Temptations are a mystery to many of us. We pray in the “Lord’s Prayer” that we may not be led into temptation; but today we see Jesus being led by the Holy Ghost into the desert to be tempted. While it is not fair to put ourselves in the same position as Christ because He is God, it is also necessary for us to follow Him in His humanity. He has told us many times that we must follow Him if we wish to be saved.

In knowing our own weakness, we pray that God not lead us into temptation because in being tempted we realize that we most probably will fall. St. Paul prayed to God to have his temptations taken away and was told that God’s grace is sufficient for him. God allowed Job to be terribly tempted but never more than he could bear.

When God wills that we be tempted it is always for our own good. These temptations offer us an opportunity to truly humble ourselves in seeing our own weakness; they offer us an opportunity to gain merit in the battle that ensues with the temptation; they offer us the opportunity to grow spiritually stronger with each and every victory; lastly, they offer us an opportunity to overcome the devils and humiliate/punish them even more. These temptations are necessary for us and may be considered as a cross that Jesus calls upon us to take up daily.

The matter is often quite the opposite when we willingly enter into the temptations. In our foolish pride and vanity, we most often overestimate our own strength. In this state of our own self-imposed illusion we are most certainly doomed to fail. We discover over and over again that those who play with fire eventually get burned. Likewise, those who dally with temptations eventually will fall.

The temptation to fall occurs in stages. The stages very often follow in a very fast progression, but are nonetheless discernible. The first stage is: suggestion. Wherever the temptation comes from: the devils, the world, or our own passions; it always begins with a suggestion. The suggestion usually shows us some immediate pleasure or gratification and attempts to blind us to the long-range effects of this course of action. This suggestion is designed to take us as quickly as possible to the next stage of pleasure. Once we begin to take pleasure in the thought of the suggestion, we have already fallen more than half way. We then become blinded to what is happening. Our thoughts are only directed to the pleasure; the consequences beyond the immediate gratification are hidden from view. This stage of pleasure also does not wish to dally too long before handing us over to the final stage of desire. If we give in at this stage we have already completely fallen. The sin has been committed. Sin is truly in the will and it matters not (as far as the guilt is concerned) whether we carry out any physical action in the material world.

This desire can become a very fierce monster to us if we give ourselves over to it. The desire can become insatiable and all consuming. The glutton even while he suffers the pains of the abuse he has heaped upon his body still longs for more. The same is true with all the evil passions, each one brings on its own peculiar pains and miseries but in spite of these the miserable sinner still longs for more. It is a most illogical paradox of our fallen human nature. We seek out and hold on to that which destroys us.

These stages: suggestion, pleasure, desire; progressively take away our strength and reason. The earliest stage is much easier to resist than the last. That is why it is so important for us to resist the temptation as soon as we see it. To entertain it for the slightest amount of time is more dangerous than we can imagine. That is why we pray that we not be led into temptation.

We see that the devil in tempting Christ never got past the first stage. Each of his suggestions was immediately silenced by Christ. This is the method that He has given us and invites us to follow. We cannot escape the first stage of the temptations that come with suggestions, but we can escape the others that follow if we will only fight valiantly in this first stage.

We must constantly be vigilant teaching ourselves to recognize these evil suggestions as quickly as possible so that we may reject them. This is more easily accomplished if we are truly striving to please God. With every thought that enters our mind we first begin to ask if this is pleasing to God (Is it good or bad?), then armed with this information we can progress accordingly. We must foster that which is pleasing to God and dismiss and drive away that which is not pleasing to God.

Temptations and crosses are often confused. They often come mixed together but they are discernible if we are constantly striving to love God more and more each day. The crosses we must learn to love and bear willingly and patiently as Christ has done for us. The temptations we must drive away as quickly as we can just as Christ did in today’s Gospel.

As a prelude to Lent,  Jesus announces, "We go to Jerusalem," city of the Great Sacrifice. Yet, despite all His Teaching that suffering is necessary as expiation for sin, His followers were blind, they understood not" (Gospel).

Hence, He proceeds to strengthen their weakening faith by giving sight to a blind man because of his strong faith. If faith is necessary to understand the meaning of Lenten penance, how much more necessary is charity, charity for God, charity for neighbour (Epistle). "For where there is love, there is no labour."

The Introit, Prayer and Gradual inspire confidence in God as we are about to "go up" with Him. The Offertory expresses gratitude for faith and pleads for its increase. The Communion reflects on the charity of God as our model.

St. Gregory informs us that there is no need to explain the meaning of today's Gospel. Jesus has explained the meaning of today's parable for us. All that is truly needed is for us to implement His teaching in our daily lives.

We must allow the seed, Word of God, to enter into our hearts and minds and take root there, so that It may produce fruit a hundred-fold. In our preparation for the penitential season of Lent, we need to examine the life of our souls. What kind of soil is our soul? What is necessary for us to do to prepare our souls to receive the seed of the Word of God, and produce worthy fruit?

Obviously, we must avoid turning our souls into highways which allow the world to pass through crushing underfoot, and allowin4g the devils to carry away, any and all the graces that we may chance to receive from God. We must remove the hard stones that receive the Word of God in rejoicing but never allow It to take root and grow. We must, also, tear out the thorns and weeds that choke out the very life of grace once It takes root.

Perhaps what may interest us, is what Our Lord tells us these thorns represent, spiritually. These choking thorns are the "cares and riches and pleasure of this life." There are few in this world that consider riches and pleasures of this life to be choking thorns; but this is exactly how Jesus sees them. This demonstrates, very clearly, that the Ways of God are very different than the ways of the world. What men consider good, God has told us are bad.

The riches and pleasures of this life are truly thorns that harm our souls. Not only do they cut and scratch us, they block out the light and take up all the moisture and nutrient, leaving very little left for the growth and development of our spiritual lives. The rich man finds it very difficult to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The rich young man went away sad because he had many possessions. (Mark 10, 22) It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matt. 19, 24) The rich man, Dives, was cast into Hell, while the poor man, Lazarus, was taken into Heaven. (Luke, 16, 19-31)

Riches often seduce us with promises of pleasure in this life. The promise of pleasure here and now is usually with the sacrifice of eternal pleasure in Heaven. Please recall that we said the "promise of pleasure." Riches seldom keep this promise, even in this life. Riches bring with them cares, solicitudes, worries, and many concerns, seldom allowing their possessor to have any rest or leisure. So it is often pointed out that men do not really own riches; but rather riches own the man. The rich of this world often are reduced to serving their possessions, rather than having their possessions serve them.

In this service of material wealth, little or no time is left for the service of God. Hence, many wealthy persons fail in their most important of all obligations — knowing, loving, and serving God. Riches have promised happiness, but they rather cause suffering; both in this life, and in the next.

Saint Paul would have us understand that these material blessings are only used well and serve their purpose in serving us as we serve God, when we use them as if we used them not. (1 Cor. 7, 29-31)

St. Gregory says: "The Lord, elsewhere, as another Evangelist bears witness (Mt. 13, 22), uses, not the word riches, but the deceitfulness of riches. For they are deceitful. They deceive because we may only have them for a time. They are deceitful because they do not relieve the real poverty of soul. Those riches are true riches, which enrich us in virtue. If then, Brethren, you desire to be truly rich, love the riches that are true. If you aim at the summit of true honor, strive upwards towards a heavenly kingdom. If you love the glory of great dignity, strive to be enrolled in the heavenly court of the angels."

The Words of God are true riches which we should treasure and hold onto. As we cannot hold onto both earthly treasures and heavenly treasures at the same time, we should readily and eagerly release the hold that we have on the material things, so that we can grasp ever more securely the spiritual treasures. Once we have opened up our grip on earthly things and let them go, our souls can then grasp spiritual things. This is the best method of preparing ourselves for the Lenten season. If we do well in letting go of the love of riches in our hearts now, we will find it much easier to find the time and the energy to perform our penances better. If we perform our penances well during the Lenten season, we will receive a greater abunance of graces (treasures) when we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord.

Your attention is drawn to changes made to the schedule of Masses to be celebrated at Llay over the next two months by visiting the Mass Schedule page here. You are recomemded to check back here before travelling in case of changes to these arrangements.

Tomorrow begins another cycle of the liturgical year. This cycle culminates with the Resurrection of Christ at Easter.

In the Epistle for today St. Paul encourages us to put forth our best efforts so that we may be worthy of the reward. We must chastise our bodies, fast and abstain; we must put forth every effort to receive the crown of glory. Just as the athlete must mortify himself, practice, and strain every muscle in his body in order to win, so must every Catholic put forth a similar effort for the salvation of his soul.

The tepid and those who only put forth a half-hearted attempt are not worthy of the reward. God is most interested in our wills. What we earnestly desire and truly strive for is very important to God. Half-hearted efforts are not efforts at all. Things that are half-done are not done at all. Men are often deceived by the half-hearted efforts of others, but God will never be. We have been commanded by God to love Him with our entire being; not just half way, but all the way.

Everyone does not receive the same gifts and talents and therefore some will find it easier and others more difficult to reach the goal. Some will reach the goal sooner and others later. But, none of that is essential to the point at hand. God is most interested in seeing that we love Him to such an extent that we strive with every fiber in our being to reach Him. We must be consumed with a burning love for Him, and all else must fade in the comparison.

The Gospel for today shows us a similar idea in the hiring of the laborers for the vineyard. What is of importance is that the laborers put forth the labor. They worked to reach the goal. Everyone was paid the same, beginning from the last even to the first.

In the performance of our duties true humility forbids us from making the comparison of ourselves against our neighbors and seeking some kind of prideful vainglory in the comparison. Only God can truly judge another man's soul. Only He knows the efforts that were exerted. Only He knows whether a person is motivated by true love or by pride or some other passion.

