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Homily for First Sunday of Lent, Year (B)
for St. Anthony Messenger Press Lenten Audio Series

by
Most Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk
Three Temptations of Christ
The Gospel reading for this First Sunday of Lent brings us
two questions. The first question is, Why was Jesus tempted by
the devil? Wasnt he the Son of God, of the same substance with
the Father, God from God, light from light? Why should Jesus
have to struggle with the wiles of the evil one?
Well, Jesus was tempted by the devil for the same reason
that he was baptized by John: because he was a human being. When
Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptized in the Jordan by John, it
was in order to associate himself with the religious currents of
His time. He didnt need the remission of sin as the others did
who came to John for Baptism. Jesus was sinless, but he was
human, and he wanted to be seen and known as sharing the human
experiences of ordinary men and women. Insofar as it was
possible for him, Jesus wanted to be just like everybody else.
Thats why he shared in the Baptism of John.
And, thats also why Jesus allowed himself to be tempted by
Satan. Every human being has experienced the lure of evil.
Every human being has been invited to turn his or her back to God
and walk the path of self-indulgence and arrogance that Adam and
Eve opened up for their descendants. One would not really be

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human if one had never had any contact whatsoever with the
attractiveness of sin. Thats why Jesus went off to the desert:
to give the devil his chance, to experience the appeal of evil
that infects every human being.
The Gospels of Matthew and of Luke tell us about Jesus
temptations in greater detail than does the Gospel of Mark that
we read in this Year B. The devil tempts Jesus with comfort,
inviting him to provide bread for himself from the stones. The
devil tempts Jesus with easy success, urging him to throw himself
down from the temple and everybody would admire him. The devil
tempts Jesus with power. He offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the
earth if Jesus would give himself over to the devil. And Jesus
resists them all. It was a time of danger and threat for him, in
the midst of the wildness of the beasts. Yet, as the text says,
the angels ministered to him. They protected him and guided
him in the desert just as the Israelites in the exodus has been
protected and guided in the desert by the Lord.
Jesus was tempted by the devil because he was a human being,
fully human like the rest of us, though unwounded by sin. Thats
the answer to our first question.
The second question that this reading raises is about us.
Why does the Church give us the narrative of the temptation of
Jesus every year on the First Sunday of Lent? One would think
that there might be some other aspect of Jesus life that would
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be more appropriate for the beginning of the penitential season
perhaps His Baptism, or Jesus teaching about the need for loving
our neighbor? No, what the Church is teaching us here is that,
during Lent, we are supposed to do the same thing Jesus did; that
is, we are supposed to go apart from our ordinary life and face
up to the evil that threatens us. We are supposed to acknowledge
that the devil is after us and that we need to respond and react
to the devils overtures.
The temptations that threaten us dont come in the same
lurid forms in which Matthew and Luke show us the temptations of
Jesus, but Jesus temptations and ours are basically the same.
We are all tempted to comfort, not the ordinary comfort that God
means us to have, but the comfort that we achieve through
selfishness and indulgence. We are all tempted to success, to be
somebody, no matter what the cost. We are all tempted to power:
to run things, to run people, to be in charge. These are basic
human desires, desires that we are inclined to answer at any
cost, no matter what it takes. These are inclinations that we
need to be aware of, inclinations that we need to confront.
By giving us the narrative of Jesus temptations at the
beginning of each Lent, the Church is calling us to come to grips
with the temptations that afflict each one of us. Lent is
supposed to be a kind of desert that we enter each year, a place
where we face up to the evil that afflicts us from outside us as
3
well as the evil that afflicts us from inside. Unlike Jesus, we
are sinners. We have given in, in great things or small, to the
self-destructive attractions that the devil presented to Jesus.
We need to acknowledge that and we need to do something about it.
Dealing with our sinfulness is not something we take on
gladly; its not something we do with enthusiasm. To admit that
there is evil in our lives is already distasteful. To try to
eradicate it is harder still. Yet unless we are realistic about
our condition, we will remain detached from the life that the
Lord intends us to live; we will remain weakened in our sharing
in the life of Christ.
We are all among the wild beasts like Jesus was in the
wilderness. But just as Jesus was in the wilderness in order to
experience our full humanity, so also Jesus will be with us as we
strive to come to grips with the same kinds of temptations that
he endured.
Being a Catholic Christian believer involves living the life
of Christ. During Lent the Church invites us to live with Jesus
in his desert experience, to undergo trial with him and to come
out of the desert at the end, ready to share a time of
fulfillment with him in the kingdom of God.

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Homily for First Sunday of Lent, Year (B)

for St. Anthony Messenger Press Lenten Audio Series

Three Temptations of Christ

The Gospel reading for this First Sunday of Lent brings us

have to struggle with the wiles of the evil one?

that he was baptized by John: because he was a human being. When

Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptized in the Jordan by John, it

was in order to associate himself with the religious currents of

human, and he wanted to be seen and known as sharing the human

experiences of ordinary men and women. Insofar as it was

possible for him, Jesus wanted to be just like everybody else.

Thats why he shared in the Baptism of John.

And, thats also why Jesus allowed himself to be tempted by

Satan. Every human being has experienced the lure of evil.

Eve opened up for their descendants. One would not really be

attractiveness of sin. Thats why Jesus went off to the desert:

to give the devil his chance, to experience the appeal of evil

that infects every human being.

The Gospels of Matthew and of Luke tell us about Jesus

temptations in greater detail than does the Gospel of Mark that

we read in this Year B. The devil tempts Jesus with comfort,

the angels ministered to him. They protected him and guided

protected and guided in the desert by the Lord.

Jesus was tempted by the devil because he was a human being,

the answer to our first question.

The second question that this reading raises is about us.

Why does the Church give us the narrative of the temptation of

our neighbor? No, what the Church is teaching us here is that,

up to the evil that threatens us. We are supposed to acknowledge

to the devils overtures.

The temptations that threaten us dont come in the same

lurid forms in which Matthew and Luke show us the temptations of

means us to have, but the comfort that we achieve through

selfishness and indulgence. We are all tempted to success, to be

somebody, no matter what the cost. We are all tempted to power:

to run things, to run people, to be in charge. These are basic

human desires, desires that we are inclined to answer at any

cost, no matter what it takes. These are inclinations that we

need to be aware of, inclinations that we need to confront.

By giving us the narrative of Jesus temptations at the

beginning of each Lent, the Church is calling us to come to grips

with the temptations that afflict each one of us. Lent is

supposed to be a kind of desert that we enter each year, a place

where we face up to the evil that afflicts us from outside us as

are sinners. We have given in, in great things or small, to the

self-destructive attractions that the devil presented to Jesus.

We need to acknowledge that and we need to do something about it.

Dealing with our sinfulness is not something we take on

gladly; its not something we do with enthusiasm. To admit that

there is evil in our lives is already distasteful. To try to

eradicate it is harder still. Yet unless we are realistic about

Lord intends us to live; we will remain weakened in our sharing

in the life of Christ.

wilderness. But just as Jesus was in the wilderness in order to

experience our full humanity, so also Jesus will be with us as we

strive to come to grips with the same kinds of temptations that

Being a Catholic Christian believer involves living the life

of Christ. During Lent the Church invites us to live with Jesus