Dear brothers and sisters, Fiat ... and good Lenten journey!
There is the story of Jesus' temptations. We do not only want to study these temptations, of which we too are prey, but above all we want to identify the temptations of the evil one today in the lives of people, families, culture, society; we want to identify and look in the face of those temptations in which I continually run, letting myself go to the worldly mentality, to my selfishness, to my laziness, to my personal earthly satisfactions.
Furthermore, it is important to look at the humility and victory of Christ, His love for each of us and for all. By clinging to Him we can take part in His victory over evil. As St. Augustine says: "Do not stop at the fact that Jesus was tempted. But Jesus was tempted and won for you".
The tempter seeks to divert Jesus from the Father’s plan, that is, from the way of sacrifice, of the love that offers itself in expiation, to make him take an easier path, one of success and power. The duel between Jesus and Satan takes place through strong quotations from Sacred Scripture. The devil, in fact, to divert Jesus from the way of the cross, sets before him false messianic hopes: economic well-being, indicated by the ability to turn stones into bread; a dramatic and miraculous style, with the idea of throwing himself down from the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem and being saved by angels; and lastly, a shortcut to power and dominion, in exchange for an act of adoration to Satan.
Jesus decisively rejects all these temptations and reiterates his firm resolve to follow the path set by the Father, without any kind of compromise with sin or worldly logic. Note well how Jesus responds. He does not dialogue with Satan, as Eve had done in the earthly paradise. Jesus is well aware that there can be no dialogue with Satan, for he is cunning. That is why Jesus, instead of engaging in dialogue as Eve had, chooses to take refuge in the Word of God and responds with the power of this Word. Let us remember this: at the moment of temptation, of our temptations, there is no arguing with Satan, our defence must always be the Word of God! And this will save us. In his replies to Satan, the Lord, using the Word of God, reminds us above all that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”; and this gives us the strength, sustains us in the struggle against a worldly mind-set that would lower man to the level of his primitive needs, causing him to lose hunger for what is true, good and beautiful, the hunger for God and for his love. Furthermore, he recalls that “it is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God’”, for the way of faith passes also through darkness and doubt, and is nourished by patience and persevering expectation. Lastly, Jesus recalls that “it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve’”; i.e., we must rid ourselves of idols, of vain things, and build our lives on what is essential, that is God’s love.
Constancy is what feeds resistance to the temptations of evil. On January 30, 1906, Jesus explains to Luisa how necessary it is that the soul be constant in doing the good which she has started. In fact, though she has a beginning, she will have no end, and not having an end, it is necessary that she conform to the ways of the Eternal God. God is just, is holy, is merciful, He is the One who contains everything – but perhaps only for one day? No – always, always, always… In the same way, the soul must not be patient, humble and obedient one day, and impatient, proud and capricious another day. These are broken virtues, it is like mixing black and white, light and darkness; everything is disorder, everything is confusion – ways which are completely dissimilar to her Creator. In this soul there is continuous war, because passions wage war against her; in fact, in seeing themselves being nourished so very often, they hope the victory is theirs. Demons, creatures, and even virtues themselves in seeing themselves disappointed, wage a fierce war against her, and end up nauseating her. If these souls are saved – oh, how much work the fire of Purgatory will have to do!
On the other hand, for a constant soul everything is peace; mere constancy itself already keeps everything in its place; passions already feel they are dying, and who is the one who, nearing death, thinks about waging war against anyone? Constancy is the sword that puts everything to flight, it is the chain that binds all virtues, in such a way as to feel caressed by them continuously; and the fire of Purgatory will have no work to do, because constancy has ordered everything and has made the ways of the soul similar to those of the Creator.
Jesus experiences these words in His actions and in His fidelity to the Father until the Hour of the Passion and the Cross. Then Jesus will gain His definitive victory, the victory of love!
Let us make the prayer of the Mass ours: "O God, as you know the fragility of human nature wounded by sin, grant your people to undertake the Lenten journey with the strength of your word, to overcome the temptations of the evil one and reach Easter in the joy of the Spirit. Amen."