We Christians do not run from hardship; we bear it and embrace it. We walk toward the Cross, not away from it. We do not shrink from trials in fear. Thus, the Lord commands in today’s Gospel reading: “Get up! Do not be afraid” (Mt 17:7).

We bear hardship for the sake of the gospel (2 Tm 1:8) in order to spread the Good News. Our Lenten hardships, indeed all our hardships, are for the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God and we bear them purposefully for the sake of the gospel (Acts 14:22).

We bear hardship with the strength that comes from God (2 Tm 1:8). The joy of the Lord must be our strength (Nm 8:10). In Him Who is the Source of our strength, we have strength for everything (Phil 4:13). We don’t bear hardship in our own stoic strength, or with human strength, for even the strongest of us humans are weak. But His grace is sufficient (2 Cor 12:9).

We walk through the cross, through the hardship, to transfigured glory (Mt 17:2) even while here on earth. “Christ suffered in the flesh; therefore, arm yourselves with His same mentality” (1 Pt 4:1). So bear the hardship (see Col 1:24).

 

“LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION”

God does not tempt (Jas 1:13). Rather, the tug and lure of our own sinful nature is what leads us to temptation (Jas 4:1ff; see also Heb 4:15; 2:18). Temptations often occur during Lent. Temptation can strengthen us, much like a drill sergeant toughens the troops for battle. We might wonder where God is during our temptations. The Lord is “with us” while we are tempted (Mt 1:23; 28:20). 

The devil wants us to forget that God loves us. But Satan is a liar (Jn 8:44). He lies about God’s character (see Gn 3:4-5). Jesus did not engage Satan in conversation, and likewise we must never do that. Like Jesus, we must tell the evil one to leave: “Away with you, Satan!” (Mt 4:10)

Satan often lures us with the promise of things that are not his to give. His promises are “empty promises.” What Satan really has to give us are chains that bind, not something to free us or give us new, joyful life. Adam and Eve did not hide from God until after they sinned (Gn 3:6-8). After we succumb to temptation, Satan turns from making empty promises to accusing (Rv 12:10), and then to condemning.

Jesus was tempted at the end of his forty-day fast (Mt 4:2), when He was nearing the finish line of His race. Likewise, it is often when the victory is the closest that the temptations come. God is near, ever at our side. Call upon Him in time of temptation. ”

There are two ways of life, and God has given us freedom to make our own choice. “Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him” (Sir 15:17). Yet He gives us every instruction needed to say “Yes” to God’s way and “No” to Satan’s way. So the Church leads us to pray with the psalmist in today’s psalm response, “Instruct me” (Ps 119:33). We need to beg the Lord for His instruction because we have been entrusted with the power to choose.

There is no neutrality in this choice. So it is important to instruct those under our spiritual care before letting them make that choice. This applies particularly to our children. The world will instruct people via Satan, and will do so loudly and with pressure. We Christians must likewise instruct these people, and do so with the loving heart of the Good Shepherd (see Mt 11:29). As you instruct, do so with love.

We have the freedom to choose our own eternal destruction. We have the freedom to choose eternal joy and to have influence in the salvation of our loved ones by our life of trust in God. The Lord declares: “I have today set before you life and prosperity, death and doom…Choose life” (Dt 30:15, 19). ”

Jesus said that happiness is:

1)      deciding to be materially poor, at least in some areas of our lives (see Mt 5:3),

2)      sorrowing for our sins (see Mt 5:4),

3)      humbling ourselves by taking the lowest places (see Mt 5:5; Lk 14:10),

4)      desiring holiness more than pleasure, comfort, or prestige (see Mt 5:6),

5)      giving up our rights in order to show others mercy (see Mt 5:7),

6)      making the Lord the only Desire of our hearts (Mt 5:8),

7)      making peace by shedding our own blood rather than that of our enemies (see Mt 5:9; Heb 12:4; Col 1:20), and

8)      being persecuted, insulted, and slandered as Jesus was (Mt 5:10-11).

Most people, even many Christians, think that Jesus’ ideas on happiness are absurd (see 1 Cor 1:27). However, the happiest people throughout history have been the humble and lowly remnant who have had the faith to live the Beatitudes (see Zep 3:12). Will you make up your own “Beatitudes” only to find out later that you messed up your life and that Jesus knew more about life and happiness than you did? Or will you live Jesus’ Beatitudes and find out later how wise you were?

 

Today we begin our reading of the story of the ministry of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, which will take us until the end of the liturgical year. We hear the evangelist’s summary of Jesus’ message: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’ Matthew precedes this with a quotation from the Hebrew Scriptures, which he declares to be fulfilled. Jesus brings light not only to Israel but to the nations too, to all those who ‘live in darkness’.

From the very start he calls disciples. They leave everything at once to follow Jesus. The message of Jesus and his very personality invite them to take this risk. They accompanied him as he ‘went round the whole of Galilee’. This is the first location for the preaching of the good news and for the healings of Jesus, the place where the gospel is warmly welcomed. We will hear more about these activities in the weeks to come.