TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS, Matthew 4.1-11

Meeting 1 - 26 Feb

 

Isaac of Syria 7th century

 

Regarding Temptations

 

Pray lest you enter into temptations of the soul. But for those of the body, make ready with all your strength and swim in them with every limb and muscle. Indeed apart from them it is not possible for you to draw near to God, for within them lies divine rest.

 

Whoever flees from temptation – not from temptation of desires but from tribulations – flees from virtue….

 

What virtue is accomplished without temptations? Or what temptation is more serious than the loss which He commands us to undergo for his sake? “He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Mt. 10.38)),” and “Lead us not into temptation”; but throughout his teaching is scattered the entrance into temptations. For he has said: “Without temptations the kingdom of heaven will not be found (Luke 22.28; Acts 14.22). 

 

About which Temptations Must We Pray Not To Enter?

 

Pray that you do not enter temptation about your faith.

Pray that through your mind’s self-confidence you do not enter into 

    temptation with the demon of blasphemy and pride.

Pray that you do not enter into the manifest temptations of the senses which Satan knows how to bring upon you, when God permits him, on 

    account of the foolish opinions you have devised.

Pray that the [Angel] witness of chastity not withdraw from you and you be 

    tempted into the flams of sin and be separated from him. 

Pray that you do not enter into the temptation of being contemptuous of 

    anything. 

 

Pray therefore, that you do not enter into the temptations of the soul; 

namely, those which place the soul in struggle, in doubt and in 

provocations. But for those of the body, be ready with your whole body and with all your members, and swim with your eyes full of tears so that you may be found to b with your guardian [angel] amidst them. For without temptations God’s providence is not perceived, and familiarity with Him is not acquired, and wisdom of spirit is not learned and the love of God is not rooted in the soul.

 

Before being tempted one prays to God as a stranger. But when one has entered tribulations because of his love and has not undergone change, then, one who has laid obligations on God, he is considered God’s housemate and friend, who has contended for the sake of [God’s] will against the army of his enemies. This is the meaning of: “Lead us not into temptation.”

 

And again: Pray that you do not enter into temptations on account of your pride but rather because you love God, that his power may shine out in you. Pray that you not enter into these temptations because of the folly of your thoughts and our deeds, but that you may be proved a friend of God, and that his power may be glorified in your patience….

 

Furthermore, He uses this opportunity mercifully. If you consider the things of the body, you see that God gives heed to the weakness of nature, lest perhaps on account of the wretchedness of the body, we would not find strength before the violence of the temptations when they occur, and because of this also fall from truth when we are overcome by afflictions. Therefore He commands us insofar as possible one should not willfully let oneself fall into temptation. And not only this, but also, you should pray earnestly that you not be found intemptation by chance, if it is possible to please God without temptation.

 

But if it is necessary on account of great virtue that temptations assail, even the most terrible, and if only when one accepts them is it possible to achieve virtue, in this case it is not right for us to be partial to ourselves or to anyone. Not even because of fear may you abandon that great event upon which haggs the life of your soul, taking to disguise weakness…

 

Spring Bible Study - 12 May 2020

Spring Bible Study - 12 May 2020

Spring Bible Study - The Gospel Lesson for 17 May - 6th Sunday of Easter

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READINGS AND QUESTIONS FOR 10 MAY 20

John 14:15-21: The Upper Room Discourse

The Gospel reading for 17 May is a continuation of Jesus’ “Upper Room Discourse.” It is from the Gospel of John. It contains our Lord’s final words of instruction to his disciples before his impending arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and his death on Golgotha. We have been reading this discourse for a lot this Easter season in daily and Sunday Mass readings. It can be challenging to preach from the Upper Room Discourse because Jesus Christ says the same things in varied ways. Often it sounds like the same homily for every Mass! But that is not a bad thing. They are the last things our Lord wishes to impart to the disciples before his death and subsequent resurrection. Thus, they are very critical to our faith.

The reading:

Gospel  John 14:15-21

Jesus said to his disciples:
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

A.    [Jesus said to his disciples:] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

1.      The Bible was written in Ancient Greek. The Greek word for disciple is “matheetes” from which we get the word mathematician. Matheetes means “learner.” How are you a “learner” of Jesus Christ? How does failure and making mistakes fit into the idea of a disciple, a learner?

2.      What sorts of activities were the followers of Jesus involved in as his disciples? How did he teach them about the faith? (Remember there were more than twelve disciples who followed him.) What activities demonstrate you are a disciple?

3.      What exactly are Jesus’ commandments? What is the goal of them? What is the greatest commandment and how do you obey it?

