First Sunday of Lent

There is an age-old fear that evil spirits can take over a person or a family or a nation – and when one looks around at our world, that fear doesn’t seem so far-fetched.  So we pay attention when two readings today feature evil spirits – the serpent and Satan.  But we do not see them taking possession so much as simply talking.  In the talking is the testing.  And so we listen, to catch something that might be meant for us.

The serpent comes to Eve and starts off quite innocently: “Did God really tell you not to eat from any trees in the garden?”  And Eve replies quite forthrightly: “It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.’”  Score one for Eve.  But then the serpent plays his trump card.  He says, “You certainly will not die!”  And then he slithers off.  Eve is left thinking and seeing that old piece of fruit in a different way.  Before long it begins to look so good that she takes it and eats, and then her partner Adam takes it and eats.  And they do come to know something – they discover they are naked, vulnerable, at risk.

When Satan comes to Jesus, he comes to test him, too.  First, the wilderness was the place where Moses led God’s people and there they were tested.  Secondly, Jesus has just been baptized by John and the Spirit has come upon him.  He has heard a voice saying, “You are my beloved Son.  With you I am well pleased.”  So Jesus is being tested as to whether he is truly God’s beloved Son.  And the tests are the same ones that the people of Israel were given – three tests but one subject: trust in God.

The first about food: Would they trust God to provide it?  They didn’t.  They grumbled about not having food.  God had led them out to starve them.  The second was about God’s presence: Would they trust God to take care of them?  They didn’t.  They kept saying that God had led them out there to die.  The third was whether God was really God, a God beyond their control.  And they rejected that possibility by setting up a golden calf and worshipping it.

Jesus is given the same tests.  The first has to do with food.  He was famished: “Command that these stones become loaves of bread.”  Jesus responds: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”  Jesus knew that God would feed him on a deeper level.  The second has to do with trust in God.  And here Satan is very clever.  He tells Jesus to throw himself off the pinnacle of the Temple, that God would send angels to rescue him, and that the crowds would be amazed and won over.  Jesus rejects him again, saying that he would not test God.  Finally – “Worship me,” Satan says, promising all the kingdoms on earth in return.  Again, Jesus rejects him: “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and God alone shall you serve.”

All these choices Jesus had to make, not just once, but throughout his ministry.  Would he do his Father’s will?  Would he trust God to be with him?  Would he choose the Father even though it meant the cross?  Look to Jesus to see what it means to be God’s beloved child.  Look to Jesus to learn the lessons of survival in the wilderness.  The same test is given to us as individuals and as a community.  Where do we put our trust?  Do we trust God to feed us?  To feed our deepest hungers?  Do we trust God to meet our basic needs?  Do we really believe it when we pray, “Give us today our daily bread?”  And do we trust God to be with us in our dealings with others?  Do we take it seriously when we pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?”  Finally, do we trust God to be God?  Or do we honor other gods?  So much else gets slighted – from care of the poor, to care of the land, care of the aging, health care for all, to just treatment of immigrants.

God has claimed us at baptism.  We now have forty days to think about whether we recognize that claim.  And whether we want to renew our commitment to Jesus Christ.  Do we really want to be God’s beloved sons and daughters?  In less than forty days we enter the Triduum, and at the climax of those days, at the Easter Vigil, we are asked: Do you renounce Satan and all his works and ways?  Do you believe in God?  Do you believe in Jesus?  Do you believe in the Spirit who has been given to you and who wishes to work with, in, and through you?

Paul A. Magnano

Pastor