The Gospel reading for this coming Sunday is Luke’s account
of the devil tempting Jesus after he had spent forty days in the desert. Having spent forty days and nights without
physical sustenance, one might expect Jesus to be particularly susceptible to the
devil’s temptations. Fortunately, Jesus
is wise to the devil’s designs. He knows
that the devil tries to twist even the words of sacred scripture to his
benefit. The devil wasn’t counting on
that!
We too can be in a figurative desert during our lives,
particularly if we are feeling as though we are not being heard in some aspect
of our day-to-day experience. We can
feel as if it doesn’t really matter if we “give in” to something or someone
because it isn’t a big deal or it won’t matter in the long run. We can sometimes feel as if there is little
point in trying our best or exerting some amount of self-control in tempting
situations.
When Jesus was confronted by the devil and presented with
scripture passages that seemed to encourage him into temptation, he quoted
other scripture passages to support a position of following God’s will. When you find yourself in a difficult
situation, try to think of ways in which God can support you through the
difficulty.
At my house, my mom makes a “crown of thorns” every Lent out
of braided bread and toothpicks, and when we make a sacrifice, give something
up, or offer something up for someone else’s suffering, we take out a toothpick. The aim is to remove all the thorns by
Easter.
This Lent, look for opportunities to “de-thorn” Jesus’ crown
of thorns.
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