1st Sunday of Lent
Cycle C
February 16-17, 2013 10:30
and 12 noon
Saint Margaret
Parish, Bel Air
The Desert and
Demons
Today’s
gospel tells us that Jesus goes into the desert east of Jerusalem to face his
demons.
His
doing that symbolizes the need we all have to go into a desert-like place, into
the silence of our own hearts. It
symbolizes the need we all have to wrestle with the dark sides of our lives.
If Jesus
finds it essential to wrestle with these dark sides, shouldn’t we also find
this essential? And beyond that, isn’t
it possible that the demons or dark sides Jesus has to face are some of the basic
ones we have to face?
1. Stone to Bread
The
first demon Jesus faces is the temptation to change stone to bread.
Jesus
responds, “One does not live on bread
alone.” Those who first heard Jesus
and observed his lifestyle realized that he was in touch with a life that went beyond
the physical and the earthly.
Jesus is
saying that we are to live on bread, but “not…
on bread alone.” The early Christians
believed this and fed hungry spirits with the food of God’s Word and also fed
hungry stomachs with real bread.
Their
commitment to do this came from following Jesus’ invitation to make a
180-degree change in their value system.
They were to look upon all others with a different mindset – as God’s
sons and daughters.
With
this different frame of mind, we are moved to take care of the immediate needs
of others. And we are also moved to
examine the social structures that probably helped to create these needs in the
first place.
No
question, Jesus’ plan to change mindsets will be more difficult and it will
take longer, but in the long run it will produce lasting good. So, the demon here is the temptation to
reject doing this.
2. Power over All
The
second demon Jesus faces is the temptation to gain power over everything.
In
Jesus’ time, people expected the Savior to come with great power. Jesus’ response again shows a different plan:
“You shall worship God alone.”
It is
tempting to worship power, to resort to power and force to do even good things. The problem is that this usually leaves some death
and destruction in its path – what is sometimes called “collateral damage.”
We can
see this in the relationships between nations and also in our personal
relationships. Jesus cautions about
power and force and calls us to be respectful of others and seek what is good
for both sides.
Sometimes
it may not be possible to do this, but Jesus calls us to this way whenever we
can. He calls us to stop playing the
power games of win/lose with each other where I come out on top and the other
person is diminished.
Instead
we are to seek the mutual flourishing of ourselves and others whenever possible. The demon here is the temptation to reject
what Jesus calls us to do.
3. Proving Our
Greatness
The
third demon Jesus faces is the temptation to jump off the roof of the temple to
prove his greatness as God.
Jesus
responds, “You shall not put the Lord
your God to the test.” The issue
here is that sometimes we want to make ourselves the center of focus.
Sometimes
we want to impress others with how much we know or how successful we are. Sometimes we do not really listen to others
but interrupt and get things focused on ourselves again.
We need
to recall that the risen Jesus did not feel the need to appear at the front
door Pilate’s home with a TV crew and say, “Look
at who I really am and how stupid you were.” Instead, he just appeared to his followers as
a way to continue his work.
So for
us, we can become more and more God-like and even feel better and better about
ourselves not by calling attention to ourselves, but by living responsibly and doing
the best we can in everyday life. The
demon is the temptation to reject Jesus’ example here.
Conclusion
So, the
demons Jesus confronts in the desert are probably the same ones we need to
confront in the silence of our hearts.
This
Season of Lent invites us to go into the desert of our inner selves. It invites us to deal with the demons we find
there.
