Stay Awake…!

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent is always the story of the Temptation of Jesus. This story is included in the gospel not to show the human side of Jesus rather to teach us how to handle temptations in our life.

Temptation is real. It is all over. Every day we are bombarded with temptations. However, very seldom we are aware of them. Jesus discovered it when he was in the Desert. The Desert is a place of silence and solitude. When Jesus stood before God in silence, he discovered the different pushes and pulls that had the potentials to distract him from his mission.

First of all, to discover and deal with our temptations, we need a desert; a place of silence and time for silence. Since we are distracted with too many things, very often, we become aware of our temptations only when we become a victim of it. Try to find time and place for prayer and personal reflections during this lent. In His light we see our true self.

Secondly, the devil is not tempting us anymore with traditional weapons and materials. They upgraded and modernized its tactics. They trap us today in a very sophisticated way. First of all, they make our lives busy with too many attractive activities and programs. They present these things as vitally important and unavoidable. They convincingly present religion as a private enterprise and make us believe that God and religion can wait. They push God away from the center of our life and make it one among many. This attitude is called secularism.

When God is pushed away from the center of my life, then I become the center of my life. My primary concern becomes the glorification of my self and not of God. This is called individualism. How do we measure glory, greatness and success today? It is in terms of wealth and things that we possess/ have. As a result, the driving force of our life becomes the craving for wealth and everything associated with that. This is called materialism.

The truth is that we are never happy with what we have. Material things seldom give us fulfillment. They get outdated and out fashioned easily. Nothing seems permanent and stable. Evidently, we look for novelty. We try for the latest in the market. This is called consumerism.

The basic principle of consumerism is ‘be different and go for the latest brand’. Eventually consumerism, the ‘use and throw culture’ creep into human relationship and families. People give up relationships for silly reasons and go for new ones. Experimentation in human relationship breaks families and spread chaos in the society which is the ultimate goal of Devil.

In short, secularism leads to individualism, individualism leads to materialism, materialism leads to consumerism and consumerism leads to chaos. This is the way devil operates today!

The devil ensures our fall by pushing God away from the center. The effect may not be immediate though certain. The devil knows how to kill without shedding even a single drop of blood. Many of the world’s most attractive temptations are like some television commercials: frequently deceptive and frightfully costly (William Arthur Ward). Stay awake! Be alert!

Jesus survived the temptations by using the Scripture. Each time he was tempted with other priorities, the Word of God reminded him of God’s plan for him. The best way to recognize, resist and overcome temptation is to turn to the Scripture, Teachings of the Church and its Sacred Traditions.

Lent is at the doorstep!

A few years ago, I visited Badrinad Temple, one of the three pilgrim centers of Hinduism in India. The High Priest in this center has the status of a Demigod. Imagine the process to get an audience with such a high profiled personality. However, I was lucky enough to get an appointment with him. During our meeting I asked him: Where are you from? He did not respond to me right away. He looked at me as if I had asked him a stupid question. After a long pause, he broke the silence and said, “Father if we knew from where we are coming and to where we are going how nice it would be”. I never forget that meeting. His remark still echo in my heart.

Life is not a destination in itself. It is a journey. It is a journey towards God, the Alpha and Omega of our existence. We need to ask this question constantly: Where are we today on our journey of life, especially in our relationship with God and with one another. In fact these were the two questions God asked the first human family. God asked Adam, “Adam where are you?” God asked Cain, “Cain where is your brother Abel?” (Gen 3: 9, 4:9)

The best time to examine the route of our journey is the time of Lent. It is a time to reclaim and restore our focus. Jesus went through a discernment process at the crucial juncture of his life, just before inaugurating his mission. He went to the desert (Mt 4:1-11). In the silence of the desert, he discovered the two conflicting voices: the voice of his self and the voice of God. Why do you remain hungry? You have the power even to change stone into bread! Why don’t you use it for your own advantage?’ He recognized this as a temptation to satisfy the hunger of his bodily desires using inappropriate method and things. He also found his human desire for popularity and worldly riches. He discovered the voice of his self for possession, position and passion. He became aware of the distractions on the way and renewed his commitment to the will of God. He listened to the voice of God.

Temptation is real. Temptation, unlike opportunities, will always give us a second chance (O.B.Battista). Devil is smart. They won’t tempt us any more with bad stuff. They tempt us with things which have glittering appearances. For instance, one may say what is wrong in living together before getting married; after all they give us a chance to test our compatibility…What is wrong with premarital sex as long as there is genuine feeling towards each other. They sound attractive and logical! Devil never let us thinks about the consequences of our actions. Devil shuts our intellect and encourages us to think with our emotions and feelings. They blind our sense by offering instant gratification for our needs. They don’t demand anything from our part. In the long run they are deceptions. They offer empty victories.

Jesus understood the trick of Satan because He scrutinized his feelings, thinking and imagination in the light of the Word of God. The Word of God became his frame of reference.

Lent is a time to get into the desert of our life. It is a time to meet with our own self. It is a time to see our real picture. In the silence of our hearts we will hear the whispering of our ego. They tell us who we are. William James once remarked: “The time one spends in self reflection and self evaluation is the magic that saves one’s life.” When did you meet with your self last time?

Lent is also a time to see our self as God sees it. In his light we see our true image. Recollect the story of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:8). The moment he came in the presence of Jesus, he discovered his self. When did you stand before the Lord last time?

Lent also challenges us to see how we stand before others, especially in terms of our roles and obligations. As we read in the Gospel of Mathew, on the Day of Judgment Jesus evaluates us in terms of what we were to others (Mt 25: 31-46).

Our life is like traveling on a freeway. On the way we see a number of ‘Exits’. A person who takes all the exits will not reach the destination. Our life is made by the choices we make. We are free to make choices. Lent is a time to discover the ‘Exits’ on our way and decide which one is helpful and which are destructive. It is the time to learn which bridge to cross and which one to burn.

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