So Jesus is in the desert for 40 days, eating nothing, and obviously at the end of that, “he was hungry” so it makes sense that the first temptation that the devil throws at Him is to use his power as the Son of God to make food, to make bread out of stones.

 

The devil probably thinks that Jesus is most susceptible to this food temptation, especially considering that a food temptation was the downfall of Adam, so Jesus, being the new Adam, has to reverse this curse which Adam has put on us, by saying no to this temptation concerning food.

 

During Lent we often give up food, that’s a common fasting “thing” that we do.  Sometimes others will give us a hard time for that, oh you are only giving up pop, or sugar, or chocolate, insinuating that it is kind of lame, something that we do every year, and it doesn’t seem very spiritual.

 

But realistically, our stomach is a really big driver in our life, and we need to reign it in at some level.  I know in my case, two weeks ago, when I was going home just for the day for a birthday party for my niece, she turned two years old, I stopped at Hartig Drug and got some treats.

 

When I go to see my family, especially my sisters, but sometimes my mom and my Grandma’s too, I stop at Hartig’s to get them Cinnamon Bread from Sinsinawa.  They love it, my nieces and nephews especially, they call it “Uncle Andy’s Bread.”

 

But this time when I stopped, I also grabbed myself a small package of Gremlins from Betty Jane Candies.  I think Gremlins are the best, but it was really unlike me to get some for myself, sometimes I buy them for others, sometimes they are given to me as a gift, but it is unusual for me to just buy some for myself.  

 

In short, I fell to that food temptation. I am not sure what I was feeling that I bought them, but now I am driving home, eating one Gremlin, two Gremlins, three Gremlins… I’m going, “you know what, probably not the best thing, especially for a guy who had just played soccer a couple days before and realized how out of shape I actually am…” 

 

But this happens because I give in to the desires of my stomach occasionally, or more than occasionally, so I need to curb that, I need to have more discipline.  This food temptation is not new to me or anyone, it has been going on from the beginning, it’s a real temptation from the evil one.  

 

Think about Adam, he lived in the Garden of Eden, he had everything he wanted, he didn’t even have to work for it.  Working for the produce came after the fall, he had everything he wanted except there was this one fruit of the tree in the middle of the Garden that God had told them not to eat, and he still wanted that.

 

The Church gives us Lent to help us reign in our stomach, to say no to these temptations, to make some sort of a sacrifice, to enter into the desert to be with Jesus, to learn from Him, to be strengthened by Him.

 

Why do we do what we do?  I asked that question in my homily on Ash Wednesday, it’s important to reflect on this question in regards to what we do in the church, lest we just become complacent and go through the motions: Why do we do what we do? 

Speaking of sacrifice, and “why we do what we do” - abstaining from meat on Friday is meant to be a sacrifice.  You might know that before Vatican II, every Friday of the year Catholics were supposed to abstain from meat, remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on Good Friday, right?

 

After Vatican II it changed that we only had to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, but it didn’t change that we were supposed to do a different sacrifice on Fridays, but we could choose what exactly we’d do ourselves.  I think most people, often myself included, choose to do nothing.  I just forget, that is an area of growth for me.

 

One thing that comes to mind as something I could do would be to Pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday.  Friday is the traditional day for Stations, in fact, if you go to Jerusalem, the Franciscans lead the Stations through the streets as close to where all of these events happened during Jesus’s suffering and death.  Highly recommend that.

 

This year, in talking with the Liturgy Committee, we decided to move the Stations to be on Friday where they traditionally are done, despite Nativity having the tradition of having them on Tuesday nights during Lent.

 

The immediate feedback I heard was, “That’s a terrible idea, nobody will come for stations and meatless soup.  Besides, how are we supposed to go to these fish frys all over Dubuque?”

 

Now, I’ll be honest, I love a good fish fry as much as anyone.  All you can eat fish, homemade desserts, what’s not to love?  But let’s be honest with each other, is this in the Spirit of Lent?  Is anyone fooled into thinking this is a sacrifice, two pounds of fish and three desserts later?

Why do we do what we do?

 

I get that these are great fundraisers for the church. And if you want to go and support the Knights of Columbus and that little church in Bankston, go, St. Clement probably makes budget for the entire year on that one night.  Good almsgiving even, I can see that argument.

 

But don’t act like it’s a penance to go and eat at a delicious fish fry. Nobody is fooled by that, especially not God. So if you want to do that, go for it, and find some other sacrifice to make on Friday, that is what is really important.  

 

Jesus is inviting us to enter into the desert this year, not the third dessert, to reign in our stomachs, because the temptations from the evil one only get more challenging.  The temptations for pleasure, power and prestige are all around us, and if we can’t say no to the little things, like dessert, the big things will certainly be more difficult and cause us to fall even harder.

 

Why do we do what we do?

 

Lent calls us to prioritize our time with God, to re-prioritize our lives if necessary, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Prayer helps us to get right with God.  Almsgiving helps us to get right with our neighbors. Fasting helps us to get right with ourselves.

 

It’s especially important to pick a fast that is a sacrifice, something that will help us grow in discipline, but then to fill that extra time we have with prayer.  

 

When we fast we remove something, we sacrifice something in our lives, and we replace it with something better, the only thing that will truly fulfill us in the end, that’s God, spending time with Him, getting to know His Word, so we don’t fall to the lies of the devil.  

 

Jesus was able to resist temptations because He knew God’s Word completely, His will was completely united to the Father’s, so Jesus didn’t fall for the half truths, the lies and misquoted scripture that the evil one tried to sell Him, just like Adam had fallen.

 

This is why we do what we do: to enter into a deeper relationship with God, being fed by His word, growing in holiness as we conform our lives and our will to His.  So, get in the habit of making a Lenten Sacrifice on Friday and keep it the rest of the year.  Maybe that is always eating fish.  Maybe that is going to the Stations of the Cross.  Maybe that is giving up chocolate. 

 

Whatever it is, look for a healthy and sustainable combination of prayer and fasting that draws you into the desert with Jesus, helping us to live confidently knowing, “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”