Man will never find true happiness in bread alone, but in Me alone!!!

As we begin our Lenten observance, the Church gives us the account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert by the devil. We need to start by saying, and this can’t be said enough, the devil definitely exists and is a real person; this is an article of our Catholic Faith. In the desert, the devil presents Jesus with a shortcut from the cross; it is the same temptation satan still uses on us. It’s a temptation to try and do away with the cross and to seek only what we want instead of what we need or better yet, what our neighbor needs-it is a temptation to selfishness versus self-denial for the sake of love, for the sake of the other.

Translating the temptations into modern terms, satan told Jesus that he could win us over by filling our bellies with the bread of earthly desires-- wealth, pleasure, power and honor. The Devil said, Jesus you can make them follow you by giving them power to solve their own problems through politics so they can be released from being dependant on a tyrannical Father God, and true worship of Him. Satan said Jesus; you can win them over by amazing them with great feats and unbelievable technological marvels. But Jesus, you can’t win them over with the cross, give them instead a nice guy Jesus without the cross. Put a resurrected Jesus on the cross but not a crucified one who paid a price for their sins and then who calls them to return that love by bearing their own cross along with Him sharing in his redemptive work of love for the salvation of souls

The devil indeed loves to give half-truths. If we look at each one of the temptations more closely we can discover that the truth is, is that Jesus actually desires to give us what the devil said would win us over, but not in the way or in the manner that the devil suggested.

And so in the first temptation, the devil tempts Jesus to change stones into bread. Jesus responds, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” The fact is, is that Jesus wants to give us bread, but not earthly bread, the things of this world which never totally satisfy our hunger, but the Bread of Life, His very self, his whole self in the Holy Eucharist. This is the bread that fills every desire of man, including the desire for eternal life; it is the bread that a man may eat of and never die. And so Jesus says to the devil, I won’t bribe the people into following me, for man’s heart was not made for material things, man will never find true happiness in bread alone, but in Me alone! And I am in the Holy Eucharist as their true food and drink.

In the second temptation, the devil tempts Jesus with all of the kingdoms of the earth, which are under satan domain, if Jesus would but just fall down and worship him. Jesus responds with the first commandment- You shall worship God alone. Here again, Jesus wants to give us power to solve our problems but not through earthly power and honor which corrupts and fades away, but through the power of his divine Love and mercy which becomes available to us through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the other Sacraments which flow from the Holy Mass. And coming in touch with God’s love and mercy in the Sacraments and being transformed into the image of Jesus, Jesus wishes to use us to bring His mercy and love into our world thus transforming it. And so Jesus says to satan, man can not save himself, man cannot build the kingdom of man without reference to the Kingdom of God…there is truly no “state” without the Church…without the Church the state collapses in on itself…

The third temptation: Here the devil tempts Jesus with presumption and vanity- cast yourself from the Temple and the angels will catch you. Jesus says, “you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Again, Jesus wanted to give us great marvels and feats, but not the kind Satan suggests. Jesus didn’t want to win us over with the latest technology, which in a short while becomes obsolete as soon as the next best thing comes along.

No, Jesus wanted to give us the greatest feat and marvel of all, and so as God He humble Himself putting His divine power aside and became one of us, like us in all things but sin. The all powerful God became one of us so that he could lay down his life on a cross for us in order to save us from our sins, not only giving us an example, but earning us the grace we need in order to have the strength to follow in imitation of Him, so we too could lay down our lives for love of our friend, first of whom is Jesus, and then our neighbor. No greater love is there than this, than for a man to lay down his life for his friends. And so Jesus tells the devil, no I won’t win them over with sensationalism and be just a nine day wonder, sensationalism never lasts, I want to win them over forever by my sacrificial love, the same love that I share with my Father, the love that I call each one of them to share in as well.

During this time of Lent we will experience many temptations when we begin to discipline ourselves so we can more fully repent and believe the Good News, leaving our selfishness behind and so live more perfectly in the freedom of God’s truth as His beloved sons and daughters. And so, we are invited to spend these forty days in the desert close to our blessed Lord through our prayer, fasting, and alms giving, the three things, which weaken the power of Satan over us.

Our prayer must include the Sacraments, especially the Holy Mass and Confession so that we may have the grace and the power to share in Jesus’ victory over the devil and his temptations. Important as well in our prayer are all Lenten devotions offered to us, like walking with Jesus along the way of Calvary in the Stations of the Cross on Fridays, spending time in adoration, and experiencing all the Holy week services and Masses, like Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

And our fasting must be more than just giving up things, but giving them up in order to become less attached to the good things of
this world and more attached to Jesus who gives us these things to lead us to Himself, so we can become better—become holy; that is, dearest of friends of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all the angel and saints.

And our alms giving must include serving others through practicing the Corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Feeding the physically hungry, yes, but most importantly feeding the spiritually hungry who can sometimes be very rich and powerful, giving drink to those thirsting for water, but most importantly giving the drink of God’s love for those who are dying of thirst for it; burying the dead but also bury resentment and un-forgiveness by forgiving wrongs against us (just to name a few). Our Holy Father Francis said as much in his Lenten Message to us in this Jubilee “Year of Mercy,” in which He pointed out that, “God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of a faithful love, to become merciful in turn.

This lent let us ask Our Lady for help to enter into lent more deeply. Let us ask her to help us avoid the temptation of Satan, a temptation that puts personal pleasure first, and does away with personal guilt and sin and the need for redemption, satisfaction, expiation, mortification and penance for our sin. A temptation that says that essence of love is personal gratification and not sacrifice, not that of laying down one’s life for a friend. Our Lady can teach us how to adore Jesus; all we need to do is to ask her. Let us pray, that the Blessed Mother, who while adoring Jesus on the Cross was given John as her son and by this gift was given all of us as her sons and daughters as well, that she may help us to enter the desert this lent and there learn how to adore the unseen God from whom we came and to whom we are called as His beloved little children to return. Amen.