READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of Genesis GN 2:7-9; 3:1-7
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being. Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” 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 woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Second reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans ROM 5:12, 17-19
Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.
For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Matthew MT 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER In the Bible we are told that Solomon, at the time of his coronation as King of Israel, had asked for the gift of wisdom (cf. 1 Kings 3:9). And wisdom is precisely this: it is the grace of being able to see everything with the eyes of God. It is simply this: it is to see the world, to see situations, circumstances, problems, everything through God’s eyes. This is wisdom. (General Audience, 9 April 2014)
FAUSTI– Jesus was taken up into the desert. The Spirit received in baptism brings Him not to a privileged place, but to the mountainous desert which is above the Jordan. In the desert Adam had felt himself , after sin, and Israel after leaving Egypt. It is the unserviceable place, of the proof and the fall. There God re-educates us to listening, in order to lead us back to “ Land”. The Son, after Baptism, is taken to the desert to meet the disobedient and unjust children who are lost in it. Once the good choice is completed, there is the difficulty of taking forward it . Temptations do not exist as long as you do evil. They come when we rebel against it, and with violence proportional to commitment. It was easy for the Lord to deliver Israel from Egypt and the hands of Pharaoh; it will be more difficult for him to deliver him It was easy for the Lord to deliver Israel from Egypt and from the hands of Pharaoh; it will be more difficult for Him to deliver it from Egypt and from the pharaoh in itself. To Him 40 years of patient work were not enough, “Having fasted forty days and forty nights” It is a recall to the forty days of Moses on the mountain and of Elijah on way to the Oreb (Ex 34,8 – 1 Kings 19,1-8). The number also alludes to the years of Israel in the desert : it is a life! To consider food as life is cause of bulimia in case of intake, of anorexia in case of refusal. But this fasting is delirium of omnipotence, will of control over life ; on the contrary, that of Jesus is recognition that life is a gift , and it does not come from food, but from the Father. The point of attack of temptation is hunger, need. . To the perspective natural and obvious of man, Jesus responds with the perspective of God : “Scripture says”. “Not only will man live by bread, but by every Word that comes out of God’s mouth” He recalls the first temptation of Israel in the desert: the need for bread, to which God answered by manna. It is also the first temptation of man which consists in posing a false alternative between bread and Word, matter and Spirit, man and God. This is what happens when you make your hungers the absolute. The absolute is not the material life, but the“way” in which I live it. If I listen to the Word of the Father, I live as a son and a brother. This already assures now the daily bread to all and the eternal life of which it is sign. “On the pinnacle” It is the central temptation. A messianism that responds to religious expectations, guaranteeing the possession of God by visible signs Jesus was tempted as a prophet, as a priest and as a king, meaning respectively salvation in a materialistic way, communion with God in a miraculous way, freedom in a masterly way. They are the temptations of always : exchanging salvation with health, God with his ( or better, our) performances/sensations , the other with our power over him. Temptation is not just an initial accident, almost an entrance ticket. They are the struggle that Jesus will continue all His life long , in the effort to live His own limit, even the extreme one, as Son and not as master. Jesus manifested confidence in the Father and in His Word. Now, the devil, becoming a subtle theologian, quotes on this subject the Psalm 91 : Does Jesus really trust the Word of the Father, and this does deserve trust? Jump off the pinnacle “It is also written”; one cannot isolate one aspect of the Word from another: it is“an heresy”, with which I choose what God should do to my advantage, forgetting that faith is other: it is first of all listening and loving Him in Himself, not for what He gives to me. The gifts are a sign of His Love. They are not given to those who claim them.
---He who loves does not request them and discovers them in abundance. Jesus answers by recalling the episode of Mass : the temptation of water (Ex 17,1-7). It is the fall into distrust: those who do not trust, are hungry insatiably for confirmation. Religious life is often pretending and awaiting God's approval. We always tell Him : “Listen to us, O Lord!”; instead of asking Him :”arrange for us to listen to You, Lord!” Implicitly we think that He does not love us and does not want our good. We try so hard to ingratiate Him, to bend Him to us, to buy Him. Poor God, who is Love! This is the gravest sin against Him, what is hardness to His ears. God should not be tempted : He must not listen to us – He has always listened to us ! - but He must be heard by us. His Word is given to us because we , and not Him, obey His Word “All the kingdoms of the world”: The Messiah must rule from sea to sea (sl 72,8) and He has been given all power , in heaven and on earth (28,16-20). But all the kingdoms and kings of this world are the grotesque reversal of God and His Kingdom. Take away freedom, instead of giving it, seek domination instead of service, inflate with vainglory instead of reflecting the“Gloriy”. Power is granted to those who worship Satan, to those who hold him as absolute value. We would like the Messiah to be the divine guarantor of man’s power over man. But God does not confirm our evil.He prefers to get rid of it. Power is the true idol, the only alternative to God , is the god of this world. Jesus will be King, but on the Cross. There He will reveal Himself as absolute freedom, putting life at the service of all, without dominating anyone. Peter will be called satan , because he awaits a Messiah of this type and not the Crucified. How many satanic christs respond to our power delusions! The Cross is the infinite distance that God has placed between Himself and our every religious image of Him (Bonhoeffer). Satan’s power over the world will grow stronger. Christ will conquer it on the Cross. The Church herself, His Bride, will conquer it when she is willing to share the fate of Her Consort.
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of Genesis
GN 2:7-9; 3:1-7
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,
and so man became a living being.
Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and placed there the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow
that were delightful to look at and good for food,
with the tree of life in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
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 woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.
