible of temptation?
The devil works on the senses, imagination, and memory to control our will. He knows very well our weak points and therefore knows where, how, and when he can attack effectively. He also uses other people who have already succumbed to the devil and now as a tool to persuade, to interpret, to plead, to beg, to threaten, to not be reconciled, to back down, to tell, to oppress, to drink, to take, to watch, to deceive, to counterfeit, to blackmail, to extort, to wriggle, to describe, to get rid of, because it will benefit you, it will help you, it will remove, it will enable you because you will get it without work. You will get it as much as you want it to be without work, and as much of it you want it to be without work as you want it. Sensuality cries out and clamors for satisfaction. It does all it cannot lose its victims. What to do then? Remove the falsehood by which it masquerades, and then it loses its fascinating power. Truth liberates from lies and fatal organs; it restores importance to their values. One thing is sure: it must not flirt with temptation.

It tells the story of a hermit who was so perfect that he already had one foot in paradise. He needed almost nothing to live. He lived in a cave and subsisted on berries. The devil wondered how he could seduce the hermit to sin. He watched him for a long time, studying his reactions, but found nothing he could attack directly. He came to him just as he was dipping the last bit of bread in the well to soften it.
“I salute you,” the devil greeted. “Do you know who I am?” “The devil,” the hermit replied calmly. “God has allowed me to tempt you. I want you to sin.” “Just talk,” replied the hermit. “I hear you.” “Kill someone.” “No. We won’t talk about that.” “Then ambush some woman.” “That’s beastly and disgusting. I’ll never do that. Go away, devil! You have no imagination.” “Then, at least take a sip of wine. It’s not even a sin. There’s nothing wrong with one gulp.” At that moment, a jug of chilled and sparkling wine appeared in the devil’s hands. “Just take a little sip.” The hermit takes a deep breath and takes a sip of wine. “Hmph,” the hermit smiled. “It’s good,” and he took a second sip of wine. “It’s strong… it’s devilish!” The hermit was already smiling stupidly. And then he took another sip. He was barely on his feet anymore. A young woman was walking across the meadow towards the hermit. “Greetings to you, holy man,” she addressed the hermit. “I have brought you some apples and some bread.” The hermit rushed at the woman with a wild cry and clouded eyes. He grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground. The woman began to cry for help. Her father, working in the fields nearby, heard her and ran to the cave. The hermit took a large stone and hit the father with all his strength. When the hermit recovered, a dead man lay at his feet in a pool of blood. “I think he’s dead,” said the devil with a smile. (B. Ferrero, Other Stories for the Delight of the Soul, Portal, Prague, 1997 p. 37)
Where did the hermit make the biggest mistake? When he engaged the devil in conversation. To flirt with sin is the beginning of the fall.

The Lord Jesus gave us the opposite example. In His words to the tempter, there is a clear answer, “It is written: Man does not live by bread alone.” But also from the terms, “It is written: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” And at the third temptation, Jesus answered him, “It is said: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Luke 4:4, 8, 12). This needs to be understood. We understand that any compromise is to our detriment. We know that whoever gives the devil an inch already has his whole hand and will draw him to himself. It is necessary to be cautious, cultivate principles, and avoid the senses, such as taste sight, but beware especially of touch, which acts especially powerfully, knowing pleasantries, and therefore are just as quick to trap a person. Such a condition destroys the personality, dulls the sensitivity to spiritual values, weakens one’s sense of moral values, and incites more trivial and shallow pleasures. And this every religious person rejects, does not accept, rejects.

The professor from childhood learned to understand and approach the meaning of life correctly. The little mirror reminds him of this. May our good and bad experiences serve us for good, for the salvation of our souls. At the beginning of Lent, let us take before us that even by limiting ourselves, renouncing, controlling ourselves, self-controlling ourselves in the permitted, pleasant and good things, we want to be more faithful to God.