Monday, September 18, 2017

Not By Bread Alone


Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written,
“One does not live by bread alone,
   but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you”,
   and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”

Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
   and serve only him.”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Matthew 4:1-11


I had the privilege of serving as celebrant yesterday in St. Peter's Cathedral here in Helena. Father Paul Bresnahan, who is acting dean, preached and what a moving sermon it was. It was of course all about forgiveness and I spent most of the day thinking about forgiveness in light of recent evidence of rising racial hatred, swastikas and 666 defacing St. James' in Bozeman, and many other moments in our present reality. It is easy to be angry. It is easy to be hungry as well. We can move to hate, and feed our faces, but we rarely move to prayerfulness and forgiveness.

Jesus is tempted by the devil after more than a month of prayer and fasting. We would all be delirious and probably vulnerable. I know I would. Yet Jesus faces the temptation of stuffing himself, getting his rightful authority and honors by reciting the language of prayer and love he has known since the beginning. He prayed the psalms and held them close at his worst moments. Today we are invited by God to hold close when we are tempted to anger and hate, hold close to those words and actions that draw us into the heart of God.

Today I ask God to help me be faithful in the face of temptation. May we all draw close to the heart of God by refusing to give into the real temptations of anger and hate with forgiveness and love.

1 comment:

"Fr. Paul" Bresnahan said...

Thank you again for your help and your kind words.
Paul Bresnahan