Lent commemorates the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert in preparation for His preaching of the Kingdom. On Ash Wednesday when imposing the ashes I said: Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. This reminds us that the goal of our existence is out of this world. It is Heaven.

Last Sunday’s Gospel gives an account of Jesus overcoming Satan’s temptations. These were attempts by the devil to deflect Jesus from His mission to save us. The three temptations are in areas which are the root of sin because of our fallen nature;  pleasure, power and vanity. These three idols are the downfall of many people.

In the first temptation, the devil strikes at the end of Jesus’ forty day fast, when he knows that the Lord is hungry, and he thinks more likely to fall: 

If you are the Son of God tell this stone to turn into a loaf. 

But Jesus quotes Scripture: 

Man does not live on bread alone. 

This first temptation is about comfort seeking and sensuality, satisfying one’s appetites.

In the second temptation, the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said: 

I will give you all the power and glory of these kingdoms ….., if You worship me. 

Jesus responds: 

Scripture says you must worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.   

He devil is a liar from the beginning and could not have given all the kingdoms of the world. This was a temptation to pride and arrogance.

The devil then took Jesus to Jerusalem made him stand on the parapet of the Temple saying: 

If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here, for Scripture says, He will put His angels in charge of You to guard You… 

But Jesus responded: 

It is said: you must not put the Lord your God to the test. 

At this, the devil left Him to return at the appointed time.  In this third temptation, one can imagine how impressed the onlookers would have been, if Jesus leapt from the Temple parapet and survived. He would have won the esteem of many and would have been a sensation amongst the people. This was a temptation to vanity and popularity.

Jesus went through these temptations for our instruction. None of the idols: pleasure, power and vanity can make a person truly happy. Jesus chose to do only the Will of the Father, teaching us to do the same. Life’s pleasures don’t satisfy the heart. This why suicides among the rich are more numerous than among the poor. The second temptation was towards the idol of arrogance and diabolical pride. Only God is self-sufficient, and we all depend on God for our every breath and heartbeat. The third temptation was the idol of vanity, wanting to impress others and win fame.

These three temptations are at the root of our sins. It is what is behind most of our selfish and sinful actions. The medicine the Church gives is what we heard on Ash Wednesday: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Make quality time for prayer. Turn off the TV, don’t waste time on the internet; instead use your time wisely to read the Scriptures or other spiritual books, pray the Holy Rosary, participate in Eucharistic Adoration and go to Confession. 

Any successful football coach will spend Monday analysing the weekend football game. He will look at the vulnerabilities and the strengths and make the necessary adjustments for the next match. To grow in holiness, we also need to make necessary adjustments. Firstly we need to identity what our root sin is and hack away at it through prayer, fasting and charity. This way we will grow in the opposing virtue and interior renewal.  But the quickest way to grow in all the virtues is to desire that God’s Will reign in you. Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.