FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT: A. Feb 10, 2008

 Gen 2:7-25;3:1-7 Psalm: 51 Rom: 5: 12-19  Matthew 4:1-11 Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.

1.  Two stories are the main feature of our readings:

 Satan and our first parents, Adam-Eve;

 Satan and Jesus. The first Adam looses the first encounter, the second Adam, Jesus wins his encounter with Satan. In both cases, it is a question of choice. Each one must choose whether to accept the options Satan proposes, or reject them as wiles and deceit.  We too are the target of the wiles and traps of Satan. In 1 Peter 5: vs 8 we read, “Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour".  We are responsible for our own choices, we cannot put the blame on God for the choices we make. How often we have said, “how can God allow” - a tsunami, a hurricane, and other natural disasters. If we go on doing nuclear tests in the oceans, the sea-bed is going to respond with seismic tremors.  But here it is a matter of choices that affect our own lives and those of others around us.

2. A man inherited $5 million. But he had to receive it in South America, either in Chile or Brazil. He chose Brazil. If he had chosen Chile he would have had land which was rich in Gold, Uranium or Silver. In Brazil, he had rich coffee beans. However, there was a blight, and he lost all his money. He had to chose between returning to Toronto or Halifax. He thought of the crime in Toronto, so he chose Halifax. When he arrived at the airport, he found that the plane to Toronto was a beautiful 747, with red carpet and all the accessories. The plane to Halifax, was an old DC10 which took hours to load and it was going via Peru. During the interminable flight, he was so sick, he asked the pilot to give him a parachute he was going to risk a jump. The pilot gave him the best looking parachute. He jumped and the chute opened only to find the chute material had been in shred eaten by moths. So he prayed: St. Francis help me. Suddenly a hand came from the skies and gripped him. And a voice was heard : St. Francis Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?

When it comes to choices we do not have all those problems in decisions. We have three fairly sure guidelines. First there are the commandments, then there is the teaching of the church, and finally as the late Holy Father John Paul II said, “we have our consciences which are the ultimate rule of action.”

3. But our choices are always within a context. Our first parents were given everything good. God gave them a garden of paradise, control and dominion over the animals, an invitation to an intimacy with God. “God would walk with them in the

quiet of the evening.” Most of all, God gave them life. Our first parents had no theology of life after death. God breathed into them, and they had life. God’s breath goes away, and they die. All they had to do was to obey. And they did not.

  The redemption of this fault  as we read it the beautiful Easter hymn, “the EXULTET” - o necessary sin of Adam won for us so great a redeemer. Christ would correct the balance by his obedience.

4. Our second reading from Romans is a challenge to any lector. Even if we follow the reading from the little missals, we will be hard put to understand the passage. Paul contrasts Adam and Jesus.  Adam is a story of fallen humanity leading from sin to death. Jesus on the other hand gives us the promise of a new lease on life. Is a freedom from guilt and sin.

The actions of the two are a mirror opposite of each other.

• Adam is disobedient which leads to sin. This is followed by judgment, condemnation and death.
• Jesus is obedient. This leads to grace, followed by forgiveness, salvation and life.

Once again the choice is ours. An Ojibwa chief was explaining meaning of life to some young braves. In every one’s life there are two magnificent and awesome wolves. One will protect you and the other with destroy you. They are always near at hand, within reach. He told the story in a graphic manner with terrifying gestures. The young natives were mesmerized. Which one of the wolves will win asked one  young brave. The Ojibwa chief answered wisely, “whichever one you choose to feed more.”

5. When we come to Jesus in the wilderness, one wise Scripture scholar tells us we should try and imagine the temptations literally. Satan did not bounce Jesus from the wilderness up to the top of temple and back again. However, the encounter with Satan is very real.  His three temptations deal with the very core of our every day life and human psychology.

In each one of us there is a natural urge to feed and keep ourselves alive. There is a desire to love and be loved and to be accepted for one’s worth. The temptations are not for one who is already leading a life of sin, but rather for one who is seeking to be holy.  Although it may seem crass 

• to turn stones into bread
• to throw oneself from the top of the temple
• to fall down and worshipping Satan

• the consequences are very attractive. The first:  your hunger would be appeased and that is good. The second: trusting in God’s providence was a wholesome and healthy thing. The third:  All the kingdoms of the earth would be handed to Jesus on a plate, and that was good since Jesus wanted to spread the Kingdom of God. But Jesus saw through the falsehoods and traps . Jesus becomes a model for each of us to be wary of Satan and all his empty promises.  Our Lenten observance leads us back to our baptismal promises. Our parents made those for us when we were baptised. Today is a time when we can make them for ourselves and by ourselves.

The choice is ours.