THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

First Sunday in Lent

9 March 2025

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

As we begin this holy season of Lent, Our Holy Mother the Church presents us with Jesus' fasting and temptations in the desert. Jesus had just come from His Baptism by Saint John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit led Him into the desert to be tempted. The Fathers of the Church tell us that we receive the grace of Baptism so that we may fight against temptations, not so that we may be free of them.

The first sin was that of the rebellious angels. All the angels were given great graces and insights, in addition to these great graces they were given Free Will. It was in the abuse of their free wills that the demons rebelled against God with their famous prideful quote: "I will not serve!" Then they were cast out of Heaven and down to earth.

God set aside a part of the earth where the demons could not enter (Paradise or Garden of Eden) and there He created man and gave him, as well, the grace of Free Will. But with Free Will came the ability to choose disobedience, as well as the pride and rebellion of the fallen angels.

Because of our Free Wills, we find that with every good thing (grace) that God gives us, we are also subjected to evil temptations. This is not a defect or an evil, but rather a necessary consequence of having Free Wills and the ability to choose our own futures. The angels had to choose, Adam and Eve had to choose, and we see that Jesus also submitted to evil temptations so that He could choose. The good angels chose well. We see that Jesus in today's Gospel reading also shows us how to choose well.

Saint Gregory says: "But looking at the actual order of the temptation, let us see how wondrously we have been freed from temptation. For the ancient enemy tempted the first man by gluttony, when he persuaded him to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree; by vain glory, when he said, you shall be as Gods (Gen. iii, 5); by avarice, when he said: knowing good and evil. For avarice is not solely the desire of money, but also of pride of place, when dignity is sought without measure. By these means he laid low the first man; by the same means was he defeated by the Second Man. For he tempted through gluttony, when he said: command that these stones be made bread; by vainglory, when he said: If thou be the Son of God; by greed of place, when he showed Him the kingdoms of the world, saying: all these will I give thee."

A Free Will is empty unless we can choose not to love God as well as to love Him. Choice is not a choice unless we know of its various or opposing possibilities. Logically, temptations are, in a way, necessary so that we know of the various or opposing possibilities and of our ability to choose. Temptations are not sins, but neither are they virtues — they are occasions, opportunities, or chances for us to exercise the gift of our free wills to choose.

It was therefore the Spirit of God (not demonic spirits) that led Jesus into the desert to fast and to be tempted. The temptation is not evil nor is it a sin, but it is an essential element for every intelligent creature of God that has the use of a free will. In abstaining or fasting from sin or evil, we are then tempted by that same evil. When we fast from food, we are tempted to gluttony or pleasure. When we fast from vainglory, we are tempted to pride. When we fast from the use of things, we are tempted to greed or avarice.

With each evil or negative thing that tempts us we are also presented with an opposing good, grace, or virtue that we may choose. We have a choice and Free Will and should not fear temptations, but recognize them as opportunities for us to reject evil and embrace good.

We should not be foolish and deliberately seek out evil temptations, but when God allows them, we should recall the examples of Jesus, the good angels, and the saints and strive to find and choose good rather than bad. It is not an evil God or an impotent God that sends or allows temptations, but rather a Loving God giving us the freedom to choose and to love. The opportunity to choose is a good thing for which we should be grateful to God. In every opportunity to choose, let us follow Jesus and choose the better part and reject the evil choice.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!