The readings for today’s Mass are exceptionally rich and
could be the subject of several week’s worth of lectures, so we will have to
limit ourselves today to a few central themes.
The First Reading is the account of the Fall, in which Eve,
followed by Adam, gives in to temptation by eating the fruit of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil. This Reading sets up Adam as a foil for Jesus, who will be tempted in three ways in the desert.
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.
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.
The classic scriptural formulation of the nature of
temptation is found in 1 John 2:15-16:
Do
not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love
for the Father is not in him. For all
that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life, is not of the
Father but is of the world.
In the Christian tradition, this threefold love of the
world—Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes, and Pride of Life—is known as the
threefold concupiscence, and lines up roughly with the sins of (physical) lust,
avarice (greed), and pride.
We see this threefold pattern at work when Eve gives in to
temptation:
The woman saw that the tree was (1) good for food,
(2) pleasing to the eyes, and (3) desirable for gaining wisdom.
(2) pleasing to the eyes, and (3) desirable for gaining wisdom.
“Good for food”—this is physical lust. “Pleasing to the eye”—this is avarice, the
desire to have more, to possess things for their beauty or value. “Desirable for gaining wisdom”—this is pride,
because the purpose for gaining wisdom is to make herself equal to God. As the serpent says, “You will be like God”
(RSV).
Although Eve is the one tempted into sin according to the
narrative, the biblical and post-biblical tradition often attributes the Fall
just as much, or even primarily, to Adam, probably because he was considered
“head of the family,” and should have known better. Many English translations inexplicably omit the phrase "who was with her" in the narrative above, but our Mass translation has it, thus emphasizing his complicity with Eve's sinful act.
P. The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 51, the most famous psalm of
penitence in the psalter, recited every Friday in the Liturgy of the Hours:
Responsorial Psalm Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
R/ (cf. 3a) Be merciful, O Lord,
for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R/ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
By tradition, David wrote this psalm after his sin with
Bathsheba. David was a New Adam figure
in his own right. He was a royal priest
(wearing an ephod in 2 Samuel 6:14;
see also Psalm 110) and king of creation (see Psalm 89:19-37). Like Adam and Eve of old, he fell to the
threefold concupiscence (see 2 Sam 11), first ogling the beautiful Bathsheba
(Lust of the Eyes), then sleeping with her (Lust of the Flesh), then being too
proud to admit wrongdoing, but instead committing murder to hide his sin
(Pride). Like Adam (Hosea 6:7), David
was the recipient of a divine covenant (see 2 Sam 7:4-17; Ps 89:28, etc.), who
promptly broke his covenant relationship by sin. David represents an advance over Adam,
however, inasmuch as David repents with great contrition (2 Sam 12:13-16, Psalm
51). David prayers for a “clean heart”
and a “new spirit” within him, which is an anticipation of the cleansing of our
hearts by the Holy Spirit through baptism in the New Covenant (Acts
2:37-38). The sacrament was not
available to David but he longed for its reality.
2. Our Second Reading is Romans 5:12-19. This is a rare instance in which the Second Reading has been specifically chosen for this Lord's Day in order to fit the theme of the Liturgy. St. Paul explicitly
sets up a typological relationship between Adam and Christ:
Reading 2 Rom 5:12-19
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 up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.
But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one, the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned.
For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation;
but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.
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.
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.
But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one, the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned.
For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation;
but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.
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.
This passage
illustrates what I said above about Adam being attributed primary
responsibility in the Fall. Be that as
it may, the Church is calling our attention to the parallel between the Fall
and Christ’s victory over temptation.
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.
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.
The “gift of
justification” usually means different things to Protestants and
Catholics. For many Protestants,
“justification” is more or less synonymous with “forgiveness” or “acquital” in
the divine court, i.e. justification is juridical. For Catholics, “justification” is an actual
“making just,” a changing of our very nature, i.e. justification is
ontological. So, just as Adam changed
human nature by his sin, corrupting it and passing it down to his descendants,
those who have faith in Christ experience an actual change in our nature (justification) which enables us to live lives
of righteousness.
St. Paul’s words in
this passage remind us of how dependent we are on Christ for our Lenten
observances to have any spiritual effect.
