HOMILY: First Sunday of Lent (C)
Luke 4:1-13
9 March 2025
Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez, AA
Do you know what is your greatest weakness? Is it your temper? Is it your desire for wealth? Is it the pursuit of eternal youth? Sometimes when we fail to control our instincts and leanings towards these things, we forget ourselves and others. Nothing else will matter. If we are not aware of what causes us to fall, we become an easy prey to the devil. He takes note of our weaknesses and lies in wait to exploit us and tempt us to sin.
The temptations Jesus faced are very much like the ones we deal with every day. They may not be horrific events such as mass destruction or grand theft. Sometimes, it is in the small things — failing to pray in favor of scrolling through your phone, responding with irritation to your parents when they ask for your help, letting your anger get the better of you when you try to discipline your children. We become most vulnerable to temptation when we feel we are most in control of our life. We let our guard down, thinking nothing can faze us. Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking we do not need God’s help anymore. We often challenge God, trying to do things our way, instead of trusting in His unfolding will. We take matters in our hands and try to do everything ourselves. We project ourselves to be the perfect person, the perfect parent, the perfect worker, forgetting that we cannot do it on our own. This tendency highlights that the core of our struggles lies in our desire to overlook our limitations and attempt to control our lives as if we were God.
When Jesus responded to the devil, He always pointed back to God’s power: “Man shall not live by bread alone…” (Luke 4:4) “Worship only God…” (Luke 4:8) “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Luke 4:12) These responses remind us that the real struggle is not about what we can do. Rather, it is about acknowledging our limitations and trusting God to lead, instead of trying to take control. It is about realising that we are truly limited as human beings and that God is the true power. Instead of seeing Jesus’ temptations as isolated events, we can understand them as struggles He faced throughout His lifetime, constantly resisting the pull of worldly desires and staying true to His obedience to and reliance on God.
St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, emphasizes that salvation is achieved solely through God’s grace. He teaches that it is by placing our faith in Jesus Christ and invoking His holy name that we are granted salvation. Lent serves as a reminder of this profound truth, encouraging us to recognize that our deliverance is not a result of our own efforts but a gift from God. By clinging to Him, we find protection from the evil forces that surround us.
As a privileged time, Lent invites us to stop pretending we have everything together. We have begun Lent by marking our foreheads with ashes reminding ourselves of our limitations and our dependence on God for strength as we face spiritual battles. Let us recognise our weaknesses and allow God to be God in us.
Temptation by J. Kirk Richards
Sunday Gospel Reflections 