Traditional Catholic Teaching - FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT

FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT

"Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil."
St. Matthew 4: 1.

Jesus, as far as He was Man, was guided by the Holy Spirit, and feeling impelled by the Spirit to go into the desert, He went without delay. Christians, in whom the Holy Ghost dwells, are prompted to do right and practise good works, and St. Paul says: "Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom.8 14). If we wish to be true children of God, we must follow the promptings of His Holy Spirit, who stimulates our will to what is good, but does not compel us to do it, because we are free to co-operate with His action.

Even the holiest suggestions of the Holy Ghost remain fruitless, unless we exert ourselves to comply with them. This is why our knowledge is so often fruitless, our resolutions vain and our desires unfulfilled; this is why so many of our days are wasted, and in spite of pious thoughts and words we make no progress in well-doing. We ought to be able to say always with the Psalmist: "I have run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou didst enlarge my heart" (Ps. 118: 32).

It is for the Holy Ghost to enlighten, lead and urge us on our way, but it is for us to run; we ought, however, to be on our guard not to confuse our own ideas and the suggestions of our own vanity and self-love with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. A work which we feel impelled to undertake may in itself be excellent, and yet our impulse to do it may not proceed from the Holy Ghost; and we often must examine our motives very carefully before we can be sure that our impulse is from God.

Supposing we discover some bad motive, for instance, a desire to please ourselves; or supposing, when doing some unusually good deed, we do it because of an obstinate determination to do some- thing extraordinary, although it involves the neglect of what is strictly our duty, — then the impulse is not from the Holy Ghost, or, at least, it is not altogether from Him, but self-love is mingled with it. Where this is the case, we are led, not by the Spirit that led our Lord, but by the spirit of self-will, that is none the better for being hidden under a cloak of piety, but is more dangerous and destructive than other forms of obstinacy. Let us therefore ask God always to preserve us from any impulse proceeding from self-will that pretends to be pious, but, on the contrary, to give us strength at all times and in all circumstances to follow the Holy Spirit.

The desert chosen by our Lord for His forty days' fast was that known now as Quarantana, between Jerusalem and Jericho, the same wilderness in which, according to Christ's parable, the man travelling from Jerusalem fell into the hands of robbers, and was afterwards found and rescued by the Good Samaritan. The fathers of the Church regard this man as a type of the whole human race, which had fallen under the dominion of sin, and had been robbed of the supernatural life of sanctifying grace, whilst the Samaritan, who saved and healed mankind, was our Lord Himself.

Therefore, He began to prepare Himself for the task of saving and healing souls in the very desert where the Samaritan had pre-figured Him by showing charity to the wounded traveller.

"Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil."

We must not understand these words to mean that the Holy Ghost arranged the temptation, but rather that He foresaw how Jesus would be tempted there, and allowed it. Why should Jesus be tempted? Was it befitting the character of the Messias? Yes, and we may learn most consolling lessons from the reasons why He was tempted. St. John Chrysostom tells us that it was His will to suffer the temptation, in order that those who after Baptism are grievously assailed by it, may not be discouraged and confused, as if something extraordinary were befalling them, but may withstand the temptation steadfastly, regarding it as a necessary sequel to their confession of faith. They have taken up arms in order to fight, not to remain at peace. Hence the thought of our Saviour's temptation in the wilderness should give us comfort; the fact of being tempted is no reason for sorrow, and all excessive sadness, anxiety and confusion in time of temptation are injurious, for they diminish our confidence and courage, and therefore are allies of the evil one. It is no sin to be tempted; the sin is to consent to temptation.

With what calm dignity did Jesus encounter the tempter! It was His will to undergo temptation to teach us how we ought to act when tempted; and the first lesson that we learn from His example is to trust quietly in God. Excessive fear suggests the thought that it is impossible for us to resist. Such fear may appear pious, but it is really very bad, and we ought to answer the suggestion by saying: "Of course I cannot resist in my own strength, but I can do so through Him whose incomprehensible love makes Him always ready to help us with His power."

Our Lord displayed His infinite love by allowing Himself to be tempted. He wanted to show us how thoroughly in every point He became one of ourselves, sin only excepted. He went into the wilderness to prove clearly that as He was tempted Himself, He can help those who are also tempted, and that He won strength and grace for us to be able to resist, as He did. Therefore, if we study His temptation, we shall be delivered from all doubt as to our ability to resist our own; acid we shall be firmly convinced of His love, ever powerful to help us; we shall be inflamed with love of Him, and shall rejoice when this love is put to the test in many painful struggles, and our repeated victories procure us more merit for heaven.

The temptations undergone by our Lord in the wilderness were not the only ones that He suffered, — He was tempted to the hour of His death. Were not the threats and persecution of His enemies temptations, suggesting to Him to abandon His sacred task of teaching, consolling and saving mankind? But neither the temptations of the devil nor the hostility of rnen could make Him disloyal to His heavenly Father. He triumphed in the turmoil of the city and amidst the outcry of His angry foes, as He had done on the lonely banks of the Jordan. Like His resurrection, His whole life and His death were an uninterrupted triumph; and the life of every Christian should be the same. We know not what our life may bring forth, nor does it matter, if only the whole of it is a victory over temptation and sin. Let us beg the Holy Ghost to guide and direct us, promising to obey His suggestions, admonitions and commands. When the last temptation has left us, death will carry us up to the summit of the holy mountain, and we shall behold the indescribable happiness bestowed by God upon those who worship Him, and our lot will be with the angels in heaven. Amen.

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