Tempt Not

Today’s Gospel Text:  And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 And the Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, 'Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Luke 17:1-6

Reflection: How often we make attempts to be free from the daily temptations of sin. Likewise those who are serious about their eternal salvation pray often that they be free from all temptations and that they be even delivered from it.

They not only pray for themselves but also for others too so that the others too may not enter into the eternal fires of hell as mentioned by Jesus and his disciples concerning deliberate offenders.  

Yet we are never free from the many temptations of sin. They keep assailing us in different ways, exerting all kinds of pressures on us to sin and to be involved in wrongdoing.

Some of the sinful temptations are more subtle and we may not be aware of the deviousness of our sinful actions without the explicit help of the Holy Spirit, who has also been given us to convict us of our sins.

Jesus never assures us a cozy life free from the temptations of sin:

Every moment we could be assailed with temptation to the sin of pride, to run away from God, to dabble in occult, hurt, unforgiveness, to hold on to bitterness, all sorts of lustful desires,  to be stuck in the guilt of our own sins, etc.,  etc.

As long as the evil one exists so too the enticement and the deception to sin will exist.  It is his job to deceive us and rob us of the eternal reward of eternal crown assured to all who follow Christ faithfully.

Hence all who choose to tempt others are either consciously or inadvertently being instruments of the evil one,

The worst form of deception would come from those who will be in positions of authority in the Church and dishing out a teaching that is contrary to the faith:

“Woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.” (vss. 1c – 2)

Prayer: Lord, may I always remain your instrument of grace and life for others and may I always have the help of your Holy Spirit to move away from every deception of sin and wrongdoing.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

The Struggle

Today’s Gospel Text: "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise replied, 'Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he replied, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Matt 25:1-13

Reflection:  How often we sit to pray and fall asleep? We could be criticized for it or we ourselves could wake up with guilt for not having spent quality time in prayer.

Similar could be our guilt in our fight against the temptations of daily life and we could suddenly find ourselves fallen from grace and end up with guilt and shame, sometimes depending on the public embarrassment it can bring us.

There is difference between a person deliberately walking in sin and the one’s struggling to overcome the daily temptation of life.

The parable tells us that we could be caught napping, but there could be hope for the struggler, because they, like the wise virgins, could be carrying some oil in their lamps through all their years of sincere struggle, so as to enable them to enter the bridegrooms presence.

A man who has struggled at the waters to swim, may fail many times but has a better hope if in troubled waters than a man who has never taken advantage of an opportunity that has come their way.

Oil is the outcome of the great effort due to the crushing of the seed. Likewise, each one has to be crushed in the oil press of the Lord and need to have enough of the oil, through their sincere struggle than the no struggle of a miserable sinner or a self-righteous man.

                                                                                                                        

Prayer: Lead me Lord, not into temptation but deliver me from every evil, each day as I labor in your holy presence and seek to do your will.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Tempt not the little One’s

Scripture: And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.  Luke 17:1-2

Reflection:  So often we pray the Lord’s Prayer; “lead me not into temptation but delver me from every evil.  Yet we find that it never seem to solve the problem of the innumerable temptations that assail us in daily life.  Nevertheless we should be praying against the temptations of daily life. May be we would be worse off without prayer. 

The Gospel reading of today cautions the little ones of Jesus that temptations are sure to come and will keep coming in daily life but woe to him by whom they may come. 

It is an assurance to the little ones that they are special and precious to him and those who come as instruments of the evil one to tempt them either through persecutions or other devious methods may face a severe judgment.

Prayer: Lord, help me remember that you are with me in a special way when I face the deliberate temptations of life through the wickedness of men.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us