BE WITH ME,
LORD
This is the season in
which we tend to the spiritual tasks of penance, prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving, in order to deepen our experience of God's presence and to
strengthen our faith. When we fast, we come to know what we are truly hungering
for during our journey. We ground ourselves in a prayerful life, listening
attentively to God's call. We give things up so that we might come to
appreciate what we truly have.
Here are
some questions to think about:
1) What
spiritual progress do I hope to make during this holy season? What steps am I
prepared to take toward proper growth?
2) Moses
recounted to the people, their story of liberation. What saving action of God
am I grateful for in my own life? Do I
nurture the virtue of gratitude in my heart?
3) Jesus
rejects temptations of immediate gratification, power, and safety. How am I
doing in regard to these temptations in my own life? What help can I find
during this time of Lent?
Saint Paul exhorts us to
"confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord" (Rom 10:9). We are being
called to profess our Creed, our Confession of Faith. Such faith brings
deliverance, liberation, and salvation to God's people, and is open to all who
call on the name of Jesus. In thanksgiving, we make our sacrifice, our
self-offering. It all starts with acknowledging Jesus, and if we do so
seriously and deeply, such a confession will order the rest of our lives. Saint
Bernard of Clairvaux confirms this by saying, "Nothing restrains anger,
curbs pride, heals the wound of malice, bridles self-indulgence, quenches the
passions, checks avarice, and puts unclean thoughts to flight as does the name
of Jesus."
In the
Responsorial Psalm, we acclaim, "Be with me, Lord, when I am in
trouble" (Ps 91:15b). No harm shall come into our homes, for God has
instructed the angels to guard us forever, wherever we go. Be with us, Lord!
Today's Gospel helps us in all this. As Christians, we don't hesitate to
acknowledge that Jesus is God, but we do find that accepting His humanity can
be much more difficult. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that we have a High
Priest [Jesus] Who knows what it is like to be weak because He, like us,
experienced temptation (cf. Heb 4:15). Let us think about some of our own
temptations. Jesus, also, was tempted in the same way, but He never consented
to them.
Luke's
Gospel tells us about the temptations that Jesus faced while spending forty
days in the desert. In the first two temptations, Satan tempts a hungry Jesus
to turn stones into bread (a symbol of this world's goods). Then, He promises
more power and authority if Jesus would only worship Him. It would have been
easy for Jesus to use His mighty powers and escape from the devils promptings, but
He didn't. In the desert, and throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus conquering
sin and using His divinity to serve the poor and needy.
In the
third temptation, Satan takes Jesus to the parapet of the Temple and challenges Him to jump. A stairway
inside the Temple
led to the roof where a seven foot wall (the parapet) ran along its edge. The
story concludes with the devil leaving Jesus until He finds another opportunity
to tempt Him, indicating that Jesus had to struggle with more temptations
through His life. Temptation, it seems, was just as much a part of Jesus' life
as it is a part of ours. All three times when He was tempted, Jesus responded
by quoting Scripture. May we too, become more familiar during this time of
Lent, with Scripture, to help us in time of challenges and temptation in our
own lives.
Be with me
Lord when I am in trouble!