By themselves, practices like fasting and almsgiving do not necessarily
effect our souls. There are plenty of
people, for example, who have experienced hunger and yet have remained bitter
or selfish; likewise many have given away money, or had it taken away, without
experiencing spiritual transformation.
Our Lenten efforts are not effective by themselves. They are only effective when we unite our
small, token efforts with the work of Jesus.
His redemption infuses our humble efforts with meaning, value, and
effectiveness.
G. Our Gospel is the Account of the Temptation in the Wilderness from St. Matthew:
Gospel 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.
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.
The temptations
follow the pattern of the threefold concupiscence. First, there is the Lust of the Flesh: “Turn
these stones to bread!” Our Lord was
certainly hungry after forty days of fasting.
He was likely in physical pain as his body, having used up fat reserves,
was beginning to break down his muscle tissue to stay alive. Fresh baked bread would sound very good to a
starving man .... And yet Our Lord knew
that the use of his divine powers to spare himself the suffering of the human
condition was not the will of his Father.
Next is the Pride of Life.
“Throw yourself down from the temple and let the angels catch you!” This was the temptation to perform a public
stunt which would lead to fame and celebrity status. Jesus would be an instant national
sensation. Yet Our Lord knew his mission
was one of humility.
Finally comes the Lust of the Eyes. The devil “showed him all the kingdoms of
their world and their glory (or ‘riches’).”
So much could be gained with such a small act of worship—and think of
the good Jesus could do as ruler of all these earthly kingdoms!
In each of these cases, Jesus opposes the temptation by
quoted from Scripture, specifically the Book of Deuteronomy, the quintessential
“Law of Moses.”
A subtheme of this passage—besides Jesus overturning, as it
were, our first parents capitulation to the threefold concupiscence—is the
idea of Jesus as the new Son of David, one greater than Solomon.
Solomon was charged to keep the Law of Moses (1 Kings
2:1-4), which gave specified three prohibitions for the king to observe (do not
multiply horses, gold or wives; Deut 17:14-17).
Solomon later spectacularly broke the three prohibitions of the Law of
Moses (see 2 Kings 10:14-11:8), which, by the way, correspond to the threefold
concupiscence (Lust of the Flesh=wives, Lust of the Eyes=gold, Pride of
Life=horses [i.e. military power and arrogance]). Jesus is the better Son of David, who upholds
the Law of Moses three times to undo the threefold capitulation of the first
Son of David.
We as Christians are called to overcome, as Jesus did, the
Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and Pride. Those in the religious life do so in a
radical way, as they vow to follow the three “evangelical counsels”=poverty,
obedience, and chastity. Chastity
involves the putting to death (mortification) of Lust of the Flesh. Poverty mortifies the Lust of the Eyes. Obedience mortifies Pride—it’s hard to be
proud when you are obeying someone else (in poverty, too, no less).
It strikes me as odd that Evangelicals do not practice the
“evangelical counsels.” Despite the
emphasis on “being Biblical” and even “taking the Bible literally” in some
quarters of Protestantism, you find almost no Protestants taking literally
Jesus’ call to celibacy (becoming a “eunuch” for the sake of the Kingdom; see
Matt 19:12) or poverty (“sell all that you have and come, follow me ...”; see
Matt 19:21). These words of Jesus are
followed radically only by the religious within the ancient Churches (Catholic
and Orthodox).
But the mortification of the threefold concupiscence is not
just for monks, nuns, and priests.
According to our state in life, all of us have to overcome this
temptation to sin. Our traditional
Lenten disciplines (Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving) are intended to help us in
this. Fasting mortifies Lust of the
Flesh. Almsgiving mortifies Lust of the
Eyes (greed, avarice). And prayer
mortifies Pride, by acknowledging our dependence on God (“give us our daily
bread ...”; Matt 6:11) and submitting our will to His (“Thy will be done ...”;
Matt 6:10). Let’s unite our efforts to
Jesus powerful work of redemption by faith, and let his Spirit work in us this
Lent through the means our Lenten disciplines. In this way, we will become kings in the image of Christ the King—or better, we will share in Christ's kingship over our lives.
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