First Sunday of Lent – Gen 2:7-9,3:1-7; Psalm 50:3-6,12-14,17; Rom 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Adam and Eve in Eden were deluded by the devil, because the listened when he suggested that God, their friend, was hiding something important and beautiful from them. It turns out that He was not so much hiding something from them but protecting them. Then Jesus, facing temptations, fully trusted the Father. Later, He also trusted Him even when it cost Him the cross. And here, it turned out to be worth it. He rose from the dead and gave the world salvation. This happened as in what Saint Paul wrote: As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. It’s best not to follow the whisperings of the devil, but stick faithfully with God.

A notorious liar is not believed. Never.

Today’s world is also tempted by the devil. Those same temptations which Jesus heard. The first is to reduce everything to bread, to material things. So that we forget about morality, God, and the eternity that awaits us. The second is putting God to the test: you are to care for me and fulfil all my desires. And if you don’t, I don’t need you, you’re no longer of interest to me. The third is the temptation to build a better world at the price of consenting to immoral means. Such is bowing down to the devil. And it leads to nothing good.

It’s best to listen to God, to trust Him. Faithfully remaining with Him has already brought great good, here, in these earthly times. After death, it allows us to enter a land even better than Eden.