"Temptations Are Only Mirages" - 1st Sunday of Lent Homily

In 1898, Pope Leo XIII wrote the prayer to St.

Michael that we say together after every Mass

He had a vision, a troubling vision that led him to ask for protection like we do.

Through St.

Michael, for the world, for ourselves, and for our children.

And the legend about the vision is, it sounds crazy at first, but then it kind of makes some sense.

So the legend is that he saw a conversation between God and the devil.

Again, this is at end of the 19th century.

In this conversation, God says to the devil, I'll give you one century in which you can reign.

You choose which century.

And the devil chose the 20th century.

So the Pope wrote the prayer, and why the Saint Michael?

Well, the book of Revelation chapter 12 tells why.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

It's an amazing chapter that describes war in heaven.

The war broke out in heaven between the angels.

And Lucifer was the highest angel, and he had a God complex.

You hear one of the temptations, he said, to worship me.

He's the most intelligent angel, and the least intelligent angel is smarter than the smartest human being, to give you a sense of how intelligent angels are.

But they're all intellect.

They don't have bodies.

They're spirits and they're intellects.

So we talk about a war in heaven.

It's not between guns and rockets.

It's between ideas.

a telepathic war that the good guys won.

So Michael and his angels cast out Satan, Lucifer became Satan, and the bad angels with him fell down from heaven to earth.

We call them the fallen angels.

And the end of the chapter 12 said, then they fell to earth to wage war against those who keep the commandments and bear witness to Jesus.

Well, in the Gospel, the devil goes right to Jesus to tempt him.

Now, if you hear the story of Pope Leo and just in general, why does the devil have any power?

I the one thing he does say that's true, there is power that's been handed over to him.

It's a great mystery, but any power the devil has has been allowed by God.

Again, he's the highest angel.

We are no match for him.

We're less than, intelligent wise, lowest angel.

So we're no match for him, but he's no match for Jesus.

And that's what plays out in this scene.

Three temptations.

Jesus doesn't fall for anyone.

He sees right through them that there are mirages.

There's nothing there.

He is a master, a deceiver.

and liar and tempter.

And man, it be nice to be able to see it for what it is in the moment.

I mean, for us, it's after the fact, normally.

It might be in the moment we're battling and we're fighting and we're saying, Lord, help me, I'm in trouble.

But so often, it's afterwards we see, that's right, I fell for it again, there's nothing there.

And I'll be the first to admit, I need to recognize in the moment when it's temptation or oppression.

I even since Ash Wednesday, I was hit with something that in the moment was an attack.

And it wasn't until later in the day that I recognized it as being from the devil.

But Jesus sees through it.

He sees there's nothing there.

And he knows what the devil is about.

Pride, worship me Jesus is about humility, always deflecting to the Father.

Even the scene you shall worship the Lord your God.

lies, where Jesus is about truth, the devil is about lies, and the devil is alone and he wants each of us to be alone.

That's His goal.

Jesus is all about communion, bringing us together.

And we talk about communion, like holy communion, it's with God and with one another.

It's also a source of strength.

So in this scene, Jesus in the desert, key line of the Gospel, the first phrase, filled with the Holy Spirit.

That's what prompted him or helped him to go without food for 40 days.

And then he was hungry, duh.

But he's filled with the Spirit and there is strength in fasting.

So we're with him starting this fast.

and being a little bit more alert to temptation and a little more strength, especially with this help today in the Eucharist, kind of leveling us up with the Holy Spirit to have

that not only strength but wisdom to see these mirages in our lives and to resist temptation.