When we dare to shed the unnecessary layers that are cluttering our hearts, we are often reminded of the things that are essential. In terms of our faith, we are reminded of the fact that God created us, formed us out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into our nostrils the breath of life (Gn 2:7). From that very first moment of human existence, God has always loved us. The Lord God planted a garden (Gn 2:8) in order to provide food for us. It was God's original intention that we should live in that garden, that place of beauty and tranquility, but almost immediately after Adam and Eve had been placed there, they were tempted. The serpent took Eve's words and twisted them: You will not die, he said (Gn 3:4); instead he provided another explanation: when you eat of the tree, your eyes will be opened. Every one of us has encountered such experiences. We have all encountered the evil one's trickery. In some cases, we ourselves have become masters at believing what we want to believe.
Oh how lost we would all be if the story had ended there. Instead, thankfully, God sent Jesus to show us the way. Saint Paul reminds us that just as sin came into the world through one man ... so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all people (Rom 5:12, 18). This is the reason for our hope. No matter how lost we might be, there is always hope. Jesus came to show us the way. God knows that we sometimes need to take baby steps, and we need some help, someone to show us the way, so he sent Jesus.
At the very beginning of his public life, as a young adult, immediately after he was baptized, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Mt 4:1) so that even in that experience, he could show us that it is possible to face temptation and to overcome the devil's cunning. The gospel writer describes three moments of temptation; each one of them is more cunning than the one before it. Knowing that Jesus was hungry, the devil first entices him to command ... stones to become loaves of bread (Mt 4:3). If he had given in to his hunger, Jesus might have been tempted to use his divine power to do just that, but he wanted to use that opportunity to teach us, so he responded: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mt 4:4). In other words, we cannot allow any physical thing to become more important to us than our relationship with God, as difficult as that might be. The devil didn't give up. In fact, he took Jesus to the holy city ... to the pinnacle of the temple - the place most revered as a place of encounter with God, and quoted words from the Psalms that are still prayed today: 'He will command his Angels concerning you ... on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone (Mt 4:6). And when even this did not tempt Jesus, the devil continued, tempting him with the possibility of wealth beyond his wildest dreams (cf Mt 4:8-9).
Like Jesus, we too are tempted, from the moment that we set out with the best of intentions. The devil is always at work, constantly trying to find ways to twist our words or to entice us to believe that things are different than they seem. We need help in order to stay focused. It's ok to be tempted, for in the end faith needs to be tested so that we will know how strong it is. When we are tempted to give in, let us always remember that Jesus has gone before us. He is walking this road of Lent with us and is always ready and willing to help us. All we need to do is to ask for his help and he will always come to our assistance.
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