1st Sunday of Lent

       In this time of Lent, the Church invites us to reflect on temptation. The first reading tells us of the unfaithful man, the man lets himself be seduced by evil and chooses to go against the will of God. This man destroys himself and condemns himself to unhappiness. The second reading describes the behavior of Jesus, the obedient son of his Father. The Gospel describes the temptations that Jesus faced in his mission of salvation. Yet, Jesus knew he could only be faithful to his Father and he had to dedicate his life to serving others. He was determined to do so. Our own temptations are not very different.

In Jesus' encounter with the evil one, the devil was trying to convince Jesus he should use his special powers for his own benefit; But Jesus said no. On the contrary, Adam and Eve continued to try to place their guilt elsewhere. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the dishonest creature, and the evil creature had nowhere to place the guilt so he slithered away into the darkness. Never forget these three types of people in your life journey: Those who help you in difficult times; Those who left you in difficult times; Those who put you in difficult times. Life is like a train station. People come, people go, some stay for a few stops, some ride with you for miles and some leave before you are ready to say goodbye, but every person teaches you something, even though they are not meant to stay forever. The key is knowing when to hold on. Therefore, we must avoid the temptation to treat God as less than God. Compromising with the ways of the world is a continuing seduction. When the roots are deep, there is no need to fear the wind.