Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson

Climate change is a nagging issue of our time that resists dismissal. Of course it has little impact on most of our daily lives. It is an objective idea, outside us, and we don’t usually give it much thought. It remains, however, as something requiring a personal assessment from us. We cannot remain neutral.

On the other hand, temptation to sin by disobeying God and His plan for us is one issue we cannot ignore. It is internal; quite personal and very important. How we handle it is linked to our ultimate destination.

Why is this so? The bible is clear with the answer. Our human race is damaged. Damaged by the deliberate decision of our first parents to disobey a rather simple command of the God who made them. Having already provided them with clear intellects and delightful surroundings, God only gave them one little rule: do not eat the fruit of one certain tree among all the others in the garden.

Satan, self-chosen enemy of God, decides to fight God by luring Adam and Eve to disobey God by weaving a web of lies about the fruit of that tree. Sadly, he succeeds. Instantly our race became one of sinners. But God. in His loving goodness, offers hope to the pair. He will send them a Person who will repair the damage.

You and I are the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, redeemed for ultimate union with God, adopted children of God via our baptism. Yet we must pass a test of our own. Call it our “temptations.” Sometimes they are small, no bigger than a candy bar lifted sneakily from the shelf at a Wawa convenance store. At other times they are very large, like casually ignoring a divine command and a Catholic Church precept to participate in Mass on the Lord’s Day.

However clever we can be at rationalizing what we know deep down are wrong choices, in the end our consciences will not leave us alone. We are, after all, made for God, and as St. Augustine famously wrote: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee, O Lord.”

Fortunately, we have our hero, Jesus Christ. Like us in all things but sin, He faced the same three most powerful temptations of power, wealth and fame that we do. Satan still wants us to be on his side. Jesus, on the other hand only asks that we try our live like He did. He knows our struggles. If we do our best, He promised to give us His best. That will include an eternity where the climate is perfect.

God love you and let Lent improve you.

Rev. Peterson’s Reading & Gospel Summary

Reading I: Deuteronomy 26: 4-10

Moses makes a confession of Israel’s faith in the Lord, who as the great Redeemer from slavery, worked great wonders, and became the Giver of the Promised Land.

Reading II: Romans 10: 8-13

Israel cannot plead ignorance when it comes to the gospel, because the preaching of the Church about Jesus has come to it through the pouring out of the Spirit. This same Spirit comes for Jew and Gentile alike.

The Gospel: Luke 4: 1-13

Satan tries without success to lure Jesus away from the path of suffering to one of power and sensationalism to fulfill the mission entrusted to Him by His Father. Satan leaves Him alone then “for a time.”