20180213
RESISTING TEMPTATIONS
13 FEBRUARY, 2018, Tuesday, 6th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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James 1:12-18 ©
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Temptation is not from God
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Happy the man who stands firm when trials come. He has proved
himself, and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised
to those who love him.
Never, when
you have been tempted, say, ‘God sent the temptation’; God cannot be tempted to
do anything wrong, and he does not tempt anybody. Everyone who is tempted is
attracted and seduced by his own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and
gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it too has a child, and the
child is death.
Make no
mistake about this, my dear brothers: it is all that is good, everything that
is perfect, which is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all
light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. By
his own choice he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we
should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he had created.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 93(94):12-15,18-19 ©
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Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord,
whom you train by means of your law;
to him you give peace in evil days
while the pit is being dug for the wicked.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
The Lord will not abandon his people
nor forsake those who are his own;
for judgement shall again be just
and all true hearts shall uphold it.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
When I think: ‘I have lost my foothold’;
your mercy, Lord, holds me up.
When cares increase in my heart
your consolation calms my soul.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ac16:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn14:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 8:14-21 ©
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Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the
yeast of Herod
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The disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one
loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes
open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of
Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And
Jesus knew it, and he said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread?
Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have
you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I
broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps
did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And when I broke the seven loaves
for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they
answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’
RESISTING TEMPTATIONS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ JAMES 1:12-18; MK 8:14-21 ]
We are all
tempted in different ways. No one is beyond temptation. Not even Jesus, because He
Himself was tempted throughout His ministry. In fact, at the very
beginning of His ministry, we read how the Devil tempted Him in the desert
after 40 days of fasting. (cf Mt 4:1-11)
Temptations can come in many ways. Not all temptations come from the Evil
One. Some come from the flesh and others from the world.
Because of our wounded nature, we are tempted to satisfy our bodily and sensual
cravings. The world with all its attraction and glory, power and beauty
also can tempt us. That was how the Devil tempted our Lord by asking Him
to change stone into bread when He was hungry; and to worship him to receive
the glory and kingdom of the world.
How, then, do
we overcome temptations? When we are tempted, the tendency is to push the
blame on others instead of taking ownership for our sins. We blame our
friends for making us fall into the sin of lust. We blame our parents and
our teachers for making us cheat in our exams. Or else, we blame the
Devil and even God. This is what St James wants us to realize. He
said, “Never, when you have been tempted, say, ‘God sent the temptation’; God
cannot be tempted to do anything wrong, and he does not tempt
anybody.” We should not blame anyone because we have the choice.
So, we must assume responsibility when we fall into temptation.
But as St
James said, “Happy the man who stands firm when trials come. He has proved
himself, and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised
to those who love him.” Indeed, great joy waits those who can resist the
temptations of the Evil One, the Flesh and the World. Temptation is for
us to grow stronger, not to weaken us. It is through temptations and
trials that our fidelity and love for God and for our loved ones is
tried. As we overcome one temptation after another, we become stronger to
resist greater temptations. As the Lord had said, “He who is faithful in
a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very
little is dishonest also in much.” (Lk 16:11)
So how can we
strengthen ourselves against the temptations that come our way? The first step
begins with the acknowledgement that we are weak. Acknowledgement
of the temptation and our weakness is the first step. If that is so, then
we must study the cause and the origin of our temptations so that we can better
preempt and protect ourselves from being exposed to unnecessary temptations.
We must be alert, as St Peter warns us, “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pt 5:8)
St James explains the origin and cause of every temptation.
“Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by his own wrong desire. Then
the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it
too has a child, and the child is death.”
Sin begins with
the wrong desire. The beginning of sin is always craving. Not all
cravings are wrong. But craving is a form of attachment. When we are attached,
and we do not get what we want, there is the pain and misery. What is
worse is when our attachment to those things or person we desire are not truly
good for us. Many of us are ignorant about what is good and true.
