20240213 STANDING FIRM AGAINST TEMPTATIONS
13 February 2024, Tuesday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | James 1:12-18 © |
Temptation is not from God
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.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 93(94):12-15,18-19 © |
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.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 8:14-21 © |
Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod
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?’
STANDING FIRM AGAINST TEMPTATIONS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JAMES 1:12-18; MARK 8:14-21]
It is the fundamental vocation of every Christian to grow in holiness. The path to holiness requires that we grow in virtues, in love, compassion and integrity. It also calls for a radical decision to root out every sin from our lives. Without this basic disposition to eradicate sins from our lives, we would have lost half the battle already, for the Devil knows that we are hesitant. He will then redouble his efforts to tempt us to sin, knowing our desire to overcome sin is feeble.
But when we seek to grow in holiness, we apparently face more temptations than one who is living a sinful life. This is not because we are tempted more than they are, but because we are still sensitive to the temptations of the Evil One, whereas for those who live in sin, their conscience is dull, if not dead. This is why the holy man experiences more temptations than others do. If we do not feel tempted, most likely, we have already been overcome by the Evil One. If we feel we are battling with temptations, then it means that we are growing in holiness. Even Jesus was tempted immediately after His baptism and throughout His ministry by the Devil.
St James writes, “Happy the man who stands firm when trials come.” How can one defend himself from the onslaught of the temptations of the Evil One? Those who are weak in their spiritual life of course are easy targets of Satan. However, those who are supposedly good Catholics, the devil has devised another effective strategy not only to prevent them from growing in holiness but also to slowly lead them to commit grave sins. The devil leads us to commit small sins, and then gradually progress to major sins.
Indeed, some Catholics make the mistake of taking venial or small sins lightly. This, precisely, is the cause of the moral decadence in the spiritual life of our Catholics. Recent Popes have often lamented on the crisis of sin because of the lack of appreciation and practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Even the Holy Father himself frequently receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The wisdom of the Church has always encouraged us to receive the Sacrament regularly, if possible once a month, even if we have only venial sins. Otherwise, we will grow used to sin and our mind and intellect will be dulled to what is right and wrong. Numbness to sin and evil will cause us to lose sight of God and goodness.
St James warns us that sin grows from strength to strength. This is the yeast that Jesus warns us in the gospel. “Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” Yeast, we know, expands gradually. Whether good or bad, it grows. So if we sow the seed of evil, soon that evil in us will grow. This is what St James wrote as well. “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.” Yes, sin begins with a desire, and then it conceives and gives birth to sin. Unfortunately, no one stops at one sin. Sin gives birth to other sins and eventually brings about the death, not just physical but moral and spiritual death of the person.
St John of the Cross repeatedly warns us that whether a bird is tied to a chain or thread, it still cannot fly. One who sins regardless of the gravity is inviting the devil to have a foothold in our soul. It is like inviting our enemies to camp in our territory. It therefore behooves us to take every sin seriously. We must not allow any spiritual cancer cell to take root in our hearts and in our lives. We must be alert to the temptations of the Evil One. The first step is therefore to recognize the insidious danger of sin, big or small. It is easier to resist temptation when it begins. Once it leads to a sinful action, it will snowball into sins that are more serious.
We are to strive after goodness, which comes from God alone. St James remarked, “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.” Indeed, anything that is not good comes from the evil one and from the desires of the corrupted heart. God has created us to live in the truth and in the light. As St James says, “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.” We must exercise spiritual sensitivity to distinguish the beginning of sin taking root in our hearts and not wait until it is full-grown. By then, it might be too difficult to deal with them.
How, then, do we fight against temptations? Firstly, we must realize that most people sin out of ignorance. Like the disciples, they could not understand what the Lord taught them and what the Lord did, including His miracles. Their minds were closed. Jesus said to them, “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?” Indeed, this is the case of most people. They are deluded by the devil and the views of worldly people who are blind to what is true and good. The problem is that our faithful listen to the world more than what the Church or the Bible says. We have many baptized Catholics who are pagans because whilst professing themselves to be Catholics, their values are not of the gospel. This was the case of the disciples. They were more concerned about the bread than the bread of life. Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread?” They were preoccupied with the material things.
So if we want to grow in holiness and share in the perfection of God’s life, we must stand firm against the wiles of the Devil. We must put up every resistance so that we can overcome every sin in us. If we do that, then St James says, “He has proved himself, and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” How can we withstand the temptations of the Evil One?
To help us overcome the deception of the Evil One, we must be familiar with the Word of God, His commandments, as the responsorial psalm exhorts us. “Blessed the man whom you instruct, O Lord, whom by your law you teach, Giving him rest from evil days … When I say, My foot is slipping,” your mercy, O Lord, sustains me; When cares abound within me, your comfort gladdens my soul.” We must turn to the Word of God to enlighten our minds and the conscience of our hearts. St Paul wrote, “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)
Secondly, we must conduct an examen of how God is absent or present in our daily events. Jesus reprimanded His disciples, “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?” In this way, the Lord was helping them to remember the ways; He was teaching them about the greater things of life. By examining our thoughts and actions at least once or twice a day, we can become more alert and sensitive to the Spirit at work in us. In this way, through prayer, meditation, reflection and daily examen, we will always be prepared when the enemy comes into our lives, even in very subtle situations.
Finally, we need to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit for wisdom. Only the Holy Spirit can enlighten us in the truth, and give us the necessary grace necessary to resist sin the moment we perceive that it is a temptation from the Evil One. However, perception is not enough. We must immediately put into practice the resolution we make from the insight we receive from the Holy Spirit. By hesitating and procrastinating, we will only allow the Devil to find new ways to enter into our lives. St Paul wrote, “Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor 5:6-8)
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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