Catechism Links[1]
CCC 394,
538-540, 2119:
The temptation of Jesus
CCC 2846-2949: “Lead us not into
temptation”
CCC 385-390,
396-400:
The Fall
CCC 359,
402-411, 615:
Adam, Original Sin, Christ the New Adam
 |
| “The Temptation of Christ” by Tintoretto, 1579-81 |
Readings and Commentary:[4]
Reading 1: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,
and so man became a living being.
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and placed there the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow
that were delightful to look at and good for food,
with the tree of life in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the Lord God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Gn
2:7-9; 3:1-7
This selection from the Book of
Genesis follows the second creation account, and includes the creation of man
(the creation of woman followed in the verses omitted). The story resumes in
the third chapter of Genesis. Adam’s wife, now settled in the Garden of
Eden, is tempted by the serpent, and, with her husband, falls into the original
sin, the disobedience of God's commands.
"The account of the fall in
Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that
took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the
certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault
freely committed by our first parents" (CCC
390). The Bible is teaching us here about the origin of evil--of all
the evils mankind experiences, and particularly the evil of death. Evil does
not come from God (he created man to live a happy life and to be his friend);
it comes from sin, that is, from the fact that man broke the divine
commandment, thereby destroying the happiness he was created for, and his harmony
with God, with himself, and with creation in general. "Man, tempted by the
devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom,
disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All
subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his
goodness" (CCC
397).[5]
CCC: Gn 2:7 362, 369, 703; Gn 2:8 378; Gn 3 390, 2795; Gn 3:1-5 391; Gn 3:1-11 397; Gn 3:3 1008; Gn 3:5 392, 398, 399, 1850; Gn 3:6 2541, 2847; Gn 3:7 400
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm
51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
R. (cf. 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O
God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of
your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me
from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse
me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my
offense,
and my sin is before
me always:
“Against you only
have I sinned,
and done what is evil
in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create
for me, O God,
and a steadfast
spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from
your presence,
and your Holy Spirit
take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy
of your salvation,
and a willing spirit
sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall
proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Ps
51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
Psalm 51 is a lament and the most
famous of the seven penitential psalms. In this first section, the singer asks
God to wash away the guilt of sin. In the final strophe a closer relationship
is asked for as the familiar: “O Lord,
open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise,” is uttered in
concert with all those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
-------------------------------------------
Reading II: Romans 5:12-19
Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.
But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one, the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned.
For after one sin there was the judgment that brought
condemnation;
but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act,
acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners,
so, through the obedience of the one,
the many will be made righteous.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Rom
5:12-19
The first verses of this longer
form of the reading recall the original sin of Adam and Eve recounted in Genesis 3:1-7. Through
this action, says St. Paul, sin entered the world, although before the Law of
Moses, sin was not defined and therefore “sin is not accounted when there
was no law.” "Although to some extent the People of God in the Old
Testament had tried to understand the pathos of the human condition in the
light of the history of the fall narrated in Genesis, they could not grasp this
story's ultimate meaning, which is revealed only in the light of the death and
Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must know Christ as the source of grace in
order to know Adam as the source of sin. The Spirit-Paraclete, sent by the
risen Christ, came to "convict the world concerning sin"(see John 16.8) by
revealing him who is its Redeemer."(CCC
388).
St. Paul continues describing how,
through one man, sin entered the world. But, the mercy of God was even greater
in providing Jesus, his Son, through whom all sins were forgiven in his one
heroic action, the Passion.
CCC: Rom 5:12-21 388; Rom
5:12 400,
402, 602, 612, 1008; Rom 5:18-19 605; Rom
5:18 402; Rom
5:19-21 1009; Rom
5:19-20 411; Rom
5:19 397,
402, 532, 615, 623; Rom 5:20-21 1848; Rom
5:20 312,
385, 412, 420
-------------------------------------------
Or
Shorter Form: Romans 5:12, 17-19
Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act,
acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners,
so, through the obedience of the one,
the many will be made righteous.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Rom
5:12, 17-19
In the shorter version the specific
reference to Adam and the Law of Moses are omitted focusing the emphasis on
Christ’s righteous act through which “acquittal and life came to all.”
