Friday after Epiphany
Reading and Reflection
Luke's gospel tell us that before
Our Lord began his ministry in Galilee, he spent 40 days and nights in
the desert praying and fasting. Jesus however, was not alone. The Devil
came to him and taunted him and challenged him to throw himself off the
top of the temple so angels would bear him up, proving he was God's
chosen One. He needled and wheedled Our Lord to consider the power he
would have over nations if he would do the Devil's bidding. In response,
Jesus said: " You shall not put the Lord your God to the test".
This account by Luke does two things: it tells us that Jesus is divine
but human as well, and secondly, gives us hope that darkness created by
evil can be overcome.
In our humanity we are confronted daily by temptations that want to pull
us further away from the light of God's love. We just have to look at
world events to see the havoc brought on by people choosing dark over
light. In the end Jesus brings light and hope that we CAN come away from
the temptation whole spiritually by making the right choice just as he
did.
Let us pray: Lord bring us back to you and fill our minds with wisdom
and our hearts with love and hope. Amen PH
