Strengthening Our Resistance

Dear Friends,

On this First Sunday of Lent, we are asked to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as He is being tempted by Satan. Jesus had to struggle to understand how wily the devil really is and to disentangle the half-truths artfully contained in the three temptations. In fact, Satan offered appealing options to Jesus: food, oversight for His safety, power over all that is desirable in the world. What’s not to like? But Jesus saw through the enticements of Satan and resisted them.

This is the first time but not the last time we experience the resistance of Jesus in the Gospel.  Resistance is the refusal to accept, be part of, grasp and take in what others presume to be eminently valuable. Resistance recognizes and refuses to accept options that are in conflict with our values, moral  principles and commitments and loyalties. As His public ministry unfolds, Jesus chooses to resist His enemies, as well as well-meaning people who want Him to do things their way. He resists the plaudits of the crowds, self-satisfaction, the desire to be first or to have much. We’ll see much more of Jesus the Resistor as He approaches His Passion.  

For our part this Lent, let’s follow Jesus’ example by becoming more resistant to the things that diminish us as disciples of Christ.

Like what?

In our search for a full life with Christ, resist being limited by commonly accepted boundaries. Boundaries are often separations of human making: race, nationality, gender, wealth. What boundaries are you ready to resist this Lent?

Resist being other than who we are. It’s easy to make-believe we have qualities we don’t. God accepts each of us as we are. Shall we do in like manner?

Resist taking, but not sharing.

Resist despair and fear.

Resist authority that leads us down into the pit instead of upward to life.

Strengthen your sense of resistance to temptation by eating the bread of Life that God gives to nourish us. Mass on the weekend joins us with the largest set of believers with whom we can unite, but if that’s not possible, go to a weekday Mass, where the nourishment is likewise given. We cannot resist alone. We cannot resist without dependence on God.

The good news of the Gospel comes at the end of this passage, where it is said that at the end of 40 days, the angels came to minister to Jesus.

That means that God is with us in our resistance to temptation and sin and even in our temptation and sin. It means that God who has created us so lovingly and has seen us as good, will not abandon us to our quirks, our rebellious moments, to the beaten down aspects of our lives.

Finally, it means that Jesus is God for us and with us in the hard, hidden struggles of our lives.

Take Jesus the Resistor by the hand and go with Him into these Lenten days. Go on! Don’t be afraid! Emerge at Easter strengthened by the convictions savored throughout your journey together.

~Sister Joan Sobala