LENT DAY 5: THE KEYS TO OVERCOMING ALL TEMPTATIONS. (Homily for February 14, 2016. First Sunday of Lent)


Bible Study:  Deuteronomy 26, 4 to 10. Romans 10, 8 to 13 and Luke 4, 1 to 13).


Lent is a period of 40 days during which we follow the steps of Christ who, spent 40 days in the wilderness preparing for his public ministry. Even as our first reading this morning indicates, the 40 days of lent also calls to mind the 40 year experience of the Israelites in their journey from the land of captivity to the Promised Land. It was an experience they were to constantly call to mind by dedicating the first fruit of the land to God. The whole essence of lent is for us to also journey from the horrendous captivity of sin to freedom as God’s children. As such, if after this period, our lives are still dominated by sin, it means that we have failed to make the best of lent.

Every sin begins with temptation. In other for us to overcome sin, we must know how to deal with temptation, hence this first Sunday of Lent, we read about how Jesus succeeded in defeating Satan by overcoming his temptations in the wilderness. In these three temptations, we find a candid summary of all the temptations that we also face as human beings. They are according to St. John: “…the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life….” 1 John 2, 16.

The lust of the flesh corresponds to the first temptation of Jesus of turning stones to bread. This is the temptation we face when our bodies begin to crave for carnal satisfaction in terms of food, warmth, beauty or pleasure. Although we have a natural and legitimate instinct for these desires, Jesus says: “Man shall not live by bread alone but every word that comes from God.” This means that the essence of life is not simply to satisfy our bodily desires lest we become no different from the animals in the field. The key to overcoming the lust of the flesh is FASTING. By consciously depriving the body of its cravings, we subdue its power over us.

As St. Paul teaches us in Galatians 5, 19 to 21: “Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit,  envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” These things characterise our lives when we simply grant the desires of the flesh without restriction. Going Further, St. Paul says: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5, 24. We cannot serve two masters! We are either ruled by the flesh or controlled by the spirit.

The second temptation is the lust of the eyes! Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, the beautiful things that life has to offer and said they would be his in exchange for his worship. This temptation is what we face daily in our insatiable quest for material possessions. We are ready to do anything to get rich so we do not mind worshipping Satan by disobeying God’s commandments. We steal, we kill, we tell great lies, we falsify figures, we prostitute our bodies… in short we do all manner of evils for money. Jesus said to Satan, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”

Worshipping God demands that we love others by putting ourselves in their shoes especially the poor. Think of the fact that 80% of the world’s wealth are in the hands of 20% of the world’s population. Worshipping God demands that we let go not just of what we have but the very desire to own things. Hence, the cure for this temptation is ALMSGIVING. By giving to others, we lose the security money tends to offer us and we make God himself our ultimate security.

The third temptation is the pride of life. Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and ordered him to throw himself down JUST SO THAT PEOPLE MAY SEE. Satan even quotes the Bible to assure Jesus that God will send Angels to protect him if he jumps. Again, this is our basic temptation, to make ourselves gods in the eyes of others. We want people to praise us, revere us and even worship us instead of God. We go to any extent to acquire power be it, political power to rule, demonic power to control people, or even occult power to perform magic and so on. Hear what Jesus says to Satan: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”

We tempt God whenever we try to be like him or replace him in our lives. Adam and Eve fell for this temptation because Satan said, the fruit will open their eyes and make them like God. We fall for this temptation each time, we become proud, each time we rebel against God’s authority and superiority over our lives, each time we refuse to humble ourselves in prayer! Hence the cure for this temptation is PRAYER. True prayer brings us to our kneels, it is self-humiliation, it is the ability to recognise our nothingness before God. As St. Paul instructs teaches us in the second reading, prayer demands that we confess with our lips and believe with our heart.

We must bear in mind that prayer is never a matter of giving God instructions or sending him on errand. When we do so, we are not really praying but simply telling God we are greater than he is. Hence, we should not be surprised when such prayers are not heard!

In conclusion, therefore, we can see that with prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we empower ourselves against any form of temptation Satan may throw at us and by so doing, we would finally gain our Freedom from the Captivity of Sin. However, when we pray, fast and give alms, we must do so in the right spirit otherwise they become mere external show of religiosity and self-aggrandizement.  

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, may this Lenten journey rid me of all my sins. Amen.


God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Weekend.

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