This selection specifically recalls the original sin of Adam and Eve recorded
in Genesis 3:1-7. Through
this action, says St. Paul, sin entered the world although before the Law of
Moses, sin was not defined and therefore, “sin is not accounted when there
was no law.”
CCC: Rom 5:12-21 388; Rom
5:12 400,
402, 602, 612, 1008; Rom 5:18-19 605; Rom
5:18 402; Rom
5:19-21 1009; Rom
5:19-20 411; Rom
5:19 397,
402, 532, 615, 623
-------------------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Mt 4:1-11
“Once the
intimate identity as Son of God has been established at the Jordan by direct
witness of the Holy Trinity, we are now shown how a Divine Person behaves in
the fallen world of mutability and ambiguity conditioned by sin. From the two
episodes together (baptism and temptation) will emerge the diptych portraying
the harmony between Christ’s divinity and his humanity.” [6]
The temptation of
Christ highlights the fact that one of the remarkable characteristics of
temptation can be that the devil may use our own moral core to attempt to
overthrow us. We note that the evil one uses scriptural quotes to invite
Jesus to sin. However, the Lord's knowledge of God's will and purpose
refutes the devil.
“Jesus,
proclaimed Son of God at his baptism, is subjected to a triple temptation.
Obedience to the Father is a characteristic of true sonship, and Jesus is
tempted by the devil to rebel against God, overtly in the third case, more
subtly in the first two. Each refusal of Jesus is expressed in language taken
from the Book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:13, 16). The testings of Jesus
resemble those of Israel during the wandering in the desert and later in
Canaan, and the victory of Jesus, the true Israel and the true Son, contrasts
with the failure of the ancient and disobedient "son," the old
Israel. In the temptation account Matthew is almost identical with Luke; both
seem to have drawn upon the same source.”[7]
"Catholic
teaching tells us that there are three levels of temptation: 1) suggestion,
that is external temptation, which we can undergo without committing any sin;
2) temptation, in which we take a certain delight, whether prolonged or not,
even though we do not give clear consent; this level of temptation has now
become internal and there is some sinfulness in it; 3) temptation to which we
consent; this is always sinful, and, since it affects the deepest part of the
soul, is definitely internal."[8] The Lord underwent
his temptation only in suggestion, an example to all his followers that sin
never bears consideration.
CCC: Mt
4:1-11 394, 2849; Mt 4:4 2835; Mt 4:10 2083, 2135; Mt 4:11 333
-------------------------------------------
Homily:
At
one point in my life I decided to get my private pilot’s license. It was something I had always wanted to do,
and I had some connections with a flight school that made it feasible. If any of you are considering, or want to
consider, doing the same this story may be instructive. I spent six weeks going through ground school.
I learned all about navigation, flight rules, centers of gravity calculations,
and the like and took my FAA written examination. I passed with flying colors (massive pun
intended).
Armed
with my incredible head knowledge, I went off to see a fellow parishioner, Dr.
John Freitas. Not only is John a good
friend and doctor, he is a certified Flight Surgeon. John gave me my flight physical and something
surprising happened. Part of the exam is
a test for visual acuity. It tests for, among other things, color
perception. Of the 12 cards John showed
me, all of which he alleged had numbers displayed in them of various colors, I
got two right. We said earlier that this
might be instructive for others considering general aviation, here’s a
hint: take your flight physical before
ground school. I was given a student
pilot's license but in big letters it said: “Not valid for night flight or
under visual color signals.”
Some
of you may be wondering what this has to do with the Holy Scripture we were
given today or even Lent for that matter.
Well, as a footnote to the story, John told me that I might be able to
get an unrestricted license if I went out and practiced with a person who could
show me different lights at night so I would learn to recognize them. Now it should be coming clearer.
