Tag: Catholic

A new heart and a new spirit. That’s Jesus’ goal for us. He makes all things new, and he wants us to participate in this renewal by casting away all the bad and embracing all the good. He wants us to see what HE has done – turned the world’s understanding upside down – and walk in newness of life IN HIM.

That means every human tradition is questioned and held up to the true Light to see if it fits. Jesus tells his followers that they are to OBEY the scribes and Pharisees, but not IMITATE them. This is because they have the authority to teach the correct letter of the law, but they miss the spirit of the law, and so they distort the trajectory of the law from its true Goal. They have turned the whole tradition to their own benefit, their own honor and glory, not God’s.

Jesus’ whole warning against not calling anyone “Rabbi” or “Father” or “Master” is not intended to mean we can’t actually use any titles on earth; he is reminding us not to put ourselves above others because we are all children of the same God. He does not intend that there should be no hierarchy or any authority on earth; he is reminding us that those in authority have been called to serve others. We are all called to service, and those who are in positions of authority are called to greater service! A mother serves her family, a priest serves his parishioners, the store owner serves his customers, the President of a country serves the citizens. If a person in any role of authority fails to serve others, we call them “self-serving;” we do not express our admiration for self-serving people or hold them up as heroes to emulate!

On the contrary, those who give of themselves in service to others are the people we instinctively look up to: the boss who distributes the profit by giving all the employees big bonuses, or the policeman who puts his own life in danger to save another’s, for example.

In the Church, those we look up to are the saints. These are the real heroes of the Family of God, those who served others for love of God: Mother Teresa, Maximilian Kolbe, Vincent de Paul, the Cure of Ars, Damien the Leper, Sr. Clare Crockett (haven’t heard of her? I recommend the documentary, “All or Nothing” online!), and so many others who followed the Lord of all to serve others.

During Lent, we take time to ponder the Truth that the Lord of all Creation Himself “came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Who in your life has shown you what it means to serve others in self-forgetfulness? How are you being called to serve rather than be served?

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Jesus came to save us by entering into the fullness of the condition of fallen humanity and offering all to the Father. He was like us “in all things but sin” (Hebrews 4:15); he was also subject to temptation, but never succumbed in any way. These temptations in the desert were not the only time, nor the last time, that Jesus endured temptations (at the end of this scene, it is revealed that the devil “departed from him for a time”). But we see in these temptations the way Jesus turns the trajectory of fallen humanity away from its downward spiral and back toward the Father. He enters into our fallenness and lifts it up.

Adam in the Garden was well fed, had dominion over the rest of creation, and was not subject to death. The Fall changes all that; because of the Fall, we are separated from God, from each other, and from our true selves! So the New Adam enters into the situation of creation after the Fall. He is hungry, humble, and will offer himself to the Father in death to reconnect us with God, with each other, and with our true selves. And yet, our fallenness remains, so we easily desire pleasure and comfort, self-sufficiency and control, prestige and praise.

The temptations in the desert are addressed to reach into this fallen condition and prey on all that has been lost. Jesus refuses to engage on the enemy’s terms and transforms the battle. He counters each temptation with words from Moses in Deuteronomy, defeating the enemy who has led every heart from the beginning of time through the labyrinth of selfwardness and sin.

When the enemy dangles the possibility of bread to eliminate hunger, Jesus answers, “One does not live on bread alone” (Deut. 8:3), subordinating his physical needs to a higher ideal.

When the enemy shows him all the kingdoms of the world and promises power and glory to overcome Jesus’ humility, Jesus replies, “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve” (Deut. 6:16), humbly recognizing that only God is self-sufficient and we depend on Him.

When the enemy challenges Jesus to throw himself down and prove his immortality to counter death, Jesus says, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test” (Deut. 6:13), rejecting the instant fame that such a spectacle would have secured and rejecting the rejection of death.  

The enemy’s tactics haven’t changed much. Over and over again, in history and in our own lives, we see the temptation to what I call the “5 P’s”: pleasure, power, popularity, prestige, prosperity. All of these stem from the One Main P: Pride. We are not exempt from the battle, but Jesus has redeemed temptation and given us strength to fight for his Kingdom by exercising our love, humility, faithfulness, and obedience.

During Lent, let’s use the “weapons” of Confession and Communion, penance and prayer, to overcome the “P’s” in our own lives!

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