Gen. 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Ps. 51:3-6, 12-14, 17; Rom. 5:12-19; Mt.4:1-11
Get away, Satan! The world denies the existence of Satan and he rejoices because he is free to do his works of temptation, celebrate our sins and bring down the fall of humanity. The problem for Satan is that the victory has been won for humanity through Christ on the cross for those who claim the cross of salvation. Thus, Christ died for all but not all have received him. Satan still prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Satan is the fallen angel from heaven whose domain is the world for now. That is why Jesus who came into the world had to face Satan and call out to him “Get away, Satan!”
Satan has lost but he can still bring misery when we open ourselves up to his snares and web of evil. In our struggles with temptation, with living the commandments of God do we recognize the evil one at work and call out to him, “Get away, Satan” or do we fall into the illusion that Satan is a myth, an invention to scare people, or even if he does exist, he is not in the world. Satan is in the world, and we see that in the bible when Jesus calls demons out of people, even his most chosen disciple Peter. Jesus turns away from Peter and says to him, “Get behind me, Satan! (Mt. 16:23, Mk 8:33) after Peter tried to rebuke Jesus for his teaching on the Passion to come.
Satan is the king of lies. He lied to the woman “you certainly will not die!” and death entered the world. He lied to Jesus “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me” and Jesus replied, “Get away, Satan!” Satan lies to us daily with the temptation to sacrifice ourselves to the world and the world will reward us with power, fame, and riches, only to discover for the world we will be a fading memory soon to be forgotten. Satan makes the same false promise “all these I shall give you” in this earthly kingdom whose destiny is death. Life in the glory of God comes when we turn to Jesus and offer ourselves and all we do, and all our love to worship God alone. The more we dedicate ourselves to God the more our minds, hearts, and soul say, “Get away, Satan!”
The more we open ourselves to the temptation of the world the more fire from hell we encounter. What is this fire? It is the fire from the temptation to “be like gods” who define for themselves what is good and what is evil. “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom” and ignored the command of God. The temptation of evil is that if it feels good do it and keep doing it only to discover the pleasure turns into the fire of pain as it dominates the flesh. The temptation pleasing to the eyes says if you like it take it, take the goods, the property, the person and objectify it turning a blessing into the fire of a curse. “Be like gods” gaining your own wisdom and creating your own reality until the day comes when the true reality is revealed by the fire of death.
Are we ready to risk eternity for the short lifespan of being like gods? Death is the product of sin so let us begin to enter into eternity by overcoming our sin. The source of falling into sin is Satan so overcoming our sin cannot be our doing alone but “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” says Philippians 4:13. The “one righteous act” of Jesus on the cross gives us “acquittal and life”. Have we made that commitment to holiness? This is the purpose of this Lenten journey to “be made righteous” by coming to the cross in obedience to the commandments and love of Jesus. It comes through prayer, penance and almsgiving. Pray for the strength to overcome our weakness, do penance for our sins, and receive mercy by the mercy of charity to others. This is the formula the church gives us “and the Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
We are to pray, “Be merciful, O Lord for we have sinned” but mercy requires commitment to avoid sin and seek holiness. Mercy is a call to change, to be transformed from sinful to holy, and to be transfigured by the light of Christ. If mercy we seek what is going to change in our lives this Lenten season and beyond. Jesus forty days in the desert, fasting and being tempted was in preparation for his commitment to his eternal call, to still suffer this day for your sins and mine. We are given an eternal call from God to serve him with all our heart, mind and soul and Lent is the test and training ground to discover are we ready to respond to the call.
The response to the call comes from our freedom to love, to obey, and to follow. We are no longer slaves unless we choose to enter into the slavery of sin. Freedom is not the choice to do as we please but to decide our way or God’s way. In freedom we recognize the limits God has commanded from us and by our choice we accept to live according to those limits. This choice by act of the free will reveals then to us the blessings, beauty, and joy of God’s way. Lent is this opportunity to walk the walk with Jesus, to pick up the cross and invite him to transform us. We can live the discipline of Lent or we can comply with the discipline of Lent. One is transformative and the other simply following a tradition for another season while nothing changes from within.
The goal of Lent is transformation. What are we willing to leave behind to come closer to God and be perfect by holy? Some may say why give up candy, food, alcohol, viewing television if at the end we plan to return to the same pleasures. To deny ourselves a pleasure has merit in gaining the discipline of the flesh. If we can begin to deny ourselves small things, we can build greater spiritual muscle to face greater challenges. So, when the day comes and the doctor says you have diabetes and need to change your food habits you know that yes you can do it. When you come to realize certain habits are not good for your mental, physical and spiritual good you can have the discipline to change for the better.
We were created body and soul and receive the breath of life from God and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is good to begin with the discipline of the flesh to grow in our spiritual life. The discipline of the flesh opens up our soul to receive graces from God and ascend to the discipline of the spirit. The discipline of the spirit is rooted in prayer. Without the discipline of a prayer life God simply waits and watches our feeble efforts at life while the fruit of the spirit cannot mature to give greater bread from heaven. The bread of heaven is Jesus, and we are called to bring Jesus to others. We are called to bring “the gracious gift of the one man, Jesus Christ (to) overflow for the many”. It is not about where we’ve been but where God is leading us. Get away, Satan, we belong to God and the gates of hell belong to you.
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