Lent,First Sun.C.Marc.2001

In the Consistory of Cardinals held in Rome last week , the Holy Father elevated 44 people, Bishops, Archbishops, and priests to the college of Cardinals. Of these, one Cardinal remains singularly noteworthy: He is Cardinal Francis Xavier of Vietnam who now heads the Pontifical council for Justice and Peace. He was appointed the Bishop of Saigon in 1975 shortly before the city fell to communist forces. In his book “The Testimony of Hope”, the Cardinal describes the harrowing experiences of pain and agony he suffered for 13 years in prison, of which nine were in solitary confinement. As he was arrested and taken to the prison, he heard the voice of Jesus asking him “ Simon , who do you say that I am.” He didn’t waver, he didn’t doubt ,he didn’t yield. He remained firm in his faith until the moment he was released from prison in 1988. It was not a lent of forty days of small fasts and abstinence that he had; it was 13 years of fasting from everything that was associated with human life.

Who did give him the courage to withstand the forces of oppression and keep his mind focussed on hope? Who gave him the power to overcome the temptation to yield and obey an unjust authority? It was undoubtedly the victory that Our Lord achieved over the power of temptations after his forty days’ fast in the desert that gave him the courage and hope to withstand the power of the vicious communist regime.

What was Jesus doing in the desert? Why was he fasting and praying? To have time alone with God, to accept of the will of the Heavenly Father, to have the Spirit of God within himself, to prepare for the great task ahead, the path of pain and suffering to bring Redemption for mankind .

He was tired, hungry and weak in his human person. The Temptations came in attractive ways. The evil spirit presented very attractive suggestions which were planned to subvert the will of God. The first suggestion was why should Jesus feel hungry and famished? Why could not he perform a miracle changing stones into bread, and manifest his divine power? Jesus’ reply to the evil spirit was that there are greater values in life than the ones suggested by him: “ Man shall not live by bread alone.”

Again the temptation of power and glory was presented. Jesus was urged to use power and glory and live by them . They would make him the most powerful person in the world and the whole world would bow in adoration. Jesus rejected that path saying that there is only one power in the world and it is One’s God and he is the One to be adored and served.

Instead of choosing the path of pains and agony Jesus could choose a dazzling spectacle to convince the world of his mission. If he falls from the pinnacle of the temple, the angels will support him and people would applaud the event and he could live on that esteem. Jesus knew the emptiness of such popularity. He dismissed the evil spirit by telling him not to put the Lord , his God to the test. He tells the spirit that the one who stands before him is His God and he should worship him instead of putting him to the test.

Referring to the Temptations of Jesus, St.John Maria Vianney says: “How fortunate we are, how lucky we are to have a God as a model. Are we poor? We have a God who is born in a stable, who lies in a manger…Are we tempted? We have our Redeemer who was tempted by the demon…Hence no matter what sufferings, pain or temptations we are experiencing, we always have our God leading the way for us, assuring us of victory.”

The victory Jesus achieved over his Temptations is an assurance for each one of us that however powerful our temptations may be, with Jesus on our side, we can overcome them. The temptations of Jesus correspond to the three basic needs of the human person: need for security, for power and control, and for affection and esteem from people around us.

These same needs come in different forms to deflect us from our path towards Jesus. For more money, for more a more glamorous way of living, we are tempted to sacrifice our faith. We become so concerned about our image and reputation among our colleagues that we are afraid to speak about our faith, or to witness to Jesus Christ. Sometimes our Sunday obligations are ignored for the enjoyment of a party or for other similar social functions. Temptations come in so many ways and when our spiritual strength is weak, we become susceptible to them.

In the exercise of power and authority too we often fail, by exercising too much power over the people whose lives or jobs are entrusted to us. In our families, we may be domineering parents, in our workplaces, we may be task masters.. We carry on in different ways these false and trivial masks of authority, creating more pain and agony in the lives of people we work with.

Similarly, there are also the various ways in which we try to become more popular and appealing by distorting truths and by denigrating others. We project a good impression of ourselves as hard working and honest people while putting down others, damaging their reputation and hurting their feelings. Jesus shows how ephemeral are these values for which we crave all throughout our lives.

We have seen how Jesus has conquered these temptations and driven the Satan out of his sight. His presence in our lives offers us the spiritual strength to overcome them. But we have to grow closer to God as Jesus did through those forty days spent in the desert.

As we try to begin this journey of Lent , let us take some time during these days to be alone with God and set in order the priorities of our lives and strengthen our waning spiritual strength.