DAILY- HOMILY

March 5, 2017 - 1st SUNDAY OF LENT

Violet

Gn 2:7- 9; 3:1 -7 / Rom 5:12-19 / Mt 4:1 -11

GOSPEL READING:     Mt 4:1 - 11

     Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert that he be put to the test by the devil. After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry.

     Then the devil came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, order these stones to turn into bread." But Jesus answered, "Scripture says: one does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

     Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city, set him on the highest wall of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for scripture says, God has given orders to his angels about you. Their hands will hold you up lest you hurt your foot against a stone." Jesus answered, "But scripture also says: You shall not put to the test the Lord your God."

     Then the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the nations of the world in all their greatness and splendor. And he said, "All this I will give you, if you kneel and worship me." Then Jesus answered, "Be off, Satan! Scripture says: Worship the Lord your God and serve him alone."

     Then the devil left him, and angels came to serve him.

REFLECTION

     Jesus came as our substitute to please our heavenly Father. Since we cannot please the Father with perfect lives, Jesus came to do that in our place.

     Jesus is our Savior, not only by dying on the cross for us and our sins, but also by living a perfect life in our stead. This is especially true when it comes to temptations. In today's Gospel reading, we see Jesus, our substitute, doing what we could never do: he perfectly resisted temptation and defeated the devil, and he did that for us. This is the beginning of his victory over Satan which eventually culminates in his victory on the cross and the empty tomb.

     Why did Jesus face the devil in this way? In the account of the temptations of Jesus we learn valuable lessons on how Satan tempts us. Sometimes he appeals to our physical needs, just as he appealed to the hunger of Jesus. Sometimes he quotes from Scripture but ignores the rest. Sometimes the devil, the Father of Lies, just lies, promising us that our lives will be better and happier if we would do as he says. We learn a lot about how the devil works from today's Gospel reading.

     We also get some good "tips" on how to fight temptation. We learn that we have to rely on the word of God. If we rely only on our own logic or our feelings or on what the rest of the world approves and does, we would fall into temptation and sin. We learn from today's Gospel reading that we resist temptation by relying on God's word and teaching.

     For there to be any hope for the salvation of the human race, someone had to perfectly defeat temptation and the wiles of the evil one. From the first humans, no one has ever successfully resisted all temptations in life. We have all somehow fallen short. Someone needed to come and to face the devil and defeat temptation and the devil for us. And that is what Jesus did.

     Jesus was weak with hunger after his fast and prayer of forty days in the desert. Appealing to his power as the Son of God, the devil tempts him to turn stone into bread: Jesus rebuts him from Scripture, "One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

     The devil tempts him to be the spectacular miracle­ worker, jumping from the Temple heights. Jesus repels him, "Be off, Satan! Scripture says: worship the Lord your God and serve him alone."

     If we fall into temptation and wish to recover, we can take comfort in knowing that Jesus had stood in our place and had defeated the devil.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY 

     ANNICA FAYE C. OBIAS

     FR. GUILLREY ANTHONY M. ANDAL SJ

     MARIA VICTORIA HERNANDEZ

THANKSGIVING 

     PHILIPPINE BRITISH ASSSURANCE COMPANY INC.

     LCPI DIRECTORS, MANAGEMENT & STAFF AND FAMILIES

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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