Reflection on The Temptation Of Christ

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In his letter to the Ephesians Saint Paul writes “Put on the armor of God, so that you ay be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.” These armaments Paul speaks of include; truth, righteousness, readiness for the Gospel, and salvation. Finally, he directs us to “take the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.” Isn’t this exactly what Jesus does when he is tempted by the devil. Three times he is tempted and three times he uses the sword of the Spirit, His knowledge of scripture, to overcome the evil that approached him.

Did we notice how clever the devil was in this exchange? Twice he was blown out of the water when Jesus successfully defends himself by quoting scripture. Note what he does next. He fights fire with fire. After two unsuccessful attempts the devil himself uses God’s word against Jesus, quoting Psalm 91, and therein lays the rub. The devil can turn even scripture against us. I’m sure we can all recall some episode in the news or in life where God’s word has been used foolishly or for evil purpose. One example I recall from the news a few years ago concerned a non-denominational preacher from Florida (I think). He took a scripture about handling poisonous snakes out of context was bitten and later died, not because he didn’t have enough faith but because he took scripture out of context.

We see all manner of evil being wrought upon the world by misuse of God’s word. Our world has seen discrimination, hatred, intolerance and violence which have all been justified by both corrupt and well meaning people who use the Word of God not for building up the Kingdom but for their own agendas. The devil is not usually so overt in his temptations. More often than not we will see something good, like the Word of God, and are deceived into misusing it. There are a lot of good things in the world that we can be tempted with. Food for example nourishes our bodies but when misused and abused can lead to many health problems. Sexuality is a good thing. It brings married couples closer together and perpetuates not only the human race but the community of Christians as well. It can be misused and can even become a compulsion or an addiction causing great heartache within families and individuals. Studies indicate that a glass of wine at dinner might have beneficial health effects in moderation but we can see clearly how alcohol is abused and causes great suffering in our society. The list is endless.

Let us not be deceived. If we are to rid our world of suffering and evil we must bring it Christ. This Christ who took on human form 2000 years ago continues to take human form today in us, the Church. We are the body of Christ, the incarnation present to the world today. This presence is more visible to the world the more we allow Jesus to posses us. We do this by daily prayer, our unity with the community of believers, reception of the Sacraments and by our knowledge of scripture. This is also the way we can fend off the temptations of the devil in our lives.

Jesus had a tremendous knowledge of scripture. This knowledge was not supernatural, as a good Jew he was immersed in the Torah. It was as much a part of his life as breathing. Without this knowledge of scripture Jesus would not have had the ability to fend off these temptations. So it is with us. We need a real knowledge of scripture to win our own spiritual battles. Without this knowledge we go into the fight not with the sword of the Spirit, but with a butter knife.

Homily on Mark 6:34-44

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Let’s set the stage for what’s happened in today’s gospel. Jesus had sent out the apostles into the country side to preach repentance, to heal the sick and to drive out demons.

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Herod had John the Baptist’s head given to Herodias on a platter.

The apostles came back all excited about what they were able to do and found Jesus surrounded by all kinds of people coming and going.

Jesus and the apostles had all been so exhausted and busy from the work that they were doing that they didn’t even have time to eat. They were tired from ministry, grief stricken at John's death, they were hungry and weary so Jesus gave everyone permission to rest. “Let’s go someplace quiet where we can re-group, pray, fill our tanks.” “let’s go for a sail.”

The thing about sailing is you’re not in a hurry. Sailing is a leisurely form of transportation. It all depends on the wind and the current. It’s calming. It’s relaxing. Not a bad way to start a day off, maybe catch a couple fish for dinner.

Now, the people saw Jesus leave and figured out where he was going, so with great haste went there ahead of him. These were the town’s people; the villagers; the farmers; shopkeepers; the common folk. People like us.

I like to imagine what that might have looked like to the people still in the fields tending their flocks or tilling the soil, masses of people hurrying someplace. They must have stopped what they were doing to ask what was going on. Hearing Jesus was coming they went with  others to meet him. Curiosity might have just driven some of them to just follow the crowd, kind of like people who run to see a fire or an accident. They want to know what’s going on. They want to be part of the action. And so the towns, villages and fields along the way emptied out until everyone was on the shore waiting for the arrival of Jesus Christ Superstar.

It seems to me that these people were hungry long before the sun began to set, way before the apostles brought it Jesus’ attention. And it wasn’t bread and fish they were hungry for.

• They were starving for Jesus.

• They were craving the word of God – the Word Made Flesh dwelling among us

• They were thirsty for good news

• They longed to be filled with grace

• They needed to be loved and cherished

• They had no direction or leadership – nothing to live for or look   forward to but a life of oppression.

But, these people had had a taste of Christ and it made them hungry for more. So when they knew where to find Jesus they hurried to get there.

Now Jesus and the poor apostles just wanted a little time to themselves. But what did they find? A field filled with everyone for miles around. The Lord’s heart was filled, we are told, with compassion. It was something he felt in his gut. It was heart wrenching. Compassion is a typical Old Testament quality attributed to God. Compassion is God’s merciful love. It’s different than sympathy; it’s not just feeling bad for someone. Compassion moves us to action. What action did Jesus take? “He taught them, he taught them many things.”

