The terrible attraction to act contrary to right reason and God’s commandments besets us all. Temptation is when we know something is wrong, but there is a part of us that wants to do it anyway. I know it’s wrong to talk back to my parents, but there’s a part of me that is tempted to talk back.
Sometimes we even begin to talk ourselves into following that temptation. It’s alright to treat people inconsiderately, after all, they’ve treated me without kindness, I might as well do it back to them. It’s alright if I indulge in this sin, after all, I can just ask for forgiveness from God later on.
The Lord Jesus however, teaches us to pray to God asking to be delivered from evil in times of temptation. St. James echoes this teaching in the first reading today: “Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation.”
You grow in holiness, you grow in likeness to Jesus, you allow the life of Jesus to flow in your heart and mind when you resist temptations to do wrong. We become the people God made us to be when we resist evil and persevere in goodness.
James goes on to explain that when you give into temptation, when we sin, something in us dies, something good dies. And if you choose sin enough, if you just give in to every temptation, something inside of you might die forever. And that is a great travesty—for God didn’t create us for sin, he created us for grace, for life, for holiness and joy.
Now again, every one of us has been tempted, and every one of us, at some point, has given in to temptation. But part of the goodness of being followers of Jesus is just because we’ve chosen sin in the past, doesn’t mean we have to continue to make bad choices. God forgives us when we humbly repent.
Tomorrow begins the great season of repentance. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we show our gratitude to God for the forgiveness offered us through Jesus Christ. And those Lenten penances have a double effect of strengthening us against future temptations. For when we persevere in obedience to God when we are tempted, that produces endurance--endurance for doing the good and resisting evil.
May our Lenten observances of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving be fitting penances for those times we have succumbed to temptation and help habituate us to imitate our Lord’s own faithfulness in the face of temptation, that we may come to experience that blessedness God desires for each one of us, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.
That the Holy Spirit may embolden us in the mission of the Church and help us to put our physical, intellectual, and spiritual gifts more fully in the Lord’s service.
That legislators and government leaders may be guided by the Word of God to promote just laws and compassionate policies especially for the unborn, the elderly, and the most vulnerable.
That the upcoming season of Lent may be a time of profound renewal for our parish and the Church as we engage in the penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
For those preparing for the Easter Sacraments: may God’s Word help them to experience the grace of daily conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ.
For those who struggle because of addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind: that God’s Spirit will rest upon them, relieve their suffering and lead them to wholeness and holiness.
For the deceased members of our family and friends, for all the souls in purgatory and for…
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.
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