by Sister Charlene Hockers
We have hardly washed off the ashes from our forehead and are now faced with temptation with Jesus. The temptations consist in power, possessions and prestige.
We are all tempted by power, possessions and prestige. Can we live beyond these? Can we accept weakness, emptiness and unimportance?
Jesus asks us to follow Him in our Lenten journey. This is not easy. The devil departed from Him (and us) “only for a time.”
Now I'm confused Sister...I have personally been tempted w/the 3 P's throughout my adult life and have found a way to live beyond them, to live rather in a world of weakness, emptiness, and unimportance...and as a cradle to grave Catholic, taught in my early years @ a catholic school, I for one am following Jesus like never before, but do not have to be weak, empty, or unimportant any longer to honestly follow Him. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" 1 Corinthians 10:13
You are correct Sister, it is not easy...but rather than live a life of guilt, I choose to be directed by my faith in God.
Thanks, Charlene, for cutting through to the essence of the Gospel message. Truly a challenge..to live it is to live in the darkness of faith.