Brothers and Sisters,
Jesus is tempted by the devil. Now is fashionable to say that the devil does not exist, even some priests say this. That believing in him is like a fairy tale. How great it will be not to have this struggle, but my reality is that we are constantly tempted. And we experience that we are poor so we struggle all the time and sometimes the Lord grants us the grace to overcome it. Our efforts do not take away the temptations. The victories are always the victories of Jesus Christ. This is exactly what he wants to show us today in the gospel.
Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, and I wonder why he goes to the desert. Why does the Church, which is such a wonderful mother, why does she put us in the desert at this time? Why did God when he led his people out of Egypt have them experience the desert? They went for 40 years, and they murmured and complained all the time. It was so that they would know what was in their hearts. We need this time so that we know what is in our hearts. You think you know and many think their heart is perfect. But the reality is different. It is wonderful that God really loves the truth. He doesn’t use others; he does not love money and you think that you can control money and your crazy disordered affections with your children and with others. You think you can. But you don’t know what is in your hearts. And this is precisely why you need the desert so that you may know what is in your heart and so you don’t freak out one day when you overhear some gossip about you.
The people of Israel wanted God to do their will like a genie in a bottle. The book of Exodus is a marvel. God allows them to cross the Red Sea, the miracle of miracles. God dried up the sea so that the people can pass and when they passed and Pharoah’s army was pursuing them the waters returned to and finished them off. The people of Israel saw their corpses all over the shore. This is a work of God, the greatest hour for the people of Israel. God took them out of Egypt, out of slavery and on top of that he killed all their enemies. From what they had seen and experienced they sang a wonderful song: horse and rider he has cast into the sea. Horse and rider, they sing, everyone is happy, oh God, you are wonderful, you are the only one! You are our God and they turn around and what do they see? The desert and how long does it take for them to start complaining, three days?
By the third day they already say, this is garbage, how could God take us out here to die in this desert. Their unique and wonderful God lasted for three days. They want a God that they can touch. Not a God who has worked for them, but a god in the image of a bull that eats grass. They make a golden calf They prefer this to a God who works, who acts, who takes them out of slavery. They want a god that bows down to their pretentions. A god that serves them.
They don’t see how God in the desert loves them. In the unbearable heat, he gives them a column of cloud that moves with them. Imagine yourself in the desert with a bit of shade, with an awning the accompanies you all the time. How wonderful it is to have this umbrella and on top of that they have a rock that if you hit it will give you water. In the desert God is love. At night it goes down to forty degrees and what does God give them? A column of fire. It is a like a little garage so they can warm up. Those columns act also as guides and serve the people.
He also helps them to defeat their enemies. The desert also has an advantage: you cannot take it easy. You cannot settle down and build a little house with two floors, one for me and one for the kids. They cannot have a garden with tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. Nothing will grow there except cactus. They cannot go hunting for game. There is nothing to eat. However, they find an oasis at Meribah and Massah but they could not drink the water because it was so bitter. So Moses says to put a piece of wood in the water and it will become sweet. The wood is the symbol of the cross.
Jesus by his presence in the desert is recapitulating all of this history and he is conquering all those temptations that the people could not overcome, and neither can we. We constantly fall down in front of the temptation of security, bread, the temptation of idols, money, money, money, which is the idol of the world. Money makes everything work. For money there are abortions, pornography is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Money is behind everything. It is what moves the world and destroys it. Money is ok as long as it is underfoot, that it does not dominate you so you can enjoy it and be generous with it and give it away. It is not for you to adore it. And incense it. God says I am the Lord your God, only me.
Then there is the temptation of history that Jesus faces. The devil says don’t accept the history God gave you. You have the power to change it. If you cannot change your daughter, try to change your mother-in-law or God change my boss or my parish because I like this and not that. I want to be free to do everything I want so I get tattoos all over my body or piercings. I want to change everything about me, everything except changing myself. All of this is a deep judgment against God because he made me affective or ugly or with this disease or because I don’t have a son or whatever. Or because my father died when he was 40. I want to change my history.
Knowing Jesus and his temptations in the desert is an enormous help to us. Man lives on bread alone that comes from the Eucharist, the true bread of life. So many people work like slaves, even on Sunday, for the other kind of bread, to secure themselves. Sunday is a day of rest. Jesus can help us to accept our history and see that it is not a mistake that your brother is smarter than you or more popular than you, or that your economic situation is precarious, etc.
The third temptation is the temptation of the idols. The lord says you shall worship the Lord, your God, him alone you shall serve. Lord, help me with all of this, I face these temptations every day to look for security, for money, to change my history and to fall down in front of the idols of this world.
The Gospel is a strong word for us. Christ comes to help us overcome these temptations that you and I cannot. Christ knows that you can’t and there we should cry out for mercy: Lord if you are not with me, I cannot overcome these tribulations, if you are not with me, I am dying. You are my hope. The Lord says you do not have to do anything or try to fix yourself, don’t worry, I am with you and will love you always. That is why this time in the desert is important for you to know what is in your heart so you can experience the one who loves you even when your heart is divided. You can experience this love even when we are spiritually dead, rotten.
The Lord is giving you this mission, is counting on you. Imagine that he needs poor men like you and me so that light will come to the darkness around us. He wants to illuminate life. Only the Lord has fulfilled the Shema: you will love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength. The temptations are the opposite to love money or change your history or worship the idols of the world. By going through the desert, you can crucify your reason and love the Lord with all your heart. Our security is often the affections which is a silly security!
The Shema opposes these three temptations and is the weapon that the Church gives us during this time. It is like the three wounds of Christ: his heart was pierced with a sword, his head was crowned with thorns (his mind) and his hands and feet were nailed (his strength). He lived the Shema on the cross.
The Lord wants to make of us true Christians who give witness of his love, who allow themselves to be loved by the Lord. You will experience these falls but with Christ you can get back up. It is Christ who is lifted up on the bronze pole and is the one who heals you if you look at him. When you look at him, it means you believe that he loves you. When God is with you there is nothing stronger; he can conquer the devil. Christ is much stronger than him.