Burning Strength Homilies

On this first Sunday of Lent, we find Jesus entering into his own time of preparation He knows that it is now the time that he has to begin his public ministry But he isn’t quite ready yet So he goes into the desert to get away from the world To get away from distractions and temptations Only… he does encounter a big distraction And he is tempted Somewhat midway through his time in the desert, Jesus encounters Satan Satan believes that he can get Jesus to fall into temptation because he is vulnerable He’s hungry and tired So the first temptation here is a temptation of the flesh Food was something that his body was telling him he wanted Yet the food that Jesus sought in the desert was not physical in origin He wanted to gain spiritual strength He had been training his will When Jesus declines this, Satan tempts Jesus with power Promising to give him all that he sees from the high mountain But Jesus knows that wealth and popularity are not going to make him happy He went into the desert to