Looking at the gospel for this 1st Sunday of Lent, someone said : “Oh, it’s the 1st the Sunday of Lent : it’s ‘Temptation Sunday’! ”
To which the other person in the room, without lifting his eyes from the newspaper, replied: “Well, for me its… ‘Everyday, Temptation Day’!”
Sarcastic? Pessimistic? Not really, rather… realistic. Is it not true that every day brings its share of… yes, temptation?
But what is a temptation if not a test? A test of what I am, what I can do, what I can become.
The threefold temptation of Jesus is meant to illustrate this.
Was he going to choose the easy way out?
Was he going to cut corners? as we say.
Was he going to rely on himself or on God?
Our own temptations may not come in the manner which Jesus has lived his, but they will be a similar experience.
We may receive them under familiar expressions:
– ‘What’s the use? I’ve tried so often…’
– ‘I’ll do this tomorrow…’
– ‘I just can’t, it’s too much for me!’
– ‘It’s good enough as it is!’
– ‘If only I were another kind of person…’
This fight against the easy-going stance, the selfish attitude – this daily struggle is well known to us all.
But have you ever thought that a temptation may not always be a choice between what is good and what is bad but… a choice between the good and the best?!
It asks that we stretch ourselves to reach the most we can give, the best we can become.
Such temptations are called… inspirations! The kind of ‘temptation’ to take into consideration during this period of Lent!
An old song translates this very powerfully. It is entitled: The Impossible Dream from the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and is also featured in the 1972 film of the same name.
To me, it provides genuine inspiration.