Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
Temptation is not necessarily something we talk a whole lot about. And yet, there is much discussion of temptation in the New Testament. Now that we're back in Ordinary time, we will be focusing on the Letter of St. James for a little while, and his letter is great for practical information on how to live the Christian life. In today's first reading from James, one of the bits of advice we encounter is to persevere in temptation. He makes it clear that God is not the one tempting us, so we should not blame God when we are tempted to sin.
The other things we should keep in mind, is that we all sin in some way, but we often struggle with different sins. For some, anger is one of our major struggles. For others it's lust. Still others struggle with pride. The list goes on and on, and for most of us, we struggle with some combination of sins. For some, the struggle may not be so much active sins as passive sins. Perhaps we live fairly "good" and "moral" lives, but we might notice, if we really reflect and pray about it, that we do not always do the good that we should, even if we do a fair job of avoiding the bad.
In all of these matters, and more, St. James is telling us that we need to persevere in temptation. What is temptation? Well, temptation tends to be experienced as the desire or pull to commit sins, whether active or passive. Perhaps we encounter a situation where we could help, but we have a desire to remain hidden or to not get involved. That is an example of the temptation in which St. James exhorts us to persevere. We must resist such temptation, and get into the mix of things and offer our help.
Perhaps we are tempted to get angry and lash out against someone, either verbally, physically, or just lash out at them in our own imagination...this should be resisted. Perhaps we are tempted to look lustfully at someone else using our imagination, or viewing pornography, or using another primarily in order to receive sexual pleasure. As with the temptation to anger, this should be resisted. Often the best way to persevere in such situations (especially with sins of anger or lust, but also gluttony and related sins), is to avoid situations that we know might tempt us. Perhaps this means avoiding spending time with certain people for a while if we know they frequenty make us angry (rationally or irrationally so). Perhaps we need to use the internet in public places only. Perhaps we should limit the alone time we spend with our boyfriend or girlfriend. All of these are ways of persevering in temptation. Avoidence of temptation can often be an important way to such perseverance.
Most of us probably struggle with some form of selfishness. A great way to persevere in the temptation to be selfish, is to consciously think of ways to inconvenience ourselves to do something kind for others. Penances in general, like fasting from food for short periods of time to devote to prayer, acts of service, alms giving in the form of money, and prayer in general, are great ways to help persevere in temptation. Lent is such a wonderful season to learn perseverance in temptation. We've been through Lent and Easter as well. Empowered by the feast of Pentecost which we've so recently celebrated, let us pick one sin in our life that we think we could work on, especially during this long season of Ordinary time. A great way to receive the grace we need to persevere in temptation, is through the Sacrament of Confession. Frequent reception of the Eucharist is also an essential in this spiritual life.
Let us especially make Confession a regular part of our spiritual life. Remember that James is the same New Testament letter that exhorts us to "confess your sins to one another" (James 5:16). Also, let's make an attempt to not get too down on ourselves if our struggles seem to be difficult, and if we find ourselves failing again and again. Rather, let us persevere, bring our sins to God and to Confession, and fight the good fight, trusting that the Lord will help us.
Jeff Morrow