In
Holy Scripture today we hear a great deal about sin and temptation. In the first reading from Genesis, Eve and
Adam had been told by God that they could eat from any fruit in the garden except
from the fruit of the tree of “knowledge.” God’s incredible love for them had caused him
to create humankind in his own likeness, and then provide an idyllic life for
them, free from the stress and pain of modern existence. But the serpent, taking advantage of our
weakness, tricked Eve into violating that command, and sin entered the
world. Had she been told not to eat of
that tree? Yes. Did she know that the evil one would send the
serpent to delude her into violating that command? It probably did not occur to her. She made a choice, and it was a bad
choice. Just so we’re clear, Adam was
with her. We quote: “and she also gave some to her husband, who
was with her.”
Neither
of them stopped and thought: will not God be angry if we disobey him? We know what happened as a result. Because they could not recognize evil, they
fell prey to temptation with disastrous results.
St.
Paul provides a nice bridge for us with his second reading. He reminds us that through Adam and Eve sin
entered the world, Original Sin. And just as the gates of death were opened in
that act of disobedience, they were closed by Jesus as he defeated sin and
death in his passion and resurrection.
At
last we come to the Gospel story today.
Setting the stage, Jesus had just been baptized in the Jordan River by
St. John the Baptist. He came out of the
water, and St. John saw the Holy Spirit descend and rest upon him, “like a
dove.” Jesus was immediately led into
the desert where he fasted for forty days.
Scripture says “and afterwards he
was hungry.” Fasting for that long,
Jesus was probably more than just hungry; he was on the verge of starving. Into this time of vulnerability came
Satan. Using passages from Holy
Scripture, he first tempted Jesus to use his power to make bread to ease his
hunger. When that failed, he tempted him with a test to see how much God loved
him, and finally he offered the Lord power over the earth (this would have been
excruciatingly tempting since it would have allowed him to avoid the coming
passion). At each of these temptations
the Lord refuted Satan. Unlike Adam and
Eve, Jesus saw the evil one’s plan and defeated him.
We
are given two examples of temptation from the sacred texts; one failed and the
other succeeded. The examples place new
emphasis on the final sentence of the Lord’s Prayer. “Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Temptation, as we have seen, is what Satan is
best at. When we are at our weakest, he
will show up in one guise or another.
When
we are hungry, he will tempt us with food.
When we are struggling financially, he will tempt us with money that is
not ours. When we are lonely, he will
surely provide unsavory company and comfort.
It is what he is best at.
We
saw him in the Gospel. He used tricks,
even with Jesus. He quoted scripture to
try to entice the Lord to fail. He will
come to us the same way. It won’t be
like the horror movies where Satan is hideous or repulsive. He will come to us in charming or sweet
ways. His proposals will seem
reasonable, his words fair sounding. It
may not be easy, but under the surface we will see the motives of the fallen
angel.
This
is where the analogy with my color perception test above comes in. We may not be able to distinguish the good
from the bad at a glance. We need to
practice seeing what God wants and does not want. To do this we need to practice. We practice this in a few ways that are
especially appropriate during our Lenten season. First and foremost is prayer. Getting to know the Triune God through
speaking with him is one of our best exercises.
Especially when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, let us make the words
meaningful. If we really want to be
saved from temptation and delivered from evil, we can make that prayer
intensely personal.
Another
excellent way is to review our past mistakes.
Taking advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation with its examination
of conscience and discipline of atonement will move us forward along the path
of understanding the traps laid for us.
The
discipline of Lent also includes almsgiving and fasting. Using these tools we sharpen our perception
of what God calls us to and what the evil one would like to call us away
from. The most important thing is for us
to sharpen our understanding of God the Father, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus,
and the Holy Spirit so we will not fall to the traps set for us on our path to
salvation.
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture used is “The Temptation of Christ” by Tintoretto, 1579-81
[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the
psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[5]
The Navarre Bible: “Pentateuch,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p.
51.
[6]
Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius
Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 139.
[7]
NAB Footnote on Matthew 4:1-11.
[8]
The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts,” Scepter
Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 69.
