Readings for Sunday, February 21, 2010

1st Reading - From the Book of Deuteronomy, 26: 4-10

Me must never forget!

After the events of September 11, 2000, these words had been uttered by many people, both in America and overseas.

When the Book of Deuteronomy saw light and these same words were written, they had a different meaning. Moses was addressing the people of Israel and Judah, reminding them to keep in mind that they had been slaves, mistreated, and exposed to inclement weather and hunger... and that they should never forget those difficult times. Instead, they were asked to keep this memory alive.

During their period of exile in Egypt, the people of Israel and Judah had enough time to reflect and to embrace God's ways. Once their time in Egypt was over and they had returned to the promised land, they all worked very hard to successfully overcome poverty. Moses words were a request to always remember how it feels to be poor and hungry, just so they would feel inclined to share their talent and treasures with those less fortunate than them.

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2nd Reading - From the Letter of Paul to the Romans, 10: 8-13

On this reading Paul asks the Romans about their knowledge of the Scriptures. He asks them hoping that they will know the answer right away.

And what does Scripture says? What is it all about?

It is about love. It is about God and how much he loves us. Regardless of who we are or how we look, whether we are white, black, or yellow, ugly or pretty, whether we are a banker or a farmer, God loves us just the same.

God asks us to have faith in him, to trust him. And he asks us to confess our faith publicly. He asks us to believe with our hearts and to profess with our voices, that we trust and love him.

We believe that Jesus is the Lord, the Messiah, and we believe that God raised him from the dead on the 3rd day. We are called by God to share these good news -out loud and with sincerity- to all who are willing to listen to us.

Confession on our lips, is the way to our salvation.

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The Gospel according to Luke, 4: 1-13

The best way to deal with temptation is to maintain the door that leads to it firmly shut. If we open that door just one little inch, before we know it, it'll be fully open. Temptation is a very strong emotion. To be able to fight temptation, one must have a strong personality and deep rooted convictions.

Think of temptation as a box of caramel covered chocolates: all you want to do is open that box and take a peek, after all they look so pretty... Well, maybe you just want to have one little chocolate, not more... Or maybe two... No one will get hurt... They are so tasty, so sweet... And so it goes, before you know it several -or maybe even all- are gone.

The devil in his selfishness thought that he could lure a very tired and very thirsty Jesus, into following his commands. After all this human Jesus had been in the desert, fasting, for over a month. The devil did consider the fact that Jesus was hungry, he just failed to see that Jesus wanted more than just simple food.

In his malice, the devil blinded himself. He thought that tempting Jesus would be as easy as showing him the proverbial box of chocolates. The devil took Jesus for granted and forgot that he was dealing with the Son of God. He forgot that the Messiah should be respected, worshiped, and never put to the test. Silly devil... Just because Jesus was born from humble parents did not mean that he was poor; in fact the devil's own temptation made him forget that he was dealing with the richest man in the world.