It’s Sunday! – Day 5

The Gospel for today's Mass was from Luke 4. In his homily, Father focused on Satan's repeated conditional: "If you are the Son of God..." and how Christ is not insecure about or brought to doubt His purpose by the Tempter.

What came to my mind was that the three temptations of Christ are three different archetypes of the temptations that all of us face. These three may not be exhaustive, but they do cover many, if not most, of them. The first temptation is an archetype of temptations to our carnal appetites: food, sex, etc. The second temptation is an archetype of temptations to control and dominate others and the world. The third temptation is an archetype of temptations to intellectual pride and believing that we can somehow control God.

Each of Christ's responses is a perfect response for they point back to our complete and utter reliance on God. First, merely fulfilling our natural needs is insufficient for our lives. Second, God is the ruler of the world and we should embrace Him as the ruler of our own lives. Third, God's Providence transcends our limited understanding of how the universe works.

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