Faith as Anchor!

Sunday, March 9, 2025

First Sunday of Lent

Deut 26:4-10; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4: 1-13

The first Sunday of Lent invites us to discover faith in God as our anchor and refuge. 

The first reading presents Moses’ address to the Israelites as they are about to enter the Promised Land. Moses’ instruction concerns the disposition of God’s people when they bring their first fruits into the presence of God. In essence, this passage calls on the Israelites to be grateful and faithful to God, who gave them their identity as God’s chosen people, brought them redemption from their enemies, and gifted them a land to call their own. The offering of the first fruits to God symbolizes their recognition of God as the source and refuge of their lives. In sum, Israel owes its existence and flourishing to God and calls them to faithfulness just as the Lord Himself is. 

In the second reading, Paul contrasts the righteousness based on the law with the righteousness that comes from one’s faith in Christ. More importantly, the passage highlights two insights: the justification of the one who believes with the heart and the salvation of the one who confesses with the mouth. These insights point to the internal and external aspects of our faith, with the former as the foundation and the latter as external manifestation. Moreover, Paul’s Gospel is inclusive in the way it extends salvation to all, both to Jews and Greeks. In Paul’s words, faith in Christ, not status or background, brings us salvation. Hence, faith in Christ is the only faithful response. 

The Gospel text on Jesus being tested in the wilderness reminds me of the three metaphors that St. Ignatius of Loyola employs in his Spiritual Exercises to describe the tactics of the devil to lead individuals away from God. 

At first, the enemy is both a tyrant and a weakling. Each time we listen to his voice and accept his words as truth, he gains more and more power. He is like a bully, a tyrant who knows when he should take the upper hand. But if he is resisted, he shows himself to be a coward who immediately backs down from a challenge. The enemy is like a tyrant when we give in to him, but like a weakling when we resist with the strength God has given us. He cannot gain a foothold unless he is allowed and encouraged. 

Secondly, the enemy behaves like a seducer who suggests acting in secrecy with the assurance that no one can find out. Probably, when we find ourselves acting in secret, unable to be open with others about what we are doing, we ought to recognize that we have been conscripted into evil. The enemy loves to bind us to secrecy. He is like a seducer who lures us into the shadows. 

Finally, the enemy appears like a military commander who studies the weaknesses of the opposing forces and attacks at the weakest point in their defenses. Evil comes to us where we are most vulnerable. He seeks out the cracks in our defenses and forces his way through. Knowing and guarding ourselves could be crucial at this phase of temptation besides, more importantly, seeking God for strength and help. 

In analysing the temptations of Jesus, it is clear that the devil behaves like a military commander when he asks Jesus to transform stone into bread, knowing well that Jesus is hungry. The devil behaves like a seducer when he tempts Jesus to worship him in return for the kingdoms of the world. Finally, the devil behaves like a tyrant and a weakling when he triggers Jesus to prove his identity as the Son of God through a sensational act like throwing himself down from the highest point of the Jerusalem temple. 

In confronting and conquering the temptations of the devil, Jesus leaves lessons for our spiritual life. At least two themes are crucial for our reflection. 

The first is the ability to say ‘no.’ Human freedom is not only about saying ‘yes’ to what we might like, but it is essentially about saying ‘no’ as well. From the response of Jesus, it is obvious that ‘no’ is a complete sentence without requiring any further explanation. In other words, knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to begin and proceed. Viewed through a spiritual lens, the definitive ‘no’ of Jesus to the devil is therefore not a negation but an affirmation.

Secondly, Jesus also offers correctives besides saying ‘no.’ By answering, ‘Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God,’ ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test,’ and ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship, and him alone shall you serve,’ Jesus does not merely confront the temptations but also affirms that God is the center of human spirituality, and therefore to know and love God ceaselessly is the corrective to distractions that come with the pretensions of self-sufficiency. 

Jesus’ battle with the devil shows that only our faith in and reliance on God can bring us deliverance. 

Let us pray that we may understand the saving power of our faith and pursue it earnestly.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar