Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

devil

First Sunday of Lent

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We all think we understand what temptation is.  Imagine this: there’s a little boy in a grocery store who walks by an open pack of chocolate-peanut butter cookies. A clerk notices him eye the cookies.  “Son, what are you doing there?” “Nothing,” replied the boy. “It looks to me like you’re trying to steal a cookie.” “No,” said the boy, “I’m trying not to.”  That’s temptation!

We understand that temptation leads to trouble.  Such was the plight of the man that I read about in Reader’s Digest. The man told this on himself.  He was shopping with his wife in the mall when a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress walked by.  He followed her with his eyes.  Without looking up from the item she was examining his wife asked, “Was it worth the trouble you are in?”  That’s the trouble with temptation!

How many of us have shrugged and said, “The devil made me do it!” and used that as an excuse when caught doing something we weren’t supposed to?  It’s a convenient defense.  But there’s one problem: the devil can’t MAKE us do anything.  He may be clever, but he’s not all powerful.  It may feel that way, however, when we’re dangling on temptation’s hook, because the devil has a tried and true strategy for luring us into his net.  First, he lays out the bait like a skilled fisherman.  The devil has been following our clues and noting our habits and social media hangouts.  Then  a custom-made lure appears right in front of our noses.

Now comes the appeal.  We can’t be made to bite, but you know what happens when we catch a glimpse of the tantalizing bait like (maybe a snapshot promo on TV).  We’re drawn in, we linger over it. We toy with the idea and roll it over in our minds until it consumes our imagination.  We just HAVE to know what the gossip tidbit was we overheard.  Now the struggle really begins.  Our conscience jabs us in the ribs, the red flags go up, the warning sirens go off but that invitation looks so delightful.  What do we do?

Notice how Luke ends his report – the devil departed for a time. We know what happened to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The depth of Jesus’ trust in God is shown most fully when He rejects the temptation to turn away from his God-given mission.  Christ let Satan make us of all his evil conniving forces and defeated him at every angle until the devil got discouraged and left “for a time.”

Benedict knew this dynamic, didn’t he?  Remember in chapter 43 where he warns if the monastic comes late for chapel?!  Even though ashamed, she should still come inside lest she be tempted to return to bed and sleep, or worse, settle down outside and engage in idle talk, thereby giving occasion to the Evil One.  Latecomers should come inside so that they will not lose everything and may amend in the future.  Either we will resist or yield. We will swim away or swallow the temptation whole.  When you give in you know the feeling of emptiness and the pain that sticks in your throat or gut.  But, be alert when you do resist – be ready for the temptation to come from a different direction.  However, when you do resist you will know a feeling of blessed freedom.

You may have learned this little ditty of a prayer as a child.  It’s still a good one for nightly protection. I liken it to a child’s compline (evening prayer).

“Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless this bed that I lie on.
Before I close my eyes in sleep,
I give my soul to Christ to keep.

Four corners to my bed,
Four angels ’round my head,
One to watch, one to pray,
And two to bear my soul away.

I go by sea, I go by land,
The Lord made me with his right hand,
If any danger come to me,
Sweet Jesus Christ, deliver me.

You are the branch, I am the flower,
I pray God send me a happy hour,

And if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

May you each have a spirituality enriching LENT 2025 experience! 

 

 

First Reading:   Deuteronomy 26:4-10         Second Reading:  Romans 10:8-13
Gospel:   Luke 4:1-13

 

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First Sunday of Lent

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This weekend’s Gospel tells us that Jesus fasted 40 days and then the intense temptations began.  First about food – about self; then, about stones – the temple, Jesus’ immediate surroundings, His community.  The third temptation was related to political power, the kingdom, the whole world.

Jesus enjoyed good food, a good meal with friends.  Walking through fields of grain, he savored the wheat kernels.  In Cana, He supplied first-rate wine.  He sent his disciples ahead to arrange for supper the night before He died.

