MY daily reflection and prayer:
Sunday, February 14, 2016
The first Sunday of Lent
The Valentine’s Day
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Luke 4:1-13
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone.'” And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'” And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, `He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,’ and `On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, `You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
FIRST of all, thanks to the Lord of God for my birthday today. I’m so happy going to 48 years old today. Thanks a lot for your prayer and I also pray for each of you. God bless you all.
In the Gospel today we can learn from Jesus Christ how to put God first above anything else in our lives. In the gospel today, Jesus Christ shows us how. The Gospel tells us that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returns from the Jordan, and led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. The devil does this by proposing to Jesus Christ three ways to put something else before God.
First, the devil proposes him comfort seeking. Jesus has been fasting for forty days. So he’s probably a little bit hungry, then the devil tempts him to turn stones into bread, putting his comfort ahead of the Father’s will.
Second, the devil offers Jesus pride. The devil takes him to a mountaintop and shows him the whole world. He tells him “I’ll give you all of this – I’ll give you power and control – if you bow down and worship me.”
Third, the devil proposes him vanity of the world. He suggests that Jesus throw himself off the temple, because the angels will save him. Imagine how much this would impress the onlookers.
Thanks to God that Jesus Christ responds to all this by telling the devil, “It is said: You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'” By saying it, he wants to tell us that he knows none of those things can make a person truly happy. So he chooses his Father above everything else. By doing this, Jesus has put God first above anything else.
Now, how can we follow Jesus Christ to put God first above anything else in our lives today? Let us go to the wilderness of our lives together with Jesus Christ. Let the Holy Spirit lead us. In the silence of the wilderness of our lives, we come face to face with both the good and the bad inside each one of us. And we have to decide who and what will be first in our lives: God or ourselves, the good or the bad.
The Lenten season is like the wilderness for us. We have this time to listen more closely to God, and to grow in our relationship with him so that we can put God first above anything else. Jesus Christ wins the battle against the devil because he is putting God first above anything else.
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist while worhshipping Jesus Christ we also learn to put God first above anything else. There we can dedicate one hour or at least fifteen minutes a day to silent prayer before the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, from the Gospel today we know that comfort, pride and success can never fill our hearts. Only God can. Teach us to put God first above anything else. During this Lenten season we want to go to receive you in the Eucharist everyday. Help us to choose God above anything else now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