We are deceived by our eyes because of our ignorance. We are blinded by
the conditioning of the world, presenting to us the things of this world as if
they are everything; pleasure, power, glory, sex and all the passing
things. Such worldly possessions cannot make us happy. If fact,
they make us more frustrated because the moment you have them, that moment you
lose your satisfaction. What is worse is that some of these
wrongful attachments and desires bring us misery and pain.
From desire,
we are led to action, which is the birth of the thought that entices our minds,
our hearts and our body. And if it is a wrong action, it is sin. So the beginning of
every action, good and evil comes from the mind. It begins with either
with a good and noble thought or an evil and selfish one. If it
were a good thought, then we should nurture that thought so that it can give
birth to good actions. But if it were a bad thought, then even before the
thought develops, we must cease from thinking about it. If we allow the
thought to continue, then it will materialize into sin. This was how Eve
was tempted by the Evil One. It began with a thought that was sowed into
the mind of Eve by the Devil. Then, it was presented as something
beautiful and good. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be
desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some
to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.” (Gn 3:6)
So the key to
overcoming temptation must begin at the beginning. To catch ourselves even
before the craving begins. Jesus warned us, “Keep your eyes open;
be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of
Herod.” Why yeast? Because a little yeast will help the flour to
grow and expand. So too the beginning of sin is like a little yeast put
into our hearts and it will grow to consume our minds and hearts. For this
reason, the wisdom of our fathers is true when they say, “an idle mind is the
devil’s workshop.” When we are too free or when there is nothing exciting
to engage us, mind and body, our minds begin to wonder and look for excitement
and thrills. This is when the devil will come to suggest to us what would
be good for us. If we are conscious of such thoughts and stifle
them before they are embellished, then the temptation would not
arise. So the guide to overcoming temptation is always to occupy
ourselves with meaningful and fulfilling activities. Of course, a person
of solitude and prayer will definitely be more attentive to the stirring of the
spirits in his or her heart.
Secondly, in
our deliberation of what we intend to do, we must bring to mind the mistakes of
our past. Jesus reprimanded the apostles, “Do you not remember? When I broke the five
loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you
collect? They answered, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And when I broke the seven
loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you
collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’” The problem with us is that
we do not remember our mistakes. Instead of learning from them, we keep
on repeating the same mistakes, forgetting the price of our sins. Indeed
the greatest tragedy is not making mistakes but to repeat them again.
Hence, we
must, as Jesus said, “Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time
of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41)
This is why prayer is the answer to overcoming temptation. But the
prayer that is needed is not just asking for God’s help but the prayer of
examen. This form of prayer requires us to examine our conscience,
considering all that we had done, and failed to do; the presence of God in our
daily life and the lack of consciousness of His presence. Spiritual
masters recommend that we do at least one examen daily, either in the morning
or evening; or better still, do it three times a day.
Thirdly, we
must grow in perception. Often the thought comes so quickly that we are left
unguarded. Before we can even stop it, it has become full blown and
waiting to be conceived in action. If that is the case, it is important
that we remember the futility of our past cravings. We must recall how
these cravings, even when satisfied, left us unfulfilled or even worse, to
suffer the pain of guilt and self-hatred. Indeed, every time we sin, we
look at our mistakes and regret our folly. Growing in perception of the
folly of our past will give us the impetus to avoid repeating the same sin
because we know that the pleasure of sin is short-lived and the incomparable
peace and joy from God is lost.
If we lack
perception and understanding, there is still one way to grow in
discernment. It is to rely on the Word of God. St James urges us to
seek God who is all light, truth and love. “Make no mistake about this,
my dear brothers; it is all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is
given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there
is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. By his own choice
he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort
of first-fruits of all that he had created.” And St Timothy urges to read
the Word of God because “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that
everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good
work.” (2 Tim 3:16f)
Finally, we
need to pray and depend solely on His grace alone. The psalmist says,
“When I think: ‘I have lost my foothold’; your mercy, Lord, holds me up. When
cares increase in my heart your consolation calms my soul.” Indeed, only
the grace of God can help us to overcome all trials and temptations in
life. St Paul shares with us, “I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13) Finally, we take consolation in the words of St
Paul when he said, “Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it
would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for
power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor 12:8f)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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