Deuteronomy 26:4-10 / Romans 10:8-13 / Luke 4:1-13
Generally speaking, we don't have enemies in that sense of the word. Unless we are talking about a war, where the enemy is all out to kill and to destroy, and will be merciless and brutal.
No, by and large, we don't have that kind of enemies, though there could be people who dislike us and are against us. But they would not think of killing us.
But when we think deeper about it, there is an unseen and a very dangerous enemy who is all out to harm us and destroy us.
We are talking about none other than the devil and his agents. The devil will use all means to deceive us, to tempt us, to lure us, to trap us and eventually to drag us into hell.
Just to think that there is such a vicious and dangerous enemy around can be quite frightening, and we should be afraid of the devil because he is real.
But at the same time, we believe in God who is Almighty and we take refuge in God and He will certainly protect and guard us against the devil.
As we begin the season of Lent, the Opening Prayer of the Ash Wednesday Mass says this: “As we take up battle against spiritual evils, may we be armed with the weapons of self-restraint.”
On this 1st Sunday of Lent, we hear Jesus taking up the battle as He faced the three temptations of the devil.
Jesus overcame each temptation and exhausted the devil, but that was not the end of the war. The battle will continue all the way to the Cross.
As for us, the battle will be in the fields and the nooks and corners of our lives.
God will give us strength and He will train us to prepare our arms for battle and our hearts for war.
We draw strength from God with the three spiritual exercises of Lent, and that is prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
The devil tempted Jesus with the basic human needs for food, the desire for glory and power, and to put God to the test.
The three spiritual exercises are weapons of self-restraint and self-control. With that we let God be our shield and our armour against the devil.
But the devil knows our weaknesses, and he will do everything to break through our defences in order to destroy us.
But as much as the devil is our greatest enemy, there is also another enemy that we need to be aware of. And that enemy is none other than ourselves.
Oh yes, we are actually our greatest enemy. Because it is up to us to decide to say “Yes” to God or “Yes” to the devil.
The devil became who he is because he said “No” to God and it is an eternal and irreversible “No”.
And the devil will always tempt us to say “No” to God and to drop the weapons of self-restraint and self-control.
We say “No” to God when we hunger and desire for attention and glory for ourselves.
We say “No” to God when we are prideful and want to win every discussion and argument and put others down in order to be looked up to.
We say “No” to God when we are selfish and self-centred and harbour anger and resentment against others.
But Jesus, in the gospel, taught us to say “Yes” to God. It is with obedience and humility that we say “Yes” to God and overcome the devil's temptations.
Let us take up the weapons of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, so that we can have self-restraint and self-control.
Let us say “Yes” to God and follow Jesus as He leads us into the battle, a battle that will end in victory at the cross.