St. Peter Catholic Church
  • Home
  • From The Pastor
  • Online Streaming
    • Mass Archives
  • Parish Info
    • Welcome
    • Mass & Reconciliation
    • Sacramental Information
    • Register With Parish
    • RESOURCES
    • Parish Team
    • Photo Gallery
  • Education
    • OCIA
    • Guardian Angel
    • Religious Education >
      • RE Registration
      • RE Online Payment
      • Sacrament Information
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Catholic Education
    • SCRIP
  • Ministry
    • YOUTH MINISTRY
    • Ministry Schedule
    • CAMPUS MINISTRY
    • Music Ministries
  • News
    • Parishioner News
    • USCCB
    • Weekly Bulletin
    • Weekly Calendar
    • Monthly Look
    • Upcoming Events
    • St Peter Columbarium
  • Stewardship
    • Online Giving
    • Opportunities
  • New Page

First Sunday of Lent 03/06/2022

3/3/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
 
                                   The Temptations of Jesus
 
 I love "The Temptations." Yes, you read me correctly. I am a fan of The Temptations, an R&B musical band from Michigan. To be precise, I love their brand of soul songs not only because I consider one of their well-known songs, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," a secular version of Solomon's Song of Songs. Also, I am fascinated by the band's name without the article "the": Temptation. Why would I love temptations? Who loves to be tempted? We have all been tempted to do what we know we should not do, and as Christ's Faithfuls, we often wish we did not have to go through temptations and pray against falling into them when we say the Lord's Prayer. Yet, I love temptations for this reason: Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan in the desert. Jesus' temptations in the wilderness after fasting for forty days and his victory over them cast my daily temptations in a new light. Temptation is a test of my love for God, and I love the fact that Jesus was tempted and successfully resisted his temptations which helps me see that my temptations are opportunities for me to live in the light and power of Jesus Christ. Temptations and victory over them are indications of God's sufficient grace in bearing testimony to our love for him over anything he created. 
 
 Jesus was tempted. Like us, the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the incarnate God experienced temptations. He was not only tempted at the end of his fasting and prayer but also at other times. We recall, for instance, his agony in the garden of Gethsemane when thoughts that were against God's will passed through his mind (Matthew 26: 36-56). Jesus' temptation offers us an excellent place to begin our lent. Many of us fasted and abstained from meat on Ash Wednesday, not without temptations. We are often more prone to temptations when we are weak. We are bombarded with thoughts and situations that threaten our will and resolution to make sacrifices in the biblical way to aid our spiritual campaign and conversion to God. 
 
 Why did Jesus allow himself to be tempted? What are the lessons to be drawn from his temptation in the desert? When his fasting and prayers were over, the gospel, according to Luke 4: 1-13, tells us that the devil tempted Jesus in the areas of hunger, worship, and power. So how does Jesus' experience of temptations instruct us on how to face and overcome our temptations to sin? According to St. Thomas Aquinas in part 3, Question 41 of his Summa Theologica, there are four related reasons and lessons derived from Jesus' temptation:
 
1. His temptation strengthens us against the temptations that will inevitably assail us post-baptism. 
2. By his temptations, he lets us know that no matter how holy and pious you are, a Christian will never be spared the hardship of temptations.
3. He makes himself a mediator in overcoming our temptations by providing us with his example.
4. Jesus' temptation was aimed to "fill us with confidence in His mercy." 
 
 How do you fight temptations? Will you commit more intentionally to fasting, Scriptures, and prayers as ways of overcoming temptations during this year's Lent? 
 
 In Christ,           Fr. Bernard, O.P. 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Parish Office Hours

Monday - Thursday

9:00am - 4:00pm

Fridays: Closed



Address

Mailing Address:  
1840 Marshall Drive
Elizabethtown, PA 17
022

GPS Address:
904 Mill Road
Elizabethtown, PA 17022

Contact Us

Phone: 717-367-1255
Fax: 717-367-1270

Email: [email protected]



© St. Peter Catholic Church. 2019. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • From The Pastor
  • Online Streaming
    • Mass Archives
  • Parish Info
    • Welcome
    • Mass & Reconciliation
    • Sacramental Information
    • Register With Parish
    • RESOURCES
    • Parish Team
    • Photo Gallery
  • Education
    • OCIA
    • Guardian Angel
    • Religious Education >
      • RE Registration
      • RE Online Payment
      • Sacrament Information
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Catholic Education
    • SCRIP
  • Ministry
    • YOUTH MINISTRY
    • Ministry Schedule
    • CAMPUS MINISTRY
    • Music Ministries
  • News
    • Parishioner News
    • USCCB
    • Weekly Bulletin
    • Weekly Calendar
    • Monthly Look
    • Upcoming Events
    • St Peter Columbarium
  • Stewardship
    • Online Giving
    • Opportunities
  • New Page