MASS READINGS:

The Gospel according to Luke: 4:1-13 Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,

to be tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing during those days,

and when they were over he was hungry.

The devil said to him,

"If you are the Son of God,

command this stone to become bread."

Jesus answered him,

"It is written, One does not live on bread alone."

Then he took him up and showed him

all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.

The devil said to him,

"I shall give to you all this power and glory;

for it has been handed over to me,

and I may give it to whomever I wish.

All this will be yours, if you worship me."

Jesus said to him in reply,

"It is written:

You shall worship the Lord, your God,

and him alone shall you serve."

Then he led him to Jerusalem,

made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,

"If you are the Son of God,

throw yourself down from here, for it is written:

He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,

and:

With their hands they will support you,

lest you dash your foot against a stone."

Jesus said to him in reply,

"It also says,

You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test."

When the devil had finished every temptation,

he departed from him for a time.

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REFLECTION:

"If you are the Son of God,

command this stone to become bread… If you are the Son of God,

throw yourself down from here, for it is written:

He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,”

It struck me today the way Jesus was tempted by the Devil. He tries to make Our Lord question His very identity as the Son of God, to question the love of the Father.

If you are this, then you should be able to do that…If God loves you, then He should be doing this for you.

Sound familiar? Because it is.

How often in our lives have we had this thinking also; If I am this important person, then I should be able to do that…If God loves me, then He should be doing this for me.

Our identity as adopted sons and daughter of God is our most precious treasure and greatest inheritance, because it promises Eternal Life. The Devil knows this, and he tries to make us forget by distracting us, by our sins and failures. And even when we remember who we are, he tries to make us distrust God’s love for us.

The Devil tempts Jesus to take control instead of waiting on the Father and His timing.

Our wanting to control our lives is in fact an act of distrust in the providence and love that God has for us - instead our Lord shows us by His example the path of complete faith and trust in the Father’s plan for us.

Father, I surrender my will to Yours because I trust completely in Your Love for me. Amen