“Let
no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted
by evil nor does He tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is
drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth
death.” 1
Peter 1:13-15
As
we approach the season of Lent, we should be mindful of certain realities; not
least of which are those temptations we face daily. Too often we fall into
a trap by which we reason that when something happens – anything – it would not
have happened unless the Lord willed it to happen. This is not to say our
Lord does not work in and around our lives daily, but sin presents itself at
least as often and must never be confused with what is good and right and
uplifting and is not always self-serving.
St.
Peter is clear; our Lord is not tempted by evil nor does He tempt us with
evil. We can often be tested, and I will grant there is a fine line, but
temptation seeks to interrupt our communion with the Lord; testing prepares us
for the next Godly moments for the challenges we will surely face will be
great. Like school work, tests prepare us for the next level.
So
it is with the season of Lent. It is an invitation to enter into a 40-day
test like Jesus’ time in the wilderness before He embarked on His
ministry. It is necessary that we shake off the old and begin anew each
day. Let us not take this time lightly, and let us not brush it aside as
unnecessary or as a “Catholic thing”. Lent is very much a Christ thing
which our Lord Himself endured. And in this experience as we seek to draw
closer to our Lord, let us also discover even more about ourselves; our
weaknesses as well as our strengths – and in this, learn more about what the
Lord would ask of us.
Blessings,
Michael
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