Sunday Reflection

 

After his baptism, Jesus goes out into the wilderness to fast and pray, to gain strength for his journey to Calvary and the Cross. Hating this, Satan attempts to divert him by way of three temptations, three "shortcuts from the Cross." 

We're familiar with them, if you're the Son of God, turn these stones to bread, cast yourself down from the Temple and the angels will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone and finally, the offer of all the kingdoms of the world on the condition Christ worshiped Satan.

There they are, the sins of the flesh, of pride, and of greed which if Jesus had succumbed to them would have hijacked his mission of redemption. Stones to bread, why go to the Cross if you can win men's hearts by feeding them? What need for the agony and shame of Golgotha when you can perform a marvel, a sign which converts the people? And why endure the agony of crucifixion when you can establish an earthly kingdom here and now?

Why not indeed. Because in all of Satan's beguilement redemption doesn't occur, the people remain in their sin and subject to death and Hell regardless of how well fed, self-sufficient and well governed they are. No Cross, no Resurrection, no life.

I like Fulton Sheen's observation. The first temptation is economic, the second a marvel and the third political; bread and circuses under the aegis of diabolic power. Perhaps this sounds familiar, as it was in the days of ancient Rome so now. But consider the second or in Luke's case third temptation.

Throw yourself down from the Temple, says Satan to Christ, throw yourself away from the Church. Who will catch you? Angels, yes, but surely fallen ones, demons, and will they hold you up in their claws and talons, elevating you above the ground of reality, of God himself? Maybe for a time, until they don't and the Faustian pact resolves on collision with the rock.

Thus warned, we pray and meditate on God's holy Word, practice fasting, abstinence and self-denial, give alms and tithe, repent and confess our sins. All the disciplines of Lent by which we beat back Satan and find unity with the Cross and from there the risen life of Easter.

God bless,

LSP

Adveniat

 

Are you incapable of serious thought, so-called 'LSP'? Yes, but Fulton Sheen's different. Here's an Advent reflection:

 

If, in those days, the stars of the heavens by some magic touch had folded themselves together as silver words and announced the birth of the Expected of the Nations, where would the world have gone in search of Him?

The world would have searched for the Babe in some palace by the Tiber, or in some gilded house of Athens, or in some inn of a great city where gathered the rich, the mighty, and the powerful ones of earth. They would not have been the least surprised to have found the newborn King of kings stretched out on a cradle of gold and surrounded by kings and philosophers paying to Him their tribute and obeisance.

But they would have been surprised to have discovered Him in a manger, laid on coarse straw and warmed by the breath of oxen, as if in atonement for the coldness of the hearts of men. No one would have expected that the One whose fingers could stop the turning of Arcturus would be smaller than the head of an ox; that He who could hurl the ball of fire into the heavens would one day be warmed by the breath of beasts; that He who could make a canopy of stars would be shielded from a stormy sky by the roof of a stable; or that He who made the earth as His future home would be homeless at home. No one would have expected to find Divinity in such a condition; but that is because Divinity is always where you least expect to find it.

Divinity is always where you least expect to find it. I'd second that and Guinea on the monkey, what?

Adveniat,

LSP

Fishing Isn't God But I Still Love It

"Man," reminds Archbishop Fulton Sheen, "is engaged in a threefold quest for life, truth and love." Would I find that after Evening Prayer, fishing? Only imperfectly. Fishing, you see, isn't God.

Still, I won't deny that the sport's up there, especially when the watery beasts are switched on, for real and love what you're throwing in the water, which is pretty much the way it was yesterday evening.

The pier was empty, no pressure, and the spillway pool beckoned with submarine life. You could see it gliding about the water in search of prey. Big Gar, Catfish, a few Bass and a lot of Drum, some large; time to cast off.

Out went line #1 into the middle of the pool and stayed there, a stationary rod, then out went line #2 for casting. And sure enough, the fish wern't only live but loving the bait, with both rods popping. And that meant a bit of running around. 

There you are, reeling in a fish when the other rod starts jumping, bends double and off you go. Quick, sort that fish out and get on the other rod!

Big fun, I tell you, and while it's not God it does  make for a better evening than staring in slack-jawed consternation at some computer screen.

So get out and fish. Shoot and ride too, but those would be different stories.

God bless,

LSP