No matter how hard we try to avoid temptations, they find their way into our spiritual life. It seems as though they lie in wait for us, trying to catch us when we least expect them, or when our resolve to avoid them is weak. The story of Jesus’ temptations in the desert gives us hope. His response to the tempter came from a realization that his mission was from God, and not from the attractions offered by the devil. In the face of temptation, our strength comes from remembering our true self, a son or daughter of God. Nothing is greater than that.

Jesus’ Transfiguration marks and important turning point in his mission. When he and the three disciples come down from the mountain they set their faces toward Jerusalem. There, Jesus will endure his passion and death and be raised from the dead. These events will transform the life of all those who will be his disciples. God bestowed on Jesus an identity of “my beloved.” From the moment of our Baptism, we too are named the beloved of God. The voice from the cloud urges the disciples to “listen to him.” When we hear and follow the word of the Lord, we live as the beloved of God.

In his teaching on the Law of Moses, Jesus gives us tow more examples of how disciples are to act. The issues of retribution and love of enemies are difficult challenges for us. It is not easy to desire revenge and to ignore or even oppress those who are different from us. The Kingdom-teaching that Jesus demands is quite different from what might be the status quo in dealing with others. We are called to a greater law, the law of love. We are called to attitudes and actions that see others as worth of God’s love, and deserving of our respect and compassion.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus follows the teaching on the Beatitudes with a number of sayings that begin, “You have heard it said…but I say to you.” In these statement Jesus teaches us that there is more to being disciples than just keeping the letter of the law. Jesus asks us to go beyond the words of the law and be attentive to any word or deed that can do harm to another. His examples are ordinary situations in life, but his teaching is rooted in kingdom thinking, not human concepts.

Jesus uses two domestic images, salt and light, to teach the disciples how important they are in sharing his mission.  Notice that Jesus uses an emphatic phrasing: “You are…” Not,  you can be, or you might be, or maybe your will be.  No, he is very direct in naming them as salt and light, they are change agents.  Just as salt adds flavor to food and light dispels the darkness, so will they transform the world by their witness and their good deeds.    In accepting this identity we bring glory to God.

To fulfill the law of Moses, Jesus’ parents present their son to the Lord.  When they meet Simeon and Anna, it is an encounter between the past and the future.  Simeon and Anna represent the long awaited hope of the Jewish people; Jesus is the fulfillment of that hope.  As Jesus’ mission unfolds, a mission that will be accepted and rejected.  Simeon’s words come true.  In our time we also live in the hope that Jesus’ mission will be kept alive by faithful disciples and that his teachings even those that are hard to bear, will one day be fulfilled.

Jesus’ call of the first disciples marks a significant point in his mission.  Matthew presents this incident as an indication that Jesus’ mission will require others to help him spread the good news of the Kingdom.  What is even more astounding is that these ordinary men leave their occupation and their equipment and follow Jesus.  The response of Peter and the others is striking.  Matthew would have us believe that Jesus’ mission is so attractive that it cannot be ignored.  How willing are we to do the same?  What would it cost us to follow the Lord with such abandon?

John the Baptist is the herald of One who will bring good news.  John’s announcement sets the stage for the ministry of Jesus as he takes up his mission of preaching forgiveness and calling his disciples to follow in his footsteps.  This too is our mission:  to seek the forgiveness of the Lord and to be willing to forgive with the same spirit as he did.  The exclamation of John appears in our celebration of mass as we prepare for communion:  “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.”

It takes our entire lives to accept the truth of our baptism, to realize we are God’s beloved.  To live under God’s gaze means letting all of who we are to be loved – not just our best sides!  The good news consists in this:  not that we are perfect, but that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.  As sinners loved by God, we are called to be heralds of a new creation constantly renewing the world through the Redeemer’s grace.  To the God who created us by love, for love, and to love, let all creation say, Amen.

The magi have been known for many things, but here they may be considered “wise” especially because of the way they understood their lives, and all thy possess, within the larger frame of God’s kingdom.  Like Herod, a part of us seeks to cling to what we have, but the magi call us to move beyond our needs and wants in order to be more responsive to God’s presence in our midst.  They remind us not to worship creation but the Creator, not the gifts of his world but the One who generously gives them to us.  In what ways do I make an idol of the things on this earth?