Wouldn’t you love to know what they learned that day, what it was that could hold the attention of that many people for so long; things about the Father, about grace and holiness, our place in the universe, forgiveness of sin, scripture. They found God’s word, coming from the mouth God’s Word.

"When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart." Jer. 15:16

They had found God’s word, they were soaking it in and it filled their hearts with joy and happiness.

 

On the other hand, I don’t think the apostles had the same reaction to the crowd as Jesus, I’m not sure they were filled with compassion. On the contrary, I think they were kind of ticked off that their alone time with Jesus had been taken from then. They may not have been paying attention to what Jesus was teaching because they were so distracted by their own pettiness. So they figured out a nice “compassionate” way to get rid of the crowd. “Send them away, so they can buy something to eat in the villages and farms.” They must have forgotten that it was the villagers and farmers who were sitting in front of them.

Now it’s time for the disciples to learn a lesson.

“You give them something to eat.” “Serve them.” “I’ve been feeding them with my word, now you give them something.”

“Are we supposed to spend 200 days wages on THEM?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“All we have is five loaves and two fishes.”

“Give them that, give them everything you have (that’s what I do) then trust me.”

That’s the lesson for us isn’t it? We Christians must be ready to give everything in service to the gospel, our time, our talent, our treasure; and not just 10% either, but everything, if necessary. Being in service to the gospel of Christ might mean we’ll have to change our plans. It could be costly. We might have to give up more than we want to – maybe everything. It may cost us our lives.

But this miracle, this foreshadowing of the Eucharist, promises us that even when we give every last bit, every ounce, even when we empty ourselves completely at the service of Christ and others, what is left over is even more than what we started with.

We are an apostolic people, an apostolic church. We are a people sent out as the twelve were so many centuries ago to preach the good news, heal, to teach, to be the expression of God’s immense love proven to us by the life, death and resurrection of His only Son, and we are sent to invite the hungry throngs to feast at the table of God’s word and of the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.

May we accept that call to be apostles tonight. Christ has given us the authority and power to accept this undertaking. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit for the courage we need so that through our efforts people will find the Word made Flesh dwelling among us and that He will become the joy and happiness of their hearts.

Excuses - Excuses

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Somewhere along the line we got the idea that if we didn’t like church we didn’t have to go. There are a lot of excuses. One of the most frequent reasons I here is, “I don’t get anything out of it.”

Other reasons include:

• I don’t like the priest/minister
• Preaching is lousy (I don’t like message)
• I don’t like the music (the style, it’s not performed well, too slow, too fast, to old, to contemporary)
• I don’t like what they teach
• The people are hypocrites
• It's not warm and fuzzy (It's too warm and fuzzy)
• All they do is ask for money

The list could go on. But we miss the point.

We shouldn’t be going to church on Sunday in order to get something out of it. The reason we go to Church is to put something into it.

“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day.”

Did we forget that  it’s not about me - it’s about HIM. We go to Mass (church) to worship not be entertained. We go because we love the Lord not because we like or don’t like a particular priest. We go to hear God’s word and be with the community He formed, even with its imperfections.

We honor the Sabbath because we were commanded to. God said it - not me. And it isn’t as though God needs our worship. He doesn’t, but as I’ve said before, when God asks something of us, when we’re commanded to do something, it’s for our good. God doesn’t need our worship, He doesn’t need anything from us, but we have a need to worship Him. Our worship of God puts us in a right relationship with Him. Through our worship we communicate our love of God and God communicates his love for us.

The Church teaches us that Christ is present at Mass in four ways. He is present sacramentally in the Eucharist. Christ is also present in the His Word proclaimed in the midst of the people. He is present in the sacramental priesthood and in the people who have assembled to worship.

How can we, how can anyone, walk away from the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the Word? How can we be accepting of a relationship with God and reject a relationship with His people, His body the Church?

Perhaps we don’t get anything out of Church because we don’t put anything in, garbage in, garbage out as they say.

Perhaps we so easily judge the community as hypocritical because we see the speck in our brother’s eye and not the plank in our own.

Perhaps it isn’t warm and fuzzy because we are icy cold.

When we attend Mass with our mind set on worship it won’t matter who the priest is. It won’t matter if the preaching is bad because the “Word” is good. We’ll sing the music because it gives praise to God even if the choir is out of tune.

Our purpose in going to Mass needs to be first and foremost the praise and worship God. But that doesn’t mean that God won’t give us something in return. When our heart is in the right place; when we give God primacy, we are indeed filled with every grace and blessing, with every spiritual gift under the heavens. The music will have a richness we never expected, the priest might not be the lunk-head we thought he was, the teachings of the Church will become clear and meaningful and our love for the community of hypocrites will increase. We just might see everything in a new light.

It is God’s nature to love us and to desire what is good for us. Won’t that day be wonderful when, gathered at Mass with the Body of Christ; having listened to God’s Word; having received Christ in the Eucharist; having raised our voices in praise and thanksgiving, we cry out together as St. Peter did on Mount Tabor, “It is good for us to be here,” in church.

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