The Audacity of the Devil.

Luke 4:1-13

Today's Gospel recalls the story of Jesus' temptation by the Devil. If you are unfamiliar with the story, it goes a little something like this. . .

Jesus spends 40 days in the desert to offer penance and prayer to His Father. (This act alone should be enough to affirm the efficacy of prayer and penance-- but, I will leave this to another post.) At the end of these 40 days, Jesus was hungry, weak and tired. No doubt about that. This is when the Devil struck.

The Devil tempts Jesus three times. First, the Devil goats Jesus to turn stone to bread. Second, the Devil offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the Earth. Third, he dares Jesus to jump from the parapet of the temple to tempt God to save Him.

There is logic in the madness.

You see-- the Devil strikes when we are weak. The Devil tries first to tempt Jesus through his physical senses. Use the unnatural to satisfy a physical need. Then, the Devil tries to tempt Jesus through pride. Use the unnatural to satisfy a spiritual need. Finally, the Devil tries to tempt Jesus through a perversion of His relationship with God. This takes the most audacity. But ultimately, the Devil fails.

Think about all the ways little and large-- physical and spiritual-- that we are tempted everyday. With most of us, the Devil gets off easy. We succumb without much fight. But, perhaps you can recall an instance when you were tempted in a way that perverted your very relationship with your Creator? Think of the audacity of that. Did you succumb?

We all fail. But, rest assured that there are those praying that we get up, brush ourselves off and understand that even the best of us are tempted. . . and Jesus proves that it doesn't matter if we fail. There is someone who has won.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Luke 5:27-32

In today's Gospel, Luke recalls the scene where Levi, the tax collector, responds to Jesus' call. Levi drops everything, leaves his post and follows Jesus. Thinking in terms of the circumstances of our own day, this scenario is hard to imagine.

But taking the entire episode at its face (without really even examining what in the world Levi must have been experiencing in the exchange) we see something that the religious of the time could not understand. Jesus was not seeking out those who were righteous. He was reaching out to those who were perceived the dregs of their society. The guys you love to hate: the tax collectors. (Lenten restraint prevents me from making a bad IRS joke.)

Later in this passage, we are told of the gathering and dinner Levi hosts where Jesus is the guest of honor among a group of other tax collectors-- some of the society most notorious sinners.

What is going on here?

We must remember who Jesus is-- God. We must remember His job-- to proclaim the Truth about our destiny as man. Jesus uses the analogy of the patient-doctor relationship. This is a simple one to understand. Jesus reached out to the sick-- in this case, the spiritually sick.

This story says something beautiful about all of us. Whether we are believers or not, there is something inside each of us that knows that there is something missing in all of us. We may not always sense it. But, I think if we are honest with ourselves, we can point to episodes in our lives where we have felt a void.

The lesson today is that God makes house calls. We just have to recognize our symptoms and be honest enough with ourselves to tell the doctor the truth-- regardless of our fear of treatment.

The Things We Rather Not Hear

Mk 7:31-37

This Gospel reading (meant for Friday, February 12) tells the story of when Jesus miraculously cures a deaf and speech-impaired man and enables him to speak clearly. Jesus pulls the man aside and performs the miracle by placing his finger in the man's ear and placing his own spittal on the man's tongue. Jesus asks, as He usually does, for the man to keep quiet about the incident. But as we know, news of the miraculous does not stay quiet for long.

It is easy put aside the Truth when we claim we can't hear it.

Think of the incredible compassion of Jesus in this situation. The sensitivity expressed in pulling the man aside showed that God had empathy for the man's plight. St. Gregory offers insight on the significance of Jesus using his finger to effectuate the cure of deafness. St. Gregory suggest s that the Spirit of God is called the "finger." In this experience, Jesus has opened the soul of the man through a gift of the Holy Spirit. By using His own spittal, Jesus connects personally with the man in a very intimate expression of solidarity.

This miracle was not only intended for the redemption of this poor man. It was also intended for us. Deaf or not, centuries later, we are meant to hear the healing message of the Holy Spirit.

If we allow ourselves to listen closely, there are things in our own life that are very uncomfortable to hear. But if we remember to compassion and solidarity offered by Our Lord, the Holy Spirit can heal us-- and perhaps bless us with the grace to tell about it.

Touching a Tassel - Suffering Brings Us Closer to God

Mk 6: 53-56

Today's Gospel reading tells a simple story about Jesus and the disciples being ambushed by throngs of desperate and suffering people. All these people wanted was an end to their suffering. They were looking for miracles-- looking for hope. They had heard of this miracle worker and trusted that just touching the tassel of his cloak would be enough to provide a cure.

Did they understand that this miracle-worker, Jesus, was really God? I am sure that they didn't. Did they understand that he was the promised Messiah? Maybe? Did they understand that the cure he was offering was much more than simply the curing of the body? Only God really knows the answer to that one.

Are we so very different in our day?

During Holy Week last year (2009), our five year old daughter mysteriously contracted a deadly virus that nearly killed her. She was hospitalized for almost half a year. As difficult as this experience was for our daughter and our entire family, I can say for certain that there is redemptive power in the suffering.

There is something remarkably powerful about the selfless prayers offered for a little child. We were the recipients of prayers and kindnesses from complete strangers and even those we knew who we never imagined gave thought to God. It seems like there is something in human nature that compels us toward God, whether we know it or not, especially in times of trouble or despair.

One of the greatest graces I have ever received was the grace needed to accept that our daughter was in God's care. I believe that this was the blessing given in recognition that our vigils, prayers and sacrifices had reached the tassels of God's cloak.

Not only was our daughter healed, but we all continue to heal-- both spirit and body.