From the Pastor's Desk

How to Respond to Temptation
Of all people who ever lived, the Enemy targeted Jesus most of all. Jesus Himself knew what temptation was. The devil knew that if he could break Jesus, he would win. Humanity would finally be lost. What pride it took to think such a thing.

In a way, we should be flattered that the devil comes to tempt us. He wouldn’t bother unless we were close to God, and growing in our walk with Christ. The devil mostly leaves people alone when they’re steeped in sin. Part of the problem with temptation is that the closer to God we are, the greater threat we are to the devil’s plans. When the devil sees that we are drawing closer to God, when the Holy Spirit awakens our hearts and when He comes to dwell there with us, the devil ramps up his attacks. He knows that he cannot possess us and take us away against our will. But he can thwart our efforts to love God and be subject to Him as we grow in piety and devotion. The devil knows he cannot take us, but he also knows that he can harass us, he can interfere, and he can tempt us to disobey God. His ultimate purpose is that we will finally give up on God.

The devil is a liar and murderer. He will whisper into your spiritual ear that God doesn’t love you, that God doesn’t forgive your sins, and that He doesn’t hear your prayers or that He has abandoned you. These are nothing but lies – do NOT listen to this.

When Jesus went into the desert, the devil came to tempt Him: a fool’s errand, but the devil’s pride blinds him to his own foolishness. The first tactic the devil demands from Jesus is proof. To demand proof is very nearly the opposite of faith. Of course, Jesus denies the devil’s demand. The way Jesus does so is by quoting Holy Scripture back to the devil. More specifically, the devil tempts Jesus with a staple, a basic need for life – he tries to get Jesus to turn stones into bread. The devil knew Jesus must have been hungry. And Jesus quotes Scripture in response. That must sound like fingernails on a blackboard to the devil.

Next the devil tempts Jesus to deliberately threaten His own life. The devil wants all of us to take deadly risks with things like drugs, alcohol, careless driving, or being careless about our health. Again, Jesus responds to this temptation with God’s own words.

Lastly, the devil tries to make a deal with Jesus. He offers Him great wealth and power in the forms of all the great kingdoms on earth in exchange for Jesus’ worship of him. This offer the devil makes to the Creator of the universe, whose home is Heaven and who is the proprietor of all those kingdoms anyway. The devil doesn’t realize he’s offering Jesus something that already belongs to Him. The devil’s temptations are often absurd and poorly devised. Jesus’s response to this is to command that the devil leave immediately, again with a quotation from Scripture. Jesus was in control of this dialogue throughout as the outcome clearly reveals.

If you find the devil tempting you to sin, as a child of God, you take control: be certain that the devil is lying to you. That’s was he does every time. Secondly, respond to his temptations with God’s own words from Holy Scripture. The devil can’t stand that. And say Jesus’ name a lot. He really can’t take much of that. And if you pray the Rosary every day? The devil runs away from you.

Lastly, if the devil tempts you, tell him, on the authority of Jesus Christ, to go back where he came from. And then expect the devil to come back another time to tempt you again because he will know that you are God’s beloved child. Amen.

In Jesus,
Fr. David