It is 5th March 2017. We celebrate the First Sunday of the Lent. The readings are from Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7; the second reading is from Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11. The first reading reminds us about the creation of our first parents and their disobedience to God. Sin always brings disgrace to our inner most being. Eden means pleasure. The intention of God was to have the intimate company of God in the Garden of life, happiness and goodness to the fullest. Temptation means the inner desire to have a false exaggerated pleasure against the purpose of God. The fruits of the temptations are sin and death more appealing to human minds always and seducing them with its inbound lies. Temptation is the attempt to intimidate the relationship with God. Every tiny temptation arrives with the intension of doing the opposite of what God wants for us. Yet, every moment of temptation teaches us that how fragile and weak we are and how much we need the power of God to deal with such moments. The maiden temptation of Adam and Eve made them to feel naked and be expelled from the zone of oneness, goodness and beauty. We cannot cover up the sins with the blanket of evil. Succumbing to the temptation results in invasion of God’s sacred space in us. St. Paul strengthen us telling that as the first parents brought the separation from God and tampered with the divine unity was restored by Jesus the only Son of God. The presence and effects of sins are having much more deeper impact on ourselves than the evil in all forms. Grace and peace comes through Jesus always. Sin is much more than breaking a bunch of laws. Sin is the evil offense directed against God to destroy the commitment and unity between God and man. As the condemnation came from the choice of man, so the acquittal came from the sacrifice of one Man, Jesus. The responsorial Psalm prays, “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” (Ps.51:3). The Gospel invites us to choose God and to be faithful to God during the time of temptation. The devil tempts us in every way to deny, deviate, disrespect and disobey God in every moment of our existence. The temptations are moments to choose between good and evil, life and death, power and riches. Only by obeying the Word of God, we can overcome all kinds of temptations. Let us be sincere and regular to our examination of conscience. Confessing our sins reduces the times of temptations. More we hold sins in our hearts, more we will fall into temptations. Spiritual wounds need to be healed in the sacrament of reconciliation otherwise, there is a higher possibility of fall prey to temptations. In dealing with temptations, as soon as possible we must recourse to the love and mercy of God than to surrender to self-pity resulting in feeling how pitiable and weak we are. As we struggle to deal with the temptation, God is working with us too to deal with it. Temptations are not only the attempts to move away from sins and evil but it is the time to embrace and hold on to God no matter how horrible are the temptations. May you be blessed and protected during the times of temptations by the grace of God. Have a good day.