Second reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans
ROM 5:12, 17-19
Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act,
acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners,
so, through the obedience of the one,
the many will be made righteous.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew
MT 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
In the Bible we are told that Solomon, at the time of his coronation as King of Israel, had asked for the gift of wisdom (cf. 1 Kings 3:9). And wisdom is precisely this: it is the grace of being able to see everything with the eyes of God. It is simply this: it is to see the world, to see situations, circumstances, problems, everything through God’s eyes. This is wisdom. (General Audience, 9 April 2014)
FAUSTI– Jesus was taken up into the desert. The Spirit received in baptism brings Him not to a privileged place, but to the mountainous desert which is above the Jordan.
RispondiEliminaIn the desert Adam had felt himself , after sin, and Israel after leaving Egypt.
It is the unserviceable place, of the proof and the fall.
There God re-educates us to listening, in order to lead us back to “ Land”.
The Son, after Baptism, is taken to the desert to meet the disobedient and unjust children who are lost in it.
Once the good choice is completed, there is the difficulty of taking forward it .
Temptations do not exist as long as you do evil. They come when we rebel against it, and with violence proportional to commitment.
It was easy for the Lord to deliver Israel from Egypt and the hands of Pharaoh; it will be more difficult for him to deliver him
It was easy for the Lord to deliver Israel from Egypt and from the hands of Pharaoh; it will be more difficult for Him to deliver it from Egypt and from the pharaoh in itself.
To Him 40 years of patient work were not enough,
“Having fasted forty days and forty nights” It is a recall to the forty days of Moses on the mountain and of Elijah on way to the Oreb (Ex 34,8 – 1 Kings 19,1-8). The number also alludes to the years of Israel in the desert : it is a life!
To consider food as life is cause of bulimia in case of intake, of anorexia in case of refusal. But this fasting is delirium of omnipotence, will of control over life ; on the contrary, that of Jesus is recognition that life is a gift , and it does not come from food, but from the Father.
The point of attack of temptation is hunger, need.
. To the perspective natural and obvious of man, Jesus responds with the perspective of God : “Scripture says”.
“Not only will man live by bread, but by every Word that comes out of God’s mouth” He recalls the first temptation of Israel in the desert: the need for bread, to which God answered by manna.
It is also the first temptation of man which consists in posing a false alternative between bread and Word, matter and Spirit, man and God.
This is what happens when you make your hungers the absolute.
The absolute is not the material life, but the“way” in which I live it.
If I listen to the Word of the Father, I live as a son and a brother.
This already assures now the daily bread to all and the eternal life of which it is sign.
“On the pinnacle” It is the central temptation.
A messianism that responds to religious expectations, guaranteeing the possession of God by visible signs
Jesus was tempted as a prophet, as a priest and as a king, meaning respectively salvation in a materialistic way, communion with God in a miraculous way, freedom in a masterly way. They are the temptations of always : exchanging salvation with health, God with his ( or better, our) performances/sensations , the other with our power over him.
Temptation is not just an initial accident, almost an entrance ticket.
They are the struggle that Jesus will continue all His life long , in the effort to live His own limit, even the extreme one, as Son and not as master.
Jesus manifested confidence in the Father and in His Word.
Now, the devil, becoming a subtle theologian, quotes on this subject the Psalm 91 : Does Jesus really trust the Word of the Father, and this does deserve trust? Jump off the pinnacle
“It is also written”; one cannot isolate one aspect of the Word from another: it is“an heresy”, with which I choose what God should do to my advantage, forgetting that faith is other: it is first of all listening and loving Him in Himself, not for what He gives to me.
The gifts are a sign of His Love. They are not given to those who claim them.
---He who loves does not request them and discovers them in abundance.
RispondiEliminaJesus answers by recalling the episode of Mass : the temptation of water (Ex 17,1-7).
It is the fall into distrust: those who do not trust, are hungry insatiably for confirmation.
Religious life is often pretending and awaiting God's approval.
We always tell Him : “Listen to us, O Lord!”; instead of asking Him :”arrange for us to listen to You, Lord!”
Implicitly we think that He does not love us and does not want our good.
We try so hard to ingratiate Him, to bend Him to us, to buy Him.
Poor God, who is Love! This is the gravest sin against Him, what is hardness to His ears.
God should not be tempted : He must not listen to us – He has always listened to us ! - but He must be heard by us.
His Word is given to us because we , and not Him, obey His Word
“All the kingdoms of the world”: The Messiah must rule from sea to sea (sl 72,8) and He has been given all power , in heaven and on earth (28,16-20). But all the kingdoms and kings of this world are the grotesque reversal of God and His Kingdom.
Take away freedom, instead of giving it, seek domination instead of service, inflate with vainglory instead of reflecting the“Gloriy”.
Power is granted to those who worship Satan, to those who hold him as absolute value.
We would like the Messiah to be the divine guarantor of man’s power over man.
But God does not confirm our evil.He prefers to get rid of it.
Power is the true idol, the only alternative to God , is the god of this world.
Jesus will be King, but on the Cross.
There He will reveal Himself as absolute freedom, putting life at the service of all, without dominating anyone.
Peter will be called satan , because he awaits a Messiah of this type and not the Crucified.
How many satanic christs respond to our power delusions!
The Cross is the infinite distance that God has placed between Himself and our every religious image of Him (Bonhoeffer).
Satan’s power over the world will grow stronger.
Christ will conquer it on the Cross.
The Church herself, His Bride, will conquer it when she is willing to share the fate of Her
Consort.