Years ago …  many years ago, a retreat master from Atchison told this story – at least this is my memory of the story.  Why I remember this particular story from among all the spiritual wisdom our retreat directors have offered – I have no clue.  The story goes that a certain monk wanted to do something really heroic for Lent.  From his earliest years, this man relished a good piece of sausage.  He savored it, his mouth watered when he thought about a full breakfast with eggs and sausage.  So, for Lent he decided to give up sausage.  It was not too hard because they rarely had sausage in the monastery, and certainly not during Lent. So, he put a small sausage link in his room where he could smell it everyday.  After a while, he hardly noticed the scent, so he hung the sausage head-high just inside the doorway so he’d run into it each time he entered his room.   As that became commonplace to him, he decided to hang the sausage over his bed where he would see it last thing at night and first thing in the morning.

As the days of Lent went by, he gradually lowered the sausage until it was just above his nose.  In a few days even that was no challenge, so on Palm Sunday he started lowering the sausage into his mouth for a few seconds – dreaming of the taste of sausage on at Easter Sunday breakfast.  All through Holy Week, he lowered the sausage into his mouth for a few more seconds every day.  Until on Good Friday this now holy, self-disciplined monk – ate it!

In Jesus’ first temptation, the devil is trying to entice Him away from his mission so he can avoid suffering and death.  Aren’t we, too, sometimes tempted to turn aside from our Lenten mission?  When we are tired, hungry, feeling drained of energy on many levels, it is then that the devil is grinning with glee at the prospect of getting us to throw in the towel on all our good resolutions. Beware the wiles of the devil – he is cunning.

In the second temptation, the devil insists that Jesus is entitled to divine safety and protection.  Whenever you are tempted to amaze people with your grand ideas, remember Jesus’ reply: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

In the third temptation, the devil wants Jesus to compromise good by using the wrong means.  We too, can be tempted to meet legitimate human needs using the wrong means.

The Gospel story of Jesus’ temptations occurs at the outset of his ministry, so to speak his first day on the job. He is confronted with three major enticements but he outfoxes the devil and goes on to win His crown.  You know the saying “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”  Did you see the story about the deputy who landed his first job?  A local sheriff was looking for a deputy, and one of the applicants, who was not known to be the brightest academically, was called in for an interview. “Okay,” began the sheriff, “What is 1 and 1?” “Eleven,” came the reply. The sheriff thought to himself, “That’s not what I meant, but he’s right.” Then the sheriff asked, “What two days of the week start with the letter ‘T’?” “Today & tomorrow,” replied the applicant. The sheriff was again surprised over the answer, one that he had never thought of himself. “Now, listen carefully. Who killed Abraham Lincoln?” asked the sheriff. The jobseeker seemed a little surprised, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, “I don’t know, Sir.” The sheriff replied, “Well, why don’t you go home and work on that one for a while?” The applicant left and wandered over to his pals who were waiting to hear the results of the interview. He greeted them with a cheery smile, “The job is mine! The interview went great!  First day on the job and I’m already working on a murder case!”

On Tuesday this coming week we (the Benedictine Sisters of Florida) will celebrate the 134th anniversary of that day in 1889 the “interview went great!”  Those 5 Sisters hit the floor running their “first day on the job.”  And, we’ve been running ever since.  The heritage of our five founding Sisters has been our inspiration for good works.  God bless them and all who have gone before us on their faith journeys – those who came as academy and prep school students; those who came and stayed awhile; those who discovered their life path elsewhere and those who spent their lives as life-members in our community.

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

First Reading:   Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7         Second Reading:  Romans 5:12-19
Gospel:   Matthew 4:1-11
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Trying Not To

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boy-eating-cookieI think we all understand what temptation is.   Imagine there’s a little boy in a grocery store who walks by an open pack of peanut butter cookies. The clerk notices him eye the cookies.  “What are you doing there?” “Nothing,” replied the boy. “It looks to me like you’re trying to steal a cookie.” “No,” said the boy, “I’m trying not to.” That’s temptation!

