1st Sunday of Lent

Our first reading which is taken from the Book of Genesis tells us of "what went wrong" when man succumbed to temptation. This is in contrast with "what went well" when the Gospel tells us that Jesus never yielded to temptation. The letter of Paul to the Romans (5:12-19) was clear in stating this: "Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous."

Before these contrasting events in the First Reading and the Gospel, both Bible passages speak of the presence of the tempter. The tempter in the Book of Genesis was personified by the snake while in the Gospel by satan. Temptation came in the Book of Genesis to urge Adam and Eve to eat. Temptation in the Gospel came while Jesus never ate for forty days and forty nights. In both instances, however, temptation was all about weakening one's will. In the Book of Genesis, man must submit his will to God, to obey God's will. But he rather succumbed to the will of the tempter i.e., to disobey God. Everything then for him went wrong just because his will was weak to resist temptation. He was punished by God and had to leave paradise. In the Gospel, Jesus showed us how strong His will was for the love of God His Father. Adam and Eve were only tempted once but Jesus was even tempted thrice. Yet, His will was strong that satan could do nothing to tempt Him but leave. His will was strong to will the will of the Father and no other. Jesus obeyed the will of the Father that all must be saved. Jesus obeyed this will of the Father even until death, death on the cross.

Today, on the first Sunday of Lent, we are called to strengthen our will to follow Jesus in submitting our will to God. This is not about will power. This is about obedience to God. In the Lord’s Prayer which Jesus taught us, we say God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This prayer to do God’s will shall be frustrated only when we are tempted to follow our own will or the will of the tempter. Just like my experience this Friday after Ash Wednesday I knew I had to abstain from eating meat but out of my daily habit, I drove through a fast food chain and bought a hotdog. In this instance, I found myself struggling to submit my will to God. If in this little way I could not obey the will of God, it would not take a long time that I could not resist temptation whether it is big or small. So, today’s readings and Gospel are great reminders for all of us to strengthen our will for the love of God. To strengthen our will means that we have to seek God’s will through fasting and prayers. Temptations are always there to lead us to sin but we can always make a choice either to resist or yield to them. We know if we could not resist temptations and fall into sin, everything would go wrong just like what happened in the Book of Genesis. But if we would not yield to temptations, if we would stop giving in to temptations, everything would be well in our lives. My dear friends, the season of Lent gives us time to strengthen our will. Let us not resist this invitation. Amen.