As Jesus was tempted
in the wilderness for forty days and as we too often experience temptations, I
think it may be appropriate for us to reflect on the meaning of “temptations.”
What are “temptations”? They could be understood as
attractions that draw us away from God and from living
in God’s ways. Temptations could also be seen as the
“tests” of how much we love God. Temptations are not
necessarily negative or bad for us. In fact, Archbishop Fulton Sheen says, “You
are not tempted because you are
evil; you are tempted because you are
human.”
Moreover, it is not a sin to be
tempted for “temptations” are merely what we could have done, but have not done.
Temptations become sin only if we act on
them. There is a story of storekeeper noticing a boy pacing up and
down outside his store which had a great variety of juicy fruits. After sometime
he went out to the boy and said, “What are you trying to do, young man; are you
trying to steal my apples?” “No, sir,” said the boy, “I’m trying not
to.”
And so, when Jesus was
tempted in the wilderness, it was not a sin. Jesus was tempted
because He was not only fully divine, but also fully
human. In the Bible, the “wilderness” or
desert is a symbol of evil and
darkness. This means that even as Jesus was being
tempted and thus, tested by Satan to turn away from His Father’s Will, He
nevertheless defeated Satan on his home ground.
There is a true story of
Matthew Talbot who was born in 1856 into poverty in
Dublin’s inner city. After only one year in school he left to begin work with a
wine merchant to help support his family.
Occasionally, some crates were damaged and the workers helped themselves to
bottles of stout. One day Matt sampled a bottle. It was a new taste
and was good, but he was only twelve years old. Soon he began to
open more and more bottles.
The first thing he thought of when
he woke up every day was alcohol. His mother knew he
had taken to the drink and prayed a great deal for him. As Matt loved his
parents, he always made sure to come home sober because he did not want to cause
pain to his mother.
But one evening he came home
drunk. His father found him another job in the hope that he would be less
tempted to drink. However, Matt could not part with his addiction. Deep inside
he wanted to cry and shout and beg for help, but he felt helpless. He kept
drinking for sixteen years; he was then 28 years old; because of his drinking he
had ran into debts and even once stole a
fiddler to feed his addiction; he was penniless
and the pubs would not give him any more
credit.
One day, while he was waiting
outside his pub in the hope that someone would invite him in for a drink, nobody
did; even the closest of his drinking companions shunned him.
Feeling disgusted, he went home to tell his mother
that he would take a pledge to stop drinking for good.
His mother who has been praying for his conversion all these years was
sceptical. However, she brought Matt to a priest who helped him with his pledge.
Matt took a pledge for three months, then six months, then for
life.
These months of
abstinence were months of great struggle, but Matt
never looked back. He used his wages to
pay back all his debts. He lived
modestly. He prayed every
chance he got. He attended Mass every morning and made
devotions like the Stations of the Cross or devotions
to the Blessed mother in the evenings. He fasted, performed acts of
mortification, and financially
supported many religious organizations. He read
biographies of St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux, and
St. Catherine of Sienna.
He later joined the
Third Order of St. Francis on October 18, 1891 even
though a young pious girl proposed to marry him. Physically, he suffered from
kidney and heart ailments. Eventually, Matt died on
June 7, 1925 while he was walking to Church; he was 69 years of age. To quote
Matt he has this advice for us. He says, "There are three things I cannot
escape: the eye of God, the voice of
conscience, the sting of death.
Therefore, when you are in the company of others, guard your
tongue; when with your family, guard your
temper and when alone guard your
thoughts." Matthew Talbot was declared Venerable in
1973, which is a step on the way to canonization.
My brothers and sisters in Christ,
in today’s Gospel, when Jesus proclaimed, “Repent and believe in the
Good News,” of Salvation, Jesus does not mean it to be simplistic.
On the contrary, Jesus who Himself was tempted by
Satan and fought hard against it, knows
very well that to overcome temptations, like Matt Talbot in our story, it
demands heroic courage. This is more so for us when we
have to confront habitual sins of addiction, infidelity, pride,
sloth, selfishness and the like.
Lent
is a
season of joy and great blessings from God. To have
temptations is to be human; to fight against our
temptations is to live in integrity, and to finally be
able to overcome our temptations and habitual sins is to experience the
transforming grace of God, as Matt Talbot has shown
us.
We all know that the
temptations of life are
complex and never easy, even
as we are given much grace from God to fight them. The Good
News of Salvation is a promise of eternal
life, not a promise of peace without the pain and the crosses that
come with eternal life; Jesus Himself was not spared of the Cross.
God
wanted Matt Talbot to be happy in his life, but he had to learn it the hard and
painful way of the cross. However, for Matt it was all worthwhile, as when he
eventually was able to find and develop a personal relationship with
Jesus. Jesus too wants us to experience these graces during this
Lenten season; the joy and blessings of loving Jesus
in our daily living and eventually even becoming a holy
person like Matt Talbot.
There is one further complication
that is worth pointing out here as we each endeavour to live a more
Christ-like life during the season of Lent. One of the
main obstacles of fighting the temptations of our
lives is that we tend to worry too much. Fr Joseph
Galdon, a Jesuit says, “Worries paralyse us,
immobilise our human talents and make us
only half the person we could become. Worry is
fear or agitation about something in the future. We
cannot enjoy the present because we are worried about
what is going to happen tomorrow. The stupidity of worry is that most of the
time what we are worried about never happens. Our
worries also seem to multiply as our life gets more
complicated. There are more worries in the hectic city
life than in rural countryside.”
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
as I began this homily, I said that “temptations” are
not because we are sinners, but because we are human;
Jesus was Himself tempted. “Temptations” are tests of
how much we love God. Matt
Talbot whose life was potentially heading for depression and
disaster due to his alcoholism was able to turn his life
around because of his heroic
determination to live in God’s love and
ways.
Likewise, for us;
regardless of the challenges that we are facing in
life, regardless of the sadness, sorrow and
suffering we may be going through, like Matt Talbot, a
lot depends on our attitude in life and
how much faith, trust and
confidence we have in God
who is always there for us. As God sent His angels to
look after Jesus when he was tempted for forty days in the wilderness, so also
will God constantly send us His Guardian angels to help us change our lives for
the better during this Lenten season. Can we believe this? Will we take up the
challenges to make this happen? I would like to conclude with a poem by Fr.
Hedwig Louis,S.J.
My life is but a
weaving,
between God and me;
I may not choose the colours,
He knows
what they should be;
For He can view the pattern
from the upper
side;
while I can see it only
on this, the under
side.
Sometimes, He weaves
sorrow,
which seems strange to me;
But, I still will trust His
judgment,
and work on faithfully;
It is He who fills the shuttle,
He
knows what is best;
So, I shall weave in earnest
and leave with Him the
rest.
At last when life is
ended,
with Him I shall abide,
Then, I may view the pattern
upon the
upper side;
Then, I shall know the reason
why pain with joy
entwined,
was woven in the fabric
of life that God
designed.
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