Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. MT 4:4
GENESIS 2:7-9,3:1-7
My Soul's Beloved,
The greatest gift given to us, our free will, our freedom to choose either good or evil, was to be the very things that brought about our fall from grace. You created us to live in eternal bliss surrounded by goodness, beauty, and truth, but we, foolish creatures, created in Your image and likeness, chose to believe the lies of the father of lies.
Beloved, we were created for eternal joy, but as St. John, the evangelist, has written, we brought about our own ruin because we preferred to belong to the world. We are reminded, "for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world." Eve knew exactly what was forbidden and what would happen if they disobeyed. But the subtlety of evil nuance to the command of God swayed her, and she was tempted to believe the lie because she, a creature, wanted to be equal to her Creator. That was the downfall of Satan, and he used his sin to destroy her just as he had destroyed himself. Unfortunately for Lucifer, it backfired so astoundingly that to this day, he vengefully makes unceasing war on the children of the New Eve.
Yes, Beloved, our first parents sinned and cost us Paradise but we thank God that You did not permit evil the last word. The Eternal Word, the New Adam, with the perfect self-surrender of the New Eve, God wrote a wonderful new story that restored all that the old Adam and Eve had lost and regained for the redeemed children of God so much more than the world could ever hope for, dream, or could ever imagine. Thank You, Lord.
The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.
Now the serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman answered the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, “You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.
PSALM 50(51):3-6,12-14,17
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.
Now the serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman answered the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, “You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.
PSALM 50(51):3-6,12-14,17
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
ROMANS 5:12-19
My Soul's Beloved,
The faulty gene inherited from our first parents when they committed the original sin is what ails us. The world is sick and getting sicker. The longer we take to rid ourselves of this inherent flaw that is passed on from one generation to the next through the cleansing, healing, and regenerating waters of the Sacrament of Baptism, the longer we will live under the bondage of evil. Thanks be to God our Father, You, our Redeemer, and the love of the Holy Spirit, there would be no remedy to this evil that reigns in us.
St. Paul describes so powerfully how God rendered original sin ineffective by the plenitude of grace He obtained for the entire human race through You, His beloved Son, by Your entering into our humanity, taking on Yourself the entirety of the debt we owe a good God, and paying the price for our redemption. Beloved, it need not have been as devastating and horrendous as it was. You could have done it in a way that did not cost You so much, but it was the will of God to show us the depth, breadth, width, and height of God's love, which is vast, limitless, and infinite.
For the sake of Your sorrowful passion, my most beloved Jesus, hear our prayers, look upon our tears as we pray for the conversion of those we love. Thank You, Lord.
Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long before the Law was given. There was no law and so no one could be accused of the sin of ‘law-breaking’, yet death reigned over all from Adam to Moses, even though their sin, unlike that of Adam, was not a matter of breaking a law.
Adam prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably outweighed the fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift. The results of the gift also outweigh the results of one man’s sin: for after one single fall came judgement with a verdict of condemnation, now after many falls comes grace with its verdict of acquittal. If it is certain that death reigned over everyone as the consequence of one man’s fall, it is even more certain that one man, Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign in life who receives the free gift that he does not deserve, of being made righteous. Again, as one man’s fall brought condemnation on everyone, so the good act of one man brings everyone life and makes them justified. As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
MATTHEW 4:1-11
My Soul's Beloved,
Temptation to sin is part of the human condition; how we combat those temptations is what matters. Do we give in without a fight, or do we fight against them steadfastly, not letting our guard down for a minute?
Today's Gospel on the 1st Sunday of Lent shows us how You resisted the devil, and we must do the same. The devil is a deceiver, a liar, and a murderer from the start, and we must be alert to the many ways in which he will find our weaknesses and use them against us.
Firstly, we must take time often to leave the world behind and spend time with You alone. In prayer, submission and obedience to the commands of God, and mortification, we can discipline our flesh and train our will to yield always to the will of God. We must be familiar with God's Word and use it effectively to fight against the powers of darkness. Your Word, O Lord, is Truth, sanctify us in the truth and we will hold on with steadfast faith to Your promises.
May we never presume that salvation is ours. It is Your gift to us, Beloved, and we can lose it if we refuse to work out our salvation with fear and trembling daily.
The sin of presumption is to sin gravely over and over again with impunity and expect salvation without repentance and contrition. Preserve us from such folly, Lord, and keep us meek, humble, obedient, and yielding always to Your holy will.
Preserve us also from making idols of people or possessions, or pet beliefs. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth and Him alone must we serve and love with our whole hearts, minds, strength, souls, bodies, and spirits. Idolatry in any way, shape, or form separates us from You. Keep us from the subtle ways in which the world, the culture, the flesh, and the devil can tempt us to become idolaters. We were created for God alone, and Him alone must we love, trust, and obey all the days of our lives.
Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry, and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.’ But he replied, ‘Scripture says:
Man does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw yourself down; for scripture says:
He will put you in his angels’ charge,
and they will support you on their hands
in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says:
You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘I will give you all these’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet and worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For scripture says:
You must worship the Lord your God,
and serve him alone.’
Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.
Man does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw yourself down; for scripture says:
He will put you in his angels’ charge,
and they will support you on their hands
in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says:
You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘I will give you all these’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet and worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For scripture says:
You must worship the Lord your God,
and serve him alone.’
Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.
