First reading Genesis 2:7-9,3:1-7
The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.
Now the serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman answered the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, “You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death.” ‘ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.
Psalm or canticle: Psalm 50:3-6,12-14,17
Second reading Romans 5:12-19
Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long before the Law was given. There was no law and so no one could be accused of the sin of ‘law-breaking’, yet death reigned over all from Adam to Moses, even though their sin, unlike that of Adam, was not a matter of breaking a law.
Adam prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably outweighed the fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift. The results of the gift also outweigh the results of one man’s sin: for after one single fall came judgement with a verdict of condemnation, now after many falls comes grace with its verdict of acquittal. If it is certain that death reigned over everyone as the consequence of one man’s fall, it is even more certain that one man, Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign in life who receives the free gift that he does not deserve, of being made righteous. Again, as one man’s fall brought condemnation on everyone, so the good act of one man brings everyone life and makes them justified. As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Gospel Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry, and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.’ But he replied, ‘Scripture says:
Man does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw yourself down; for scripture says:
He will put you in his angels’ charge,
and they will support you on their hands
in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says:
You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘I will give you all these’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet and worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For scripture says:
You must worship the Lord your God,
and serve him alone.’
Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.
Reflection
By Pam Manzano
I worked in several call centers here in the Philippines while I am on LOA in college. As we all know, working as an agent in BPO companies require extensive trainings not just in product knowledge but in working social and emotional skills as well. Of all the fancy trainings and sessions I have attended, one that really caught my attention was the one given by our HR manager in the last call center I have worked with.
Anger is an easy escape in an agent’s life. Calls easily come and go but the stress and intolerance in each of the calls are escalating. At the end of the day, an agent is affected, in one way or another, if he does not know how to manage stress and let go of each calls as easily as they have to.
The talk given to us is entitled Anger Management 101. We, the agents, were given scenarios and asked to respond to each one as we would if it is an actual call. As I have said above, anger is inevitable especially if the caller is irate and is hitting us below the belt, or so we thought. We responded in a way that a normal person would respond if ridiculed or “mis-calculated”. We were not surprised of how we reacted because for us, it is just normal. What we were actually looking forward to was how the HR manager himself would react and give feedbacks regarding our answers.
“Do you want to know what is an easy way to manage your anger and live a life full of happiness?”, the manager asked. Of course we all do! What surprises us is his answer: “Then just don’t get angry”. He said it will make all the difference; and he got us right there.
Jesus was tested and tempted three times in the Gospel and never once did He succumb to any of those three. Power, pride, and glory wer offered to Him by the devil but Jesus stood firm in His faith in the Father and fixed His eyes on the mission He has been given. In the end, the devil lost the battle and flew away from Jesus. The Jesus we saw in the Gospel was totally human, with His hunger and fatigue, He can be easily tempted by the devil but showed that He could resist sin and eventually triumph over death.
When things go the way we do not want it to, just don’t get angry. When we are tempted to do things we know is not right, just don’t give in. We have been given the law, we should live with it. We have the power to resist temptation and worldly desires and we have the right to exercise that power.
Putting an end to this week’s God-speak article, a challenge was given to us by the Gospel: Will you resist temptation and live forever with God or will you not?
Father, as we enter the season of lent, let Your words and wisdom be our guide. Fix our eyes on You that we may not be blinded by this world’s riches, Amen.
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