In Sunday’s Gospel Jesus experiences the temptations. After forty days of life in the desert, fasting, he feels hungry and the devil tempts him. What do Jesus's temptations mean? First, the Gospel wants to make clear to us that also Jesus is tempted by the devil. Even though he is not a sinner, he faces temptations like all of us. The Gospel shows that temptation and sin are two different things. In the journey of the Christian life, satan approaches all of us to bring us down, to induce us to take deceitful shortcuts in our decisions. But we are free to refuse his proposals.

Moreover, the meaning of the name devil (diabolos) is "divider". He desires to separate us from our neighbors and God. And he is able to divide our hearts too, to bring in sadness and confusion. Basically, satan pursues his purpose by making us doubtful about the goodness of our Father in heaven. He strives to convince us that God is our competitor or adversary. The devil seems to say: “God is not a loving Father. Instead, God wants you to be unhappy. His commands are arbitrarily set to make you miserable!” The devil said to Eve in the first reading: "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?" Instead, God said that Eve could eat all the fruit in the garden, except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil, then, allures us to abandon God and to believe in his deceitful promises. He proposes an easier way to live our lives: “believe and adore me” he says “and you'll be happy!”

According to today's Gospel, Jesus was tempted by Satan in three realms: the common needs, meaning to use his own power to transforme stones into bread; the glory, meaning the showing that he is the Son of God through a miracle; and the possession of the world. By intelligent use of the Sacred Scriptures, satan invites Jesus to make use of his own power (if you are the Son of God), in his Father's power (if you are the Son of God, meaning if it is true that God is your Father), and in the end in the power of the devil himself (worship me), to fulfill his needs and to clearly show to the world that he is the powerful Messiah sent by God. This mighty savior is what humanity, and in particular the Jews, is expecting and easily understand. Instead, Jesus refuses the allurements of the devil. He knows that his messianic mission is performed not through power and mighty deeds but rather through the manifestation of the love of God, a God who accepts even suffering and death to make his children understand how much he loves them. Only a powerless and dying Messiah is able to proclaim such love to the world.

We are all tempted, just like Jesus. As Jesus, we need food, recognition, and possessions. These things are all ok, but the devil proposes fast and easy shortcuts to solve our problems and fulfill our needs. Instead, the Gospel asks us to face the same issues with our responsibility, sacrifice, and love. Sometimes, God’s ways is more complicated, less evident, not straight, and, on top of all, requires our complete trust in the plan of our Heavenly Father. The devil's ways seem more manageable, but we all know they are deceitful. Only confidence in the will of our Father in Heaven will bring happiness and fulfillment to our life.

When Mary heard the good news from the angel Gabriel, she made a choice to accept the plan of God. It was not easy, but by doing so she contributed to the salvation of the world.

Happy Lent