In the Gospel of Luke (4:1-13) this weekend we are transported to the Mt of Temptations near Jericho. While we are not sure of the exact location, that is the exact “mountain”, we do know that Jesus was in the Wadi Qelt desert near Jericho, a desert that is very barren--dry and rugged--not an easy place in which to be.

If you Google it you will see photos that illus-trate how desolate it is and perhaps you can have a greater appreciation for how difficult it must have been for Jesus, the human person, to deal with the lo-cation and the temptations he faced. It is hot, very dry and He must have been drained after 40 days with any sustenance.

During this time in the dessert Jesus is tempted by power, pleasure and fame--temptations that still today draw many people into, to paraphrase St Paul, those things that cause us to do the things we would normally not do and to not do that which we would normally do.
But in the desert Jesus renews His identity as the beloved Son of God and embraces God’s Will as well as His own humanity. He chooses God’s Will or as we would say today, the Righteous thing (Right-eous defined as doing what God wants us to do as op-posed to doing that which we call “good”).

As we listen to the Lukan Gospel and consider those things which temp us today in our own lives: gossip, destructive words aimed at demeaning others, in choosing to be unfaithful to our spouses or families (one in the same, I guess), considering ourselves over all others--especially when we have the opportunity and the ability to act righteously, or choosing addic-tions whether to alcohol- or drug- or pornography-related, or any other temptations that comes our way--and then consider these temptations in light of our identity as Christian Disciples. The question to ask ourselves when faced with a temptation is this: What will my free choice be? Will I choose my identity as a child of God--baptized into His Eternal Love or will I chose to turn away from the Truth and what I have been called to be?

Let us not forget what Baptism does for us. It does not mean that we are now loved by God--on the day of our Baptism--no, we were loved by God before we were created in our mother’s womb as we have been known by God and called into Being for a specif-ic purpose in His plan for salvation. Baptism gives us a supernatural grace that makes an indelible mark on our soul, enabling us to freely choose, as we grow in faith, to love God back. To serve Him in this world, after being fortified by the Sacraments of the Church which Christ initiated and gave to His Church for all ages, these Sacramental Graces give us the power to come to Know God, to come to Love God and then to Serve God in this world (choosing the righteous things to do in the life) so that we may live with Him eternally in glory.

This supernatural grace opens our hearts and minds to His Wisdom and His Courage, calling us to join Him in His wonderful plan of salvation which He offers to all who choose to be with Him.

During this Lenten time let us ask in prayer that our hearts are open to the Lord’s abundant graces, constantly offered to us--and saying “yes” to His grace, that our hearts are conformed to His and then our ac-tions are transformed into the corporal and spiritual works of Mercy, which shall enable us to renew our identity as Christians and which is the hallmark and tradition of our Catholic Church: Bringing His Divine Life to everyday human life.