Daily Meditations for Lent 2006

Mar 5 - Sunday

Mark 1:12-15

Did you ever consider how relentlessly the devil, that “little voice of temptation,” tries to convince us to do the wrong thing? He makes one argument after another, all the time trying to get us to do the very thing that we don’t want to do—the very thing that we know is wrong.
Today’s Gospel tells us how Satan initiated an all-out attack on Jesus during his forty-day fast in the wilderness. He used every trick he could think of as he tried to lead Jesus into sin. The Gospel also tells us how the devil failed. Jesus simply would not give in.

Unfortunately, we are not always as successful as the Lord in repelling the devil’s attacks. We hear his niggling little voice operating and we try to resist it, but we still fall prey and are consumed by guilt.

Thank God for the Penitential Rite and the Sacrament of Reconciliation! Thank God that we can ask forgiveness at any point in our day by simply turning in prayer and repenting to the Lord! Thank God that the blood of Christ can reconcile us with our Father, no matter how severe the sin! Thank God he is so compassionate and merciful!

Let’s make it our goal this Lent to try to limit the devil’s inroads in our minds. It may be impossible to destroy his little voice until Jesus comes again, but we can minimize his impact. First, we can ask Jesus for his help each morning. He knows our weakness because he was tempted just as we are (Hebrews 4:15). And we can repent and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation whenever we fall. Nothing disarms the devil more than reliance on God’s grace and the gift of humble, honest repentance.

The more we resist the devil and say “no” to his little voice of temptation, the more we will grow strong in the Lord. And with every battle that we win, our confidence will grow. May we all come to know the sweet taste of victory!

“Lord, you know all about temptation. Help me to resist the temptations that the devil sends to me this day.”

posted by Thomas Cagurangan @ 6:13 PM