By Thomas
P Polizzi
As
we begin another Lenten season, it is important to consider the issue of
temptation. As Catholics, we decide to "give something up" for Lent,
and often struggle with the temptation of giving in, maybe just once, since
we've been good up 'til then, or we had a long and stressful day, etc. However,
this is how I look at it:
In
the Gospel on this First Sunday of Lent, we read how Jesus went into the
desert, alone, with no food. Satan himself came to tempt Jesus. He offers three
temptations: for Jesus to turn rock into bread, all the kingdoms of the world
if He bows to Satan, and to test God's protection of Him by throwing himself
from a cliff.
All
three of these temptations are important in Jesus' journey, but these first two
really strike at something in me at this time. Jesus responds to the first
temptation by saying that man does not live on bread alone. When shown
all the power on Earth, Jesus refuses, saying we are to worship God alone.
In both instances, Satan gave Jesus a choice— a very difficult one. We often
find temptation too great to bear, but Jesus' temptation was probably
infinitely more difficult to bear.
Yes,
he was fully human, but we also have to remember that as the Son of God,
Jesus also had infinitely more power at his disposal. And as our Savior, he also had more pressure
not to fail. And, as the Holy One of
God, he had the much more direct, convincing, and skillful temptation of Satan
himself. So if Jesus was able-and chose-to resist, there must be something
important here for us to reflect upon.
Since
Jesus was fully human, he knew full well the power temptation can have on a
person, especially any who is weary from time in a [proverbial] desert. What's
more, this is certainly not the only time Jesus is tempted to use his power for
selfish reasons. Even when he was hanging on the cross he could have chosen to
free himself, but he knew the power of sacrifice.
This also means that
Jesus knew he had an infinite amount of pressure not to fail in his task. When
we stumble, it may have consequences on ourselves and those around us. But for
Jesus to fail, everyone would be affected—everyone. What's more, many of
our temptations, though at times spurred by external forces, are largely
produced within ourselves. The human mind can play wonderful tricks on
itself—but Satan is much more diabolical at tempting. So imagine, whenever we
encounter some difficult path, that instead of our own reasoning to tempt us,
we have a physical manifestation of temptation itself, standing there, offering
"encouragements" at every turn. Jesus experienced this, and yet
resisted.
Jesus'
refusal to submit speaks of something very profound; He knew that there is
something much more important than this world—God's Kingdom. St. Thomas Aquinas
wrote that the temptation of Jesus was very important for several reasons.
For
one, if Jesus Himself was tempted, no man or woman on Earth can think of
themselves as above temptation, no matter how holy they may be. Another
important message in Jesus' temptations is that we can overcome
temptation, and we can look to His example for hope.
Jesus' time in the desert
also shows that God knows the challenge of temptation, however, if Jesus
believes that we must focus not on the short term pleasures but on the deeper
purpose behind all of our actions, that is what we must always strive to
achieve.
The
corporeal things of this life are but distractions to living for a higher
purpose. This is not just a Lenten idea; this is something we must always
work for.
The small act of a Lenten sacrifice holds two important things: 1)
our acknowledging, in a small way, that this life is full of but mere
distractions to living for God's Kingdom, and 2) using these small things to
prepare us for when we do have bigger difficulties to overcome.
By
making small sacrifices, we strengthen our ability to make sacrifices in
general. Whether it be Lent, Advent, or any other time of the year, sacrifice
for the sake of Good, and to help build God's Kingdom, is what we are to always
progress toward. That is the true challenge of living up to Christ's
message. We must work, not only when it is popular, or when others are there to
assist us—we must be giving ourselves to something, and Someone greater, even
when we are alone, when no one else can see our actions, or acknowledge how
much we are willing to do.
To
be sure, we will stumble, and fall, or even reverse our steps, in our constant
progress toward God. We just have to understand that even if perfection isn't
attainable for us in the same way as it is for Jesus, it is the power of
sacrifice and our attempt anyway that makes our journey important; and as long
as we are not afraid to ask for help (from above, and even from those around
us) we will always be able to overcome our own deserts.
Thomas
P Polizzi
is a junior at TCNJ