We understand that temptation leads to trouble.  Such was the plight of the man that I read about in Reader’s digest.  This man said he was shopping in the mall with his wife when a shapely young woman is a short, form-fitting dress walked by.  He followed her with his eyes.  Without looking up from the item she was examining his wife asked, “Was it worth the trouble you are in?”  That’s the trouble with temptation.

How many of us have shrugged and said, “The devil made me do it!” and used that as an excuse when caught doing something we weren’t supposed to?  It’s a convenient defense.  But there’s one problem: the devil can’t MAKE us do anything.  He may be clever, but he’s not all powerful.  It may feel that way, however, when we’re dangling on temptation’s hook, because the devil has a tried and true strategy for luring us into his net.  First, he lays out the bait.  He knows us like a skilled fisherman knows fish.  He notes our habits, observes our hangouts; then he drops a custom-made lure right in front of our noses.

Then, comes the appeal.  He can’t make us bite, but he does know what happens when we catch a glimpse of the tantalizing bait … like the snapshot promo on TV.  We’re drawn in, we linger over it, we toy with the idea, roll it over in our minds until it consumes our imagination … we just HAVE to know what the gossip tid-bit was we overheard is all about.

Now the struggle really begins.  Our conscience jabs us in the ribs, the red flags go up, the warning sirens go off but the invitation looks so delightful.  What do we do?

Benedict knew about this, didn’t he?  Remember in chapter 43 where he warns if the monastic comes late for chapel, if though ashamed, she should still come inside lest she be tempted to return to bed and sleep.  Or, worse he says, settle down outside and engage in idle talk, thereby giving occasion to the Evil One.  They should come inside so that they will not lose everything and may amend in the future.”

Either we will resist or yield, swim away or swallow the temptation whole.  When you give in you know the feeling of emptiness and the pain that sticks in your neck.  But, be alert when you do resist – be ready for the temptation to come from a different direction.  However, when you’ve resisted you will know a feeling of freedom that envelopes you.

It seems there are three general kinds of temptations that our adversary still uses. He often tries to work his wiles on the heels of a spiritual high point in our life.  Or it may come at a time of physical weakness, or when we’re are alone and are more susceptible to temptation – then be prepared for a major attack.    Jesus experienced the devil’s temptation, just after his baptism and the Father’s affirmation; when he was hungry following his 40-day fast, when he was alone in the desert.  Thus he could sympathize, no, –  empathize with us,

This Gospel lesson alerts us to the dangers – the allurement of the devil – to be tempted to be independent – like a two-year-old’s “I’ll do it myself.”  Or we may give into temptation to take the easy way out.  It will be less suffering, no struggle, no sacrifice … why work to conquer our self-will when the world could be handed to you on a silver platter – give you a free ride?

The one thing common to all three of the temptations described is that Satan attempted to distract Jesus from his mission and to destroy his relationship with his Heavenly Father.  You may have to fight the battle more than once to win it.  Don’t give up!  There is truth in the story of what Martin Luther said when he was asked how he overcame the devil.  “When the devil comes knocking at the door of my heart, asking who lives there,” Jesus comes to the door says: “Martin Luther used to live here, but he has moved out.  Now I live here.”  When Christ fills our lives Satan just has no entrance.

You may have learned this little ditty of a prayer as a child.  It’s still a good one for nightly protection:  I liken it to a child’s compline (evening prayer) –

“Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless this bed that I lie on.
Before I close my eyes in sleep,
I give my soul to Christ to keep.

Four corners to my bed,
Four angels ’round my head,
One to watch, one to pray,
And two to bear my soul away.

I go by sea, I go by land,
The Lord made me with his right hand,
If any danger come to me,
Sweet Jesus Christ, deliver me.

For he’s the branch and I’m the flower,
Pray God send me a happy hour,
And if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

 

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