A
Christian magazine once surveyed their subscribers regarding the areas of their
greatest spiritual challenges. The
results showed that their greatest temptation was materialism. After materialism, followed pride,
self-centeredness, laziness, anger, lust, envy, gluttony and finally lying.
The
survey respondents noted temptations were frequent and more forceful when they
had neglected their time with God and when they were physically tired. They stated that the ability to resist
temptation was made easier by a strong spiritual life, avoiding compromising
situations and being accountable to someone.
Temptation will always be a part of our lives. No matter our age or the circumstances of our
lives, temptation will be something that we have to deal with until the end of
our journey here on earth.
Not every temptation is caused by Satan, so we need
to look at the two causes of temptation.
Most temptations are caused by our fallen human
nature. As we saw last Sunday, Original Sin
has wounded our human nature. We simply
do not have complete control over our mind, memory, imagination, will, passions
and emotions. We will always struggle
with something.
Sometimes we might be tempted to be lazy and sleep
in, rather than go to work or to school.
Sometimes we might be tempted to gossip.
Sometimes we might be tempted to be impatient. Sometimes we might be tempted to be
unchaste. Sometimes we might even be
tempted to take something that does not belong to us.
"Because man is a composite being,
spirit and body, there already exists a certain tension in him; a certain
struggle of tendencies between spirit and flesh develops. But in fact, this
struggle belongs to the heritage of sin. It is a consequence of sin and at the
same time a confirmation of it. It is part of the daily experience of the
spiritual battle” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2516).
Satan can also cause temptation. Satan’s greatest triumph is that he has caused many people to no longer believe
that he really exists. Jesus tells us
who he is when he said: "I saw Satan
fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10: 18). My dear friends, Satan is real and his
actions in the world are very real.
The
Second Vatican Council made this point very clear when it said, “The whole of
man’s history has been the story of our combat with the powers of evil,
stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last
day. Finding himself in the midst of the
battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to
himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner
integrity” (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium
et Spes, 37.2).
As
the holy season of Lent begins, this Sunday’s liturgy reminds us that we are
engaged in a daily and dramatic battle between Christ and Satan, between good
and evil. What is at stake in this
battle is our eternal salvation. Satan
will do all that he can do separate us from Christ.
“He was a murderer from the beginning,
and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of
lies” (John 8: 14).
Many people become discouraged and nervous when they
are tempted. Many people can be
scrupulous. They think that they are
sinning when in fact they have only been tempted. Sin is only a sin when there is full
consent. Temptation is not a sin; therefore,
there is no need to mention temptation within the Sacrament of Confession. Actually,
when we say no to the temptation and affirm our fidelity to the Lord, we need
to realize that we have been victorious.
The
continual interior struggle to be faithful to God does have great personal
benefits. The struggle is a workout, and
every work out makes us stronger and allows us to go deeper.
Although
it is true that we will always be tempted, we must also do all that we can to
avoid temptation.
Men
who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest
animals to catch is the ring-tailed monkey. For the men of the Zulu tribe it is
quite simple.
The
method the Zulus use comes from their knowledge of the animal. Their trap is
nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a
favorite of the monkey. Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon,
just large enough for the monkey to insert his hand. The monkey will stick his
hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. He cannot do this
because his fist is now larger than the hole. The monkey will pull and tug,
screech and fight the melon for hours. He cannot get free of the trap unless he
gives up the seeds, which he refuses to do. Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and seize
him.
In 1972, during
one of his General Audiences in Rome, Pope Paul VI spoke of Satan and the
nature of temptation with these dramatic words: "So we know that
this dark disturbing being exists and that he is still at work with his
treacherous cunning; he is the hidden enemy who sows errors and misfortunes in
human history. It is worth recalling the revealing Gospel parable of the good
seed and the cockle, for it synthesizes and explains the lack of logic that
seems to preside over our contradictory experiences: 'An enemy has done this.'
He is 'a murderer from the beginning, and the father of lies,' as Christ
defines him. He undermines man's moral
equilibrium with his sophistry. He is the malign, clever seducer who knows how
to make his way into us through the senses, the imagination and the libido,
through utopian logic, or through disordered social contacts in the give and
take of our activities. He can bring about in us deviations that are all the
more harmful because they seem to conform to our physical or mental makeup, or
to our profound, instinctive aspirations."
Prayer, daily Mass, filial devotion to our Lady, the
reading of the Sacred Scriptures, adoration and the frequent reception of
Confession are the proven remedies for temptation.
At the same time, it is essential that we avoid the occasions
of sin that put us in the danger of not only being tempted, but also may cause
us to sin. Young people who are
preparing themselves for marriage need to be prudent about their relationship
and establish firm boundaries that will help them to be chaste. Parents need to be vigilant about the use of
the television, music, video games and the Internet in their homes.
The triple concupiscence of the world, the flesh and
the devil are just as real today as they have been over the entire history of humanity.
Lent provides us with a special time of grace to
examine our conscience and remove those things that are holding us back from a
deeper relationship with Jesus Christ or may in fact be an obstacle to our
eternal salvation.
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Acknowledgements
