Daily Gospel

Sunday, 17 February 2013
First Sunday of Lent - Year C

The Seven Holy Founders of the Order of Servites



Commentary of the day
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron : The Son of God rejects the temptations of other ways and obeys the Father's will

Reading

Lk 4:1-13.


Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.
The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me."
Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.'"
Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
for it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,'
and: 'With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'"
When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.


Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB



Commentary of the day

Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), a Spanish Trappist monk
Spiritual writings, 15/12/1936 (trans. 'To know how to wait', Mairin Mitchell)

The Son of God rejects the temptations of other ways and obeys the Father's will

I, too, once went tearing along the roads of Spain, with the idea of making
the speedometer register ninety kilometers an hour: how foolish! When I was
conscious that for me, the horizon marked earth's uttermost limit, I
suffered the disappointment of one who enjoys earthly freedom, for the
earth is small and moreover quickly comes to an end. Man is bounded by
narrow and limited horizons, and for him whose soul aspires after infinite
horizons, earthly ones aren't enough, they throttle him; the world isn't
sufficient for him, and only in the vastness and immensity of God will he
find what he is seeking. You free men, making journeys around this planet,
I don't envy you your life in the world; enclosed in a convent at the foot
of a Crucifix I have boundless freedom, I have Heaven, I have God. What a
great blessing it is to have a heart that is in love with Him!...Poor
Brother Rafael!... Go on waiting, waiting with that sweet serenity which
sure hope gives. Keep calm, unshaken, a prisoner of your God at the foot of
his tabernacle. Listen to the distant uproar coming from men enjoying a few
short days of freedom in the world, listen from afar to their voices, their
laughter, their lamentations, their wars. Listen, and meditate for a
moment. Meditate on a God who is infinite, who made the earth and mankind,
He, the supreme Lord of skies and lands, rivers and seas, who in an
instant, simply by willing it created out of the void all that exists.
Mediate for a moment on the life of Christ and you will see that it has no
freedom, no outcry or clamor; you will see the Son of God subject to
humankind, you will see Jesus, obedient, submissive, and with what
steadfast calm he keeps as the only law of his life the fulfillment of the
Father's will. And lastly, look on Christ nailed to a cross. And we talk of
freedom!