Deuteronomy  26:4-10

Psalm  90

Romans  10:8-13

Luke  4:1-13

 

Reflections

“In the desert a man understands his own worth and the worth of his gods” (A. de Saint-Exupéry)”, that is, his ideals and his interior resources. “In the desert of the world”, nourished with the Word and fortified by the Spirit, we have set out once more to celebrate the period of Lent, the “sacramental sign of our conversion” in order to overcome “the constant seductions of the evil one” (opening prayer) through the invincible weapons of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Lent lays out before us once again the fundamental themes of salvation, and therefore of mission: the primacy of God and His loving plan for humankind, the redemption that is offered to us freely through the sacrifice of Christ, the constant struggle against sin, the relationship of brotherhood and respect with our fellows and with all creation... These are topics that belong to the desert-period of Lent.

 

The Temptations (Gospel) were not ‘let’s pretend’ for Jesus; they were real tests, as they are for each believer and the Church. “If Christ had not experienced the temptations as real temptations, if temptation had no meaning for him, the man and the Messiah, his reactions could not be an example for us, as it would have nothing to do with ours” (C. Duquoc). It is precisely because he was tested that he is an example for us, and is able to come to the aid of anyone in time of trial (see Heb 2:18; 4:15).

 

Jesus really clashed with Satan over the options for possible methods and procedures in carrying out His mission as Messiah. The three temptations are a meaningful synthesis of a long period of struggle against evil, sustained by Jesus during the 40 days in the desert (v. 2) and throughout his whole life, including the Cross, when the devil returned “at the appointed time” (v. 13). The temptations represent different ‘models’ of the Messiah - so also of us and of mission too! For Jesus the temptations were “three shortcuts to avoid going through the Cross” (Fulton Sheen). They overturned relationships with material things, with other persons and with God himself. They were temptations to become (a) a social reformer: turning stones into bread for himself and for others would have guaranteed public success and acclaim; (b) a messiah of power: a power based on dominion over people and over the world would have satisfied both personal and collective pride; (c) a messiah of miracles: such a spectacular gesture would have made him famous.

 

Jesus overcomes the temptations and opts to respect the primacy of God; he trusts in his Father and His plan for the salvation of the world. He refuses to make a selfish use of material things for his own profit (now he does not change stones into bread for himself but later he will multiply bread and fish for the hungry crowd); he refuses to dominate other people, opting to continue to serve them; he adheres to his son-Father relationship with God, trusting in His faithfulness. He accepts the Cross out of love, and pardons as he dies: this is the only way to break the spiral of violence and to take from death its ‘sting’: death is overcome by Life.

 

Jesus faces and overcomes the temptations in the power of the Holy Spirit that fills him (v. 1). It is the Spirit of his Baptism (Lk 3:22), of Easter and Pentecost. It is also the Spirit of Mission. At various times it was thought that power, money, dominance, a feeling of superiority, hyper-activism... were paths to follow in the Apostolate. The missionary is often tempted by such illusions, and so needs the Spirit of Jesus, the first agent of mission (RMi 21). The Spirit makes us understand that the desert of Lent is a time of grace (kairós): the time of essential things, the time to fill with things of real value; the gift of living in silence, far from the pollution of noise, haste, money and futility; a time for missionary sharing!  (*)

 

Lent is a time of salvation, centred on faith in Christ who died and rose again (2nd Reading): He is the Lord of all peoples, who offers Salvation abundantly to all those who call upon His name, without any distinction of affiliation (v. 12-13). This primacy of God is seen in the offering of the first-fruits of the earth (1st. Reading). It is a gesture of submission and propitiation. But it is also a form of sharing with those in need: the offering of first fruits is also destined for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, “so that, in your towns, they may eat to their heart’s content” (v. 10-12). There is a precious sign here of spiritual and missionary progression: those who approach God and live in tune with Him discover “others”, both far and near. And learn solidarity and generosity!

 

 

The Pope’s words

(*)  "Man is not a self-sufficient being, but in need of Another in order to realize himself fully. Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this: to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one’s own need – the need of others and God, the need of His forgiveness and His friendship… Strengthened by this very experience, the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love".

Benedict XVI

Message for Lent 2010

 

In the footsteps of Missionaries

- 22/2: Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, and of the Pope, as he is the vicar of Christ and of Peter, called to preside in charity over the service of unity in the Church and its mission in the whole world.

- 22/2: Bl. Diego Carvalho (1578-1624), a Portuguese Jesuit priest and missionary martyred in Sendai (Japan) together with many other companions.

- 23/2: St. Polycarp (+ 155), disciple of the apostle John, bishop of Smyrna, the last of the Apostolic Fathers.

- 23/2: Bl. Giuseppina Vannini (1859-1911), an Italian religious who, together with the Camillian priest Bl. Luigi Tezza, founded the Institute of the Daughters of St. Camillus for the assistance of the sick.

- 24/2: Bl. Ascensión Nicol Goñi (1868-1940), a Spanish religious, co-foundress of the Dominican Missionaries of the Holy Rosary, dedicated to mission and education.

- 25/2: St. Walburga (710ca.-779), English in origin, and sister of two other saints: Willibald and Winebald. She was part of a group of monks and nuns who helped St. Boniface in the evangelisation of Germany. She was Abbess of two monasteries at Heidenheim.

- 25/2: Bl. Sebastian Aparicio (+1600), who went from Spain to Mexico, from husband to widower, from wealthy to poor Franciscan lay brother. He died in Puebla (Mexico) almost 100 years old.

- 25/2: Ss. Luigi Versiglia, Bishop, and Fr. Callisto Caravario, Salesian missionaries martyred in Guandong, China, in 1930.

- 26/02/1885: an important date in the history of Colonialism in Africa and of the Missions: the end of the Berlin Conference (1884-1885), at which European powers divided the African continent among themselves.

-27/2: Bl. Charity (M. G. Carolina) Brader (1860-1943), a Swiss nun who was a missionary in Ecuador and Colombia. She was a foundress, and was able to combine the missionary and the contemplative life.