In our most frequently recited prayer, the one composed by Jesus, we ask our Father to “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Do you really think God would ever lead us into temptation? No, what we are really asking, according to the Catechism of the Church, is “Do not let us yield to temptation but save us from the evil one!”
We think of temptation as the cause of sin but for many early Christians, temptation also meant a time of testing; a time for us to choose between being faithful to God or not. In the gospel, we find Jesus passing the test with flying colors by demonstrating loyalty to his Father.
Each of us is put to the test daily. Everyday we are led into temptations of one kind or another because we have the freedom to choose throughout the day. Perhaps they are not so dramatic as the ones we find in the gospel, but then our resistance to Satan is not as dramatic or strong either. While Jesus was prepared to resist temptation, we sometimes prepare ourselves instead to give in.
I am reminded of a young boy whose father told him not to go swimming in the pond near their home. One evening, he came home carrying a wet bathing suit. “Where have you been?” his father asked. “Swimming in the pond,” the boy confessed. “Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” “Yes, sir,” the boy replied. “Then why did you?” “Well, dad,” the boy explained, “I had my bathing suit with me and I could not resist the temptation.” “So, why did you take your bathing suit with you?” his father asked. The boy replied, “So I’d be prepared to swim just in case I was tempted!”
The devil, whose name in Greek means “the deceiver,” seems to have a bottomless sack of tempting tricks available for his use, including the notion that he doesn’t even exist!
His methods and approaches vary from person to person because people differ, but his strategy remains the same. Every time the devil succeeds and we sin, the next temptation becomes a little stronger and more luring; and the fall from grace becomes easier. Before long, we become oblivious to the gravity and consequences of our sins.
The essence of sin is making the choice to go against the God’s will, as we understand it to be. Perhaps you are now making some choices which you regard as either not sinful at all or at least not a serious sin. Choices that the Church has always considered grave sins, like skipping Mass on Sundays because you want to sleep in or that’s the only time your family can be together. Or sexual activity outside of marriage, like indulging in pornography. Or malicious gossip, that is, speaking ill of someone.
If we are inclined to reject the notion of Church authority, which many have done when it comes to moral issues like abortion, artificial contraception and euthanasia, or believe that we can be good Christians without the moral guidance of the church and its sacraments, especially confession, then we can be fairly sure that the devil is poking into our lives, deceiving us into believing that our wrongful acts are not harmful. Yes, Satan likes those who give into his luring appeal to ignore God’s will that is conveyed to us through the teaching authority of the Church, the magisterium.
Since the time when Eve was tempted in the Garden of Eden, human beings have often blamed others for the sins they themselves commit and the temptations they give into. The older ones among us may remember Flip Wilson’s famous excuse, “The devil made me do it.” Well, I got news for you; the devil doesn’t make us sin. He lures us, but we make the final choice to sin.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “You are not tempted because you are evil; you are tempted because you are human.” Alas, we are sinners by nature. The devil succeeds at preventing us from doing the good that is in us through distractions, discouragement and despair or through the criticism and cynicism of others.
Pope Francis reminds us of the threat sin poses to the world, “When we fail to live as children of God, we often behave in a destructive way towards our neighbors and other creatures and ourselves as well since we begin to think more or less consciously that we can use them as we will. The mentality expressed in the slogans ‘I want it all and I want it now!’ and ‘Too much is never enough,’ gains the upper hand.”
Most temptations invite us to do things we already know are wrong, wasteful or harmful. As irresistible as any temptation may be, we are always given a choice. Like the young boy who left home with a bathing suit, are we setting our selves up to sin or like Jesus, are we striving to resist sin? Keep in mind that we don’t have to face those moments alone. Paul tells us, our best defense against temptation is faith in Jesus. “Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved.”
God endeavors to deliver us from evil; that is why Jesus came into the world. We can resist temptation through prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. Each is an antidote for overcoming the urge to indulge in our own wants at the expense of others and to recognize that we are in need of redemption for what we have done or failed to do. Lent is an ideal time for us to venture into the desert offered by the sacrament of reconciliation. When we recognize and resist those old forms of temptations in our lives, then we know we are passing the test with flying colors!