Dear Parishioners:
It isn't often that an image of Satan appears on the cover of the weekly bulletin. However, this Sunday, we hear the Gospel of the Temptation of our Lord in the Desert. "The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan."
Lent is like an extended "retreat" in which to re-enter ourselves and listen to God's voice to overcome the temptations of the Evil One. It is a time of spiritual "training" to live alongside Jesus not with pride and presumption but rather by using the weapons of faith: prayer, fasting, penance, and service to the poor. In this way, we shall succeed in celebrating Easter with joy, ready to renew our baptismal promises.
Lent is meant to be a time for truth. The Truth Himself spent 40 days in the wilderness combatting the Prince of Lies. Since humility is honesty, and the Sacrament of Confession is an act of humility, the truthful confession of our sins, preferably frequently in Lent, is at the heart of this season. On Wednesday, the ashes sprinkled upon our heads were the very sign of our intention, “to repent and believe the Gospel.” Otherwise, the ashes are merely an empty gesture of piety or, worse, an act of total hypocrisy.
Humility is an essential virtue of the interior life, the favored of Jesus, held up by all the saints and theologians as the best way for progress on the road to perfection. St Therese of Lisieux said: "the beginning of all holiness, is humbly admitting that without God we can do nothing, but that, with, in and through him, everything is possible!"
The practice of humility begins with prayer. Lent calls us to more prayer. In our prayer, we do not lift ourselves above others, but rather, we must humbly reveal our true selves to God, the Father of Mercy. Remember that we are just one of a great army of weak and imperfect, sinful and suffering people, all kneeling before the throne of God's mercy. St. Frances de Sales said in his Introduction to the Devout Life: "True humility is to see yourself as you are seen in the eyes of God, no more than you are, but no less than you are."
In our prayer, much depends upon what we compare ourselves to in our life. And when we set our lives beside the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus Christ and beside the goodness, mercy, and holiness of God our Father, we are left only to humbly pray like the tax collector of the Gospel: "God be merciful to me—a sinner."
Our prayer makes us humble before God, our almighty Father, and opens us to the path of love. We especially strive in Lent for humility in our prayer. The late Archbishop Sheen said: "Only the humble can pray, for prayer presumes we need someone and something."
“True humility is to see yourself as you are seen in the eyes of God, no more than you are, but no less than you are.”
It is faithfully coming to Sunday Mass, praying daily, living the Church's precepts, following the Commandments, along with the frequent sacramental confession of our sins that can begin to conform us to the way of love. In prayer and with a solid interior life, we can honestly know ourselves, who we are, and what we are called to be.
These forty days of Lent we retreat with the Lord in the Desert to find our true selves. We remove the distractions of a busy life, limit our pleasures of a comfortable life, and convert our hearts more fully to Christ. With our prayer, fasting, penance, sacrifice, discipline, and almsgiving, we begin to know ourselves even more. We become aware of our weaknesses so we might humbly admit them to our Merciful Father in Confession.
In whatever temptations we may encounter this Lent, don't give in to the Father of Lies, and don't give up on the Lord! Fight on in faith! The Saints teach us that faith, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and the cross is enough to defeat the snares of the Evil One. Satan may appear powerful, but the saints prove that he is not and is no match for those who put their trust and faith in God. St. Anthony the Abbot battled the temptations of the Devil while in the desert. He once said: "I saw the devil's traps laid upon the earth, and I groaned and said: 'Who do you think can pass through them?' And I heard a voice saying, 'Humility.”
Keep the Solemn Fast of Lent with humble prayer. Stay safe. Be well. Do good. God Bless. Pray, fast, and give alms!