TEMPTATION: KNOW YOUR LIMIT

HOMILY FOR 1ST SUNDAY OF LENT  YEAR A

THEME: TEMPTATION: KNOW YOUR LIMIT

R1 Gen 2:7-9; 3: 1-7

R2: Rom 5: 12 - 19

Gospel: Mt 4: 1 - 1

Dear friends, welcome to the first Sunday of Lent. The Lenten season is a period of spiritual renewal and reconciliation. It is a time we are expected to pray and struggle against evil. Within this time we ask God for courage so that we may change our ways and believe in the Gospel.

The readings of today invite us to be conscious of temptation and sin as well. In the first reading, we read about the story of our first parents; Adam and Eve. God created them and put them in the garden of Eden. They were to eat from every tree in the garden except from the tree in the middle of the garden; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Being deceived by the serpent they ate of the tree they were forbidden to eat.

The picture of Adam and Eve in the garden represents our picture,men and women alike in the world. We have been created by God to live free in the world. Not minding the freedom we are to enjoy, there is a limit we must not cross, this represents the tree we must not eat from. Hence, we must be very conscious of the temptation to break away from the limit we must not cross. We must be conscious of those who want to seduce us into crossing this limit, these represent the seductive serpent. When we break into this domain of God, the result will be curses. 

The forty days of fasting of Jesus reminds us  that we are on a journey in this world. This journey is like a journey in the desert as in the experience of Israelites to the promised land, so also shall we enter the promised land of heaven if we live well. Therefore, we must be careful of the following temptations which may confront us and are capable of driving us away:

1. Desire for pleasure: Like the Israelites in the desert and like Jesus,  we shall be hungry. We may be confronted by many worldly pleasures that may want to push us beyond our limits. Let us not forget that whatever  we do or desire must be in accordance with the commandments of God always. Pleasure alone does not give happiness.

2. Position: Because we are Christians,  we enjoy a special relationship with God which places us on a high level of being the sons and daughters of God. However, sometimes we are tempted to say God has forgotten us, especially when we meet some confronting situations. The Israelites were faced with this situation when they experienced hunger and drought, thus, they murmured against God and abandoned God. Life challenges should not make us deny God.

We must avoid asking God to show us a sign as a proof of His love or for us to do His will. Let us be careful and not allow what we are to lead us away from God. God who created us will always save us at his time. Let us avoid asking for a sign as a proof of our love.

3. Desire for power: In the desert, the Israelites got tired of God and bowed to the golden calf. Do we at some point feel God is dead especially when we ask and don’t receive from Him? Do we at some point feel God lacks the power to save us? Jesus did not yield to the clutches of the devil even when he promised to give him the earth. Let what we want not make us bow to an inferior power.

Temptation comes through seduction. It is a seduction to go against God’s plan and will. Like I’m the case of Adam and Eve and Jesus as well, the devil tries to make a grave to look less grievous and pushes one to make a choice of what is outside our domain. Let us always be conscious of our limits and against God’s will for us.

Homily by 

Rev. Fr. Chukwuemeka Vincent Livinus, SMMM.