Homily: February 26, 2023, First Sunday of Lent (Three Temptations)

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 “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.”

We are now in the season of Lent. It is like taking a spiritual retreat from normal life for forty days. So that we can step back and see the big picture of this life clearer. So that we can understand and appreciate the gift of eternal after life better. And so, learn how to walk closer with God all day, every day, all the way.

This weekend, we take a step back to look at how and why humanity is separated from his Creator. All three readings of this first Sunday of Lent are about temptations and sins.

Why are we tempted?

When do we sin?

How do we feel after sin?

What can we do?

I think I was in 1st grade and my brother was in 4th. One day on our way home from school, we spotted a short piece of discarded electrical wire less than 12 inches in length on the ground. Some of our friends saw it too and wanted to have it. It was something unusual and interesting for us village boys. Since my brother and I spotted it first, we claimed ownership and proudly took it home. We felt victorious.

Back at home when my papa saw what we had taken, he told us to put it back where we found it. We were very disappointed. We reluctantly obeyed and pretended to go back as told, but instead, we went to our family farm, found a secluded spot, dug a hole in the ground and buried the wire there. We felt brave.

The following day on our way back from school again, we saw some policemen and a search dog going around the place where we found the wire. We thought they might be searching for the people who stole that piece of electrical wire. We felt fearful.

My brother and I ran back to our farm to check on our little treasure and it was safe where we had hidden it. My brother told me the police dog will be able to sniff its way here. So, we took cow dung from the farm and spread it everywhere around the spot to cover up the smell tracks. We felt anxious.

We were restless for some time and became hyper-vigilant, watching and suspecting anyone who went in that direction that they might know about our dark secret and might want to steal it. We felt insecure.

A useless thing with a distorted value beyond it’s worth, led us to a disordered attachment, strong enough to make us disobedient. That caused fear, anxiety and insecurity.

That is a picture of sin, the result of failing to resist a temptation.

Temptations come in three forms as St. John described in his epistle (1 John 2,16): the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

Eve was tempted in all three forms. “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” She fell for all these.

In the gospel, we see Jesus also going through the same forms of temptations: to satisfy His bodily needs, to yearn for the power He saw and to show off His privileged status. Jesus triumphed over all these.

So why are we tempted?

Because we are human, the highest creation of God, the love of our Creator. The God-human relationship is a love relationship and satan seeks to destroy that. Sin breaks up this love, so satan tempts us to sin.

When do we sin?

When we forget this love relationship and seek to satisfy our selfish needs, desires and pride. 

How do we feel after sin?

Totally rotten. Because we are nothing without God, and the separation created by sin breaks our lifeline causing fear, anxiety, insecurity.

What can we do?

Restore the love relationship through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three actions strengthens us in the three areas which temptations target.

Prayer humbles us and removes pride. To pray is to acknowledge that God is the giver, we are the given. Prayer overcomes the pride of life.

Fasting deprives our bodily needs so that our souls are spiritually tuned to the Holy Spirit, who strengthens our souls. Fasting overcomes the lust of the flesh.

Almsgiving takes our eyes away from self towards others who are more in need, it teaches us to value what is truly good and not what merely looks good. Almsgiving overcomes the lust of the eyes.

Our faith journey is taking the road leading to God who loves us, our life is going back to the Creator who breathed His life into us.

Lent is preparing our luggage to walk this journey better. It is not packing in more, but rather, taking out much. May your lent be a blessing.

Amen


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