Only those who worked were paid. But among all those who did work it must be obvious that some did more work than others. And likewise the labors of some were probably of greater value than others _ not because of quantity but because of quality. Yet, all received the same payment for their efforts. As long as they truly worked in the vineyard they were paid. No one was slighted because each received the just payment for a day's labor (regardless of how much or little of the day he worked.). God is interested in the fact that we work _ if we accomplish much or little in the eyes of the world is not important to Him. It is the intention or the will that He looks at.

When we see others (whom we perceive as less worthy) put on the same level as ourselves we think that we have been slighted. Our pride suggests that God is not fair.

If we were truly in love with God we would not see Him as unfair but as generous and good. If we were truly honest (humble) far from feeling slighted, we would see our own unworthiness and perceive ourselves (not others) to be the unworthy benefactors of God's benevolence.

We do not know the graces or the burdens that our fellow men have received or born and so we therefore have no true measure by which to compare him. We can get a glimpse of some of the graces that we have received if we examine our conscience, but then the poor use that we have made of these graces also appear before us.

Christ did not tell His disciples to pattern their lives after other men. He said: Learn of Me for I am meek and humble of heart; Take up your cross daily and come follow Me; etc.

Let us strive with every ounce of our being to be made worthy to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Do not look to the right or the left, and do not look back. These are temptations which can only harm us. Let us keep our eyes on the goal. Let us run the course and fight the good fight with all that we have. Even if we find that we are running to the goal alone and everyone else is running the wrong way, do not become distracted but look forward to the loving arms of God Who is reaching out for us.

Why is this Sunday called Septuagesima?
Because in accordance with the words of the First Council of Orleans, some pious Christian congregations in the earliest ages of the Church, especially the clergy, began to fast 70 days before Easter, on this Sunday, which was therefore called “Septuagesima”—the 70th day. The same is the case with the Sundays following, which are called Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, Quadragesima, because some Christians commenced to fast 60 days, others 50, others 40 days before Easter, until finally, to make it properly uniform, Popes Gregory and Gelasius arranged that all Christians should fast 40 days before Easter, commencing with Ash Wednesday.

The feast of the Purification belongs to the Christmas Season. It is a celebration of light — Jesus is the Light of the World. According to the Law of Moses, forty days after the birth of a child the mother must present herself in the temple. Mary had completed her forty days of purification and now she came with Jesus to the temple.

Mary had no need of purification because she is without stain or sin. She fulfilled the law nonetheless, just as Jesus did in so many other things. This law of purification has been done away with in the Church and replaced with the Churching of women. This ceremony of the New Testament is not one of cleansing, but rather one of thanksgiving. The Church and the mother give thanks to Almighty God for the gift of the child that has been received.

The main focus today, however, is Jesus. His mother is present, but she is not the main focus. The holy Simeon enlightened by the grace of God, perceives immediately who Jesus is. Simeon gives thanks to God and announces his readiness to leave this world, because God had fulfilled His promise of allowing him to see the Messiah.

In the celebration of this feast, we are being called upon to refocus our attention upon THE LIGHT. We need to remind ourselves of Truth and Goodness. We must strive to see and follow Him. In the light of God's grace, we will see that everything is a gift from Him. We will see that the only real evil is sin. And sin is not a material thing, but rather a spiritual one. All that God has made is good. It is the perversity of men's wills that take the good things God has given us and uses them in evil ways against God's desires. This is what brings evil and sin into the world.

Every child has an immortal soul. They are made to the image and likeness of God. Even if the world declares them to be monsters, they are nonetheless, gifts of God. Perhaps physical defects in a child are due to the evil of the parents. Scripture tells us that children will inherit the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generation. Or perhaps, the handicapped child is given to parents for the greater perfection and sanctification of everyone involved. The crosses God sends or allows us, are not always for our punishment. They may also be for our improvement and greater sanctification.

We should be grateful to God no matter what He gives us. A cross is often of much greater value and merit for us than gold and riches. We should, therefore, be even more grateful to have a cross and affliction than if we had received gold and riches. It is true what the scriptures tell us, that God chastises those whom He loves. A great cross or burden in our lives is more often a sign of God's love for us rather than His displeasure with us. A long and painful illness is a gift for which we should be grateful, because it allows us to more closely follow and imitate Jesus Christ. Riches, more often than not, make it more difficult for us to lead good and holy lives; they tend rather to lead us away from God. We should be even more grateful for poverty or sickness than we would ever would be for riches and health.

Let us imitate the holy Simeon, and be ever grateful for all the crosses and burdens of this life, as we look forward to the great and glorious coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. His life was a long one as he anxiously awaited the fulfilment of God's promise to him. We, too, have been given a wonderful promise from God. He invites us to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist. There He will transform us and restore spiritual life to our souls. He will make us one with Him. All that will await us after this is the completion of this union in Heaven. Once we have received Him into our bodies, as Simeon received Him into his arms, may we just as readily turn away from this world as Simeon did. Let us pray with Simeon to dismiss us from this world once we have born our crosses and burdens of this life for the love of, and in the imitation of Jesus; and then have worthily received Him into our hearts and souls in Holy Communion.