Soul Purpose
Matthew 4:1-11 (Gospel
on 9-Mar-2014)
Ever imagined a life without temptations? That would be the same
as imagining a life in heaven. But here on earth, life is surrounded by
temptations and concupiscence. St. Philip Neri beautifully explains how a mortal soul should
subject one’s self to temptations. “Do not grieve’, the beloved saint says,
‘over the temptations you suffer. When the Lord intends to bestow a particular
virtue on us, He often permits us first to be tempted by the opposite vice.
Therefore, look upon every temptation as an invitation to grow in a particular
virtue and a promise by God that you will be successful, if only you stand
fast.” Just as The Spirit of The Lord lead Jesus into the desert to be
put to test by the devil, He leads our soul as well into sparse mortal and
spiritual realms where we engage in a fierce battle with a vicious and powerful
enemy – The Prince of Darkness. The tempter came after Jesus
had prayed and fasted for 40 days, not during those days of
purification. If you contemplate and examine your conscience, you will remind
yourself of the numerous occasions of temptations and falling into sin, after
having being felt equipped with spiritual and physical potency. Moreover, a
test is usually after the preparation is done and not before, unless you have
heard it otherwise, which I doubt. Now, where there is Jesus, there are the
other two persons of The Holy Trinity also. And through Jesus’ words and
actions, we see The Father and The Spirit in action too. The Father through the
working of The Spirit drives away the evil one, and in the process magnifies
Their great and all powerful Divine nature.
In the first temptation we can see The Holy Spirit as the
‘Comforter’ who brings great comfort to Jesus whose dry lips and hunger
stricken weak body are in need of physical nourishment. But The Comforter
brings to His mind The Word of God which indeed is food for the soul. In the
Eucharist, that same Word now becomes flesh and nourishes the faithful, in body,
mind and soul. You and I face hunger for food every day. We can’t live for long
without food unless God grants us grace such as He granted to St. Catherine of
Siena who lived on the Eucharist alone for the last few years of her lifetime,
or St. Catherine of Genoa who lived through the fasting times of Lent and
Advent on only the Eucharist, or St. Joseph Cupertino who lived for 5 years
without food apart from the Eucharist. Therefore, it is a matter of fact, that
The Most Holy Spirit – our Comforter, comforts us in our hunger for the body and soul,
by helping us draw strength from the nourishment of The Word.
Failing the first time, the tempter provokes The Lord a second
time, placing Him on a great height and testing His faith in His
Father’s protection for Him, if He threw Himself down. This time The Lord Holy
Spirit magnifies through Jesus as The Paraclete – The Advocate. My friends, we
should know and trust the fact that our God is The Almighty, The Omnipotent and
The Omniscient. He has the knowing of everything and is with us even in our
darkest hour. Jesus has immense knowledge of this truth, which to us is
incomprehensible. In such times when we are tempted to test the power of our
God (by mocking Him with questions such as if you love me then why
can’t you do this or that for me? Or like, I always pray and do good so why
can’t you grant me this desire or why did you take this away from me?), we
should call upon The Great Advocate – The Holy Spirit and He will equip us with
the righteous Word, as defense against Satan’s deceit.
Ultimately, the
third time the evil one tempts The Good Lord with great power and splendor. But
The Lord our savior marvelously illuminates to us The Holy Spirit as The
Supreme Counselor. This temptation towards power, luxury, vanity, admiration
and all that is of the world is very much a part of our everyday life. But if
our lives echo the words of St. Paul who said,“I have
been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me. (Galatians
2:20), then that is because we have taken aid of The Divine Counselor – The Holy
Spirit, during such temptations for power and grandeur. We too, as Jesus with
authority proclaimed, shall also proclaim that we worship God alone, and shall never
replace Him with any vanity or power whatsoever. Then my friends behold, the
Devil shall flee, and The Father Almighty shall send His angels to our aid and
look after us as He did look after His Holy & Only-begotten Son Jesus.
Amen.
God bless,
John Roger Anthony
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