We are LED Into Lent
The word LED is pivotal to our Gospel this weekend and, therefore to all of Lent. The passage from Matthew begins with Jesus being LED into the desert. It goes on to tell us that the devil LED Jesus to the Temple in the Holy City of Jerusalem and then LED Him to a very high mountain.
According to Matthew, this follows immediately upon the Baptism of Jesus, concluding with God affirming that Jesus is His beloved. This is significant because Jesus’ response to temptation indicates that He is truly Beloved.
The Holy Spirit leads us all. Unfortunately, so does evil.
I encourage you to reference two important prayers that address this LEADING.
We pray the following prayer as part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is called The Act of Contrition:
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.
In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,
I have sinned against you, whom I should love above all things.
I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever LEADS me to sin.
Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.
In His name, my God, have mercy
Because it is a more popular prayer, I don’t think I need to share the entire prayer of the Our Father, but it contains the line:
“… and LEAD us not into temptation …”
Let us go back to this weekend’s Gospel from Matthew for some greater insight into being LED and some related language that might help guide how we are LED this Lent.
The Holy Spirit leads Jesus into isolation and fasting. The physical result of this isolation is hunger. Hunger can weaken us. It is in this weakened state that we hear that the devil APPROACHES Jesus. When has evil approached you when you were weak? Or hungry?
The evil one promises physical bread to fulfill physical hunger. Jesus Christ reminds us that we are more deeply fed by the wisdom of God’s word in Scripture. That is why our attention to scripture is so important. Actively listening to scripture during Mass and doing just a bit of research on the readings BEFORE Mass can help us apply the messages to our lives.
Next, the text says that the devil ‘TOOK’ Jesus to the Holy City, Jerusalem, and then to the top of the Temple. Here, the Temple symbolizes religious structures that can be so helpful in forming our faith. The devil uses the powerful symbol and height of the Temple to suggest a false and dangerous testing of God’s protection, particularly when we go out of our way to test his love for us.
Jesus urges the devil and us never to put God’s ways and God’s providence and God’s love for us to the test. Have you ever tested God’s providence or God’s plan?
Finally, the devil TAKES or leads Jesus to a high mountain. He tempts Jesus with power, power that comes through the accumulation of more land. Land here can symbolize anything that we worship or adore or have a desire to accumulate. The devil claims to have it and then to give it to Jesus if Jesus worships him.
What do you find yourself wanting to accumulate? What or who do you find yourself worshipping? Does this worship detract from your worship of God? Jesus reminds us of the simple yet powerful act of worshipping God alone.
This Lent let us be LED to study, reflect on, learn about and live the messages of scripture and the Gospels. Let us do so, particularly when we are spiritually hungry. Let us be LED to greater trust in God with less testing of God’s providence. Let us be LED to more authentic worship of God and eliminate worshipping things that we should not.
I invite you to embrace the standards of Lent this year. Fast to make room for God. Pray in some new and different ways, and participate in our many suggestions to be kind as acts of charity.