Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written,
“One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you”,
and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.” ’
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Matthew 4:1-11
Reflection:
Our gospel for today is from Matthew 4:1-11 which reminded us of the story on how Jesus’ resist temptations. As we all know, the Holy Week is fast approaching and once again, we are to remember how to save our souls. The big question is, do we even know how to save our souls from the pit of hell?
In Matthew 4:1-11, as Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights, the devil went to Him and tempted Him. The devil knew exactly how difficult it was to go into fasting so the devil tried to tempt Jesus. With all the efforts the devil made, Jesus never once gives in to the temptations before Him. Instead, Jesus discharged the devil away and never returned after that.
The gospel from Matthew 4:1-11 reminds us that as Christians, we must fulfill our roles as sons and daughters of God. This upcoming Lenten season, we all should reflect to ourselves. We must try to think of the experiences of the past few years that made us what we are today. To live a life here on earth is not easy as others may think. We all have our burdens and sufferings yet it is our main goal to live our lives to the fullest. Happiness may not be an everyday gift for all but we should try to live our moments and try to be happy.
How do we become happy as the world at all is not that easy to dive in? Well, happiness depends on each one of us. We should try to be happy everyday even though we don’t have everything. We must not wait for days, months and years to become happy because tomorrow may never come as today is. We should all live our lives as good Catholics.
Matthew 4:1-11 reminds us that this Lenten season we must assess ourselves. We should return to God for salvation. We must help ‘our neighbors when they need us. We must cleanse our souls and renew ourselves the best way we can. We must not let the devil rule us, instead we must learn to say no to the request of the devil. Live our lives a holy as we can and in that way, we will find peace in all that we do. – Clea| Helpline PH
