Question of the Week
How does Jesus help us to fight the temptations that come to us? How are they a sign of the deeper spiritual battle we are all in? What is at stake?
Lent Begins with the Temptation in the Desert
When we are born, we enter into a world where there has been an ongoing, age-old battle for souls. We truly only have a dim awareness of this battle. Our Scriptures for the First Sunday of Lent give us some insights into it. After his baptism, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert to do penance and prepare for his public ministry, which will ultimately save us all.
At the end of his penance, when he is physically weakened and vulnerable, the devil appears and begins to tempt Jesus. All forms of temptation are aimed at weakening our true identity as children of God, for the devil will insinuate that we are not—“If you are the son of God”—or he will aim at turning us away from our reliance and faith in God, so we rely instead on ourselves. “Command this stone to become bread,” the devil will say. Take matters into your own hands. Save yourself. Jesus will hear this again from the lips of his own apostles, like when Jesus will speak of the Cross and Peter will try to dissuade him from speaking like that: “God forbid…” Jesus will turn toward Peter and say, “Get behind me Satan,” for Peter’s remonstrations will echo the devil’s words. Jesus will be tempted again—the last temptation when he is on the Cross. The centurion crucifying Jesus will say, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” The insurrectionist crucified next to Jesus will say, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”
Jesus teaches us total surrender and trust in God. Even on the Cross, Jesus will pray Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish?” This psalm begins with this deep plea that almost sounds like despair in God, yet if one prays the entire psalm, it ends with a profound expression of trust and hope:
You who fear the Lord, give praise! All descendants of Jacob, give honor; show reverence, all descendants of Israel!
For he has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch,
Did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.”
We are all in a battle, and as we go with Jesus into the desert of mortification, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we will be tempted. Jesus will help us remain firm in our commitments and act like the other “christs” we are! We embrace our crosses in union with Jesus who saved us from the Cross. When we embrace our cross, we are saying, “I cannot save myself. Jesus has saved me! I am willing to join Jesus in his self-offering that has saved the world.” Have a grace-filled Lent! — Fr. Bill
Ways to Help Our Parish Apostolate, St. Thomas School
Our school is growing and expanding, and it needs our support. I am inviting anyone interested to join me in two groups that will help with this expansion.
- Fundraising Group: If you have a knack for creative and fun ideas to raise money, join this group. It will be led by our Business Manager, Alicia Frenette (afrenette@sta2.org). Email Alicia to join.
- Marketing Group: If you have ideas on how to promote the school, join this group. It will be led by our Director of Communications, Cory Lakatos (clakatos@sta2.org). Email Cory to join.
Serve with Catholic Charities
We are working together with Catholic Charities to help those in need in our Ann Arbor community. Please consider becoming a Parish Ambassador for St Thomas.
