All sin is based on a lie. In today’s first reading from Genesis
chapters two and three, this lie is quite evident as it rolls off the lips of
the servant, “But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not
die! No, God knows well that the moment
you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know
what is good and what is evil.” The lie
is that they can be gods on their own, that they are gods. They will know good and evil apart from God,
the focus is on themselves and not on the Creator.
We often wonder how Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s trick;
the truth is all of us would have, because in our own lives we have fallen for
the lies. As I said all sin is based on
a lie. We can see this with any sin.
Sometimes people will drink too much and become
drunk. Before a person becomes drunk
they will usually justify to themselves that they deserve the feeling, that
they have earned it, that it makes them feel good, that there is really nothing
wrong with it, there are worse things than getting drunk. Sometimes people will steal things from their
workplace, usually small, little things, like pens, paper, etc., and it is
justified, the company is rich, what is one pen, etc. The lie also works with grave sin as well,
for example, my body is my own, no one can tell me what to do with my body,
hence we even justify abortion through lies.
However, Jesus is the Truth so if we examine the
lies through Jesus we will see that the lies fall apart. The Truth tells us to be drunk is a vice
because we lose our reason and put ourselves in harm, the Truth tells us that
stealing is wrong even if it is just a pencil because the pencil is not mine,
and finally to believe I have this radical freedom over my own body is lie
since, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is
in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought
at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Cor. 6:19-20) The Lord owns our very bodies and our
decisions over them must be made with the Lord in mind.
Make no mistake about it, sin is serious because it
moves us further away from the Truth, the truth about who we are and also who
God is. Lent is that season when we face
Truth and ask Him to enter into us so that we may defeat sin and to live in the
Truth.
The Gospel shows that sin can be defeated, but it is
not easy, because to do so means that we enter into the desert and we battle
not only our own weaknesses but the temptations of the devil. Yet, we should take courage because Jesus
never lets us enter the desert alone. He
is there with us, that is why He entered it alone so that we never would have
to.
Lent is not just about giving up candies that is a
great start for children, rather it is about a serious reflection on self and
coming face to face with the Truth so that we may become holy and perfect as
our heavenly Father is perfect. We can
become so; it takes hard work, brutal honesty, and perseverance. Alone it is impossible, but if we help each
other during the Lenten journey and rely on our Lord Jesus we will come to that
place of happiness which is filled with Truth and Goodness. God bless you, FJ
Picture is from "The Passion of the Christ" fighting off the devil's temptation in the Garden, overcoming where Adam and Eve failed.
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