Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Into and through Lent 2014

“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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