4.      Why is obeying Jesus Christ evidence of our love for him? How does obedience relate to family and Church life?

5.      Does it mean we don’t love the Lord when we fail to keep his commandments, his words of instruction?

B.     “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him.”

1. An “advocate” is a defense attorney for somebody on trial. The term for it in NT Greek is “paraclete,” which is another title for the Holy Spirit. Jesus said he would give us “another paraclete.” Who then was our first advocate?

2. How is the Holy Spirit with us always?

3. How have you encountered the Holy Spirit in your life? This can be both in terms of sacraments of the Church as well as a personal experience.

4. How does the Spirit of truth relate the truth to us? Exactly what truth is Jesus talking about?

5. Jesus said to his disciples in last Sunday’s Gospel lesson, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” How does/did the Spirit express this truth to the world? What does this say about the words of Scripture in relation to the Spirit?

6. We live in a society that increasingly has no set understanding about truth, be it in overall truths concerning God and humanity, truths regarding morality, acceptance of scientific fact or the idea that truth does not change. How do we navigate these waters and respond to this “spirit of untruth”? How do you personally share this truth?

7. Has the Spirit of Christ ever corrected something you understood wrongly about God, yourself, the world? How did the Spirit reveal this to you?

8. Why doesn’t the world see and know the Spirit of truth?

9. What happens when one begins to see and know this Spirit? When did this happen to you? How ongoing is this revelation?

10. How does this Spirit of Truth lead you into all truth?

C.     “But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

1. What is the Lord talking about when he says you and I know him “because he remains with you, and will be in you”? How was the Spirit of truth with but not in them, and in what way was this experienced?

2. When did the Spirit come to be in them? Was this Spirit in Jesus as well? When did he receive this Spirit as a human being?

3. To what is Jesus referring when he said he wouldn’t abandon them (in death) but would come to them? Is he referring to his Resurrection or something else? After his Ascension into heaven, does he still come to us?

4. How does Jesus come to you personally? Also why would he do so, considering the billions of people in the world over the millennia? How can our personal relationship with him be so central to Jesus Christ?

5. The Lord is also speaking not just to individuals but to the Church over time. What confidence do Jesus’ words give us in relation to the truths the Church holds to (they are called “dogmas”)? [Hint: in 1 Timothy 3:15 St Paul writes, “But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.”]

6. How does faith work in seeing and knowing the truths the Holy Spirit brings the Church?

D.    Closing Thoughts

Look over the underlined portion of the Gospel from which the above questions are based. Given all we have talked about today, what is one thing you can take with you from this reading? What truth is the Spirit of truth showing you today?

Spring Bible Study - 5 May 2020

Spring Bible Study - The Gospel Lesson for 10 May - 5th Sunday of Easter

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READINGS AND QUESTIONS FOR 10 MAY 20

John 14:1-12: The Upper Room Discourse

[Jesus said to his disciples:]

1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.

a. In what circumstances do Jesus and the disciples find themselves?

b. What exactly is Jesus trying to convey to his disciples? Why is it so exceptional? Have you ever shared in an 'upper room discourse' with an acquaintance or family member?

c. Humanly speaking, what options are open to Jesus and his disciples at this point?

d. Look at Matthew 16:23 and relate it to next Sunday's Gospel passage:

21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. 22 Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” 23 He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

e. For what reasons is it so hard for the disciples to understand and accept what Jesus has always maintained about the result of his ministry? Can you relate this experience to that of your own? 

2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. 

f. What is 'my Father's house' and what are these 'dwelling places?' What do you know (or think you know) about these dwelling places? Look at 1 Cor. 2:9 and 1 John 3:2

g. What assurance does the Lord offer the disciples? What assurance does this bring you? 

h. Jesus always maintained a 'holy resignation' to the will of God. What does this mean for you and me and at what point can it be wrongly applied as a sense of 'fatalism' about life?

4 [Jesus said:] Where I am going you know the way.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

i. In v. 4, Jesus Christ again perplexes them when he says ,'...you know the way.' Does his response in v. 6 help explain what he means? These

j. These words are very similar to last Sunday's Gospel where Jesus said he was the gate for the sheep. Can you relate these two statements and apply them to yourself?

k. Notice Jesus speaks to us individually. How do we live through him? 

l. 'The Way,' was a name for believers who followed Jesus as the Messiah (see Acts 19:23). How do you encounter the Lord Jesus as 'the Way and the Truth and the Life?' For example, how does the Lord correct you with the truth when you are mistaken, how does he show you the way? how do you experience the life that he offers you daily?

7 If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 

8 Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 

m. What is Jesus telling his disciples in v. 7? What does he mean when he says 'From now on'? How is 'now' different from 'previously'? 

n. Can you 'flesh out' (literally) what Jesus is telling his disciples in v. 9? (Bear in mind John 1:