First Sunday of Lent
Reflection
He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.
Luke 4:1-13
Temptation seems to come when we are vulnerable. Usually it isn’t clearly between good and evil. That’s easy to discern. Temptation is more subtle. It may be between bad and worse or even between good and better. It may come after a religious experience that leads to an interior struggle. We may not call it a temptation, but rather a choice that tests our inner beliefs or resolve, a choice that tests the limits of our boundaries. Jesus understood his call. He knew what he believed, and he overcame. His weakened state did not compromise his integrity.
Prayer
My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.
Psalm 91
Action
What are my inner boundaries? How do I discern my limitations? What signals can I detect that I am making wrong choices?
Suggested Reading
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days,
and when they were over he was hungry.
When the devil had finished every temptation,
he departed from him for a time.
Luke 4:1-13
And remember, when someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it. Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes.
James 1:13 – 14
Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26:41
One of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism, which turns us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists, sourpusses.
Pope Francis
The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.
Thomas Merton
One of the important things about temptation is, if I’m going to deal with it I’m going to have to recognize, this is an area of weakness in my life. I have been tempted here before and before and before.
Charles Stanley
Every life is a march from innocence, through temptation, to virtue or vice.
Lyman Abbott
The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it is an amazing journey – and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.
Bob Moawad
The last temptation is the highest treason, to do the right deed but for the wrong reason.
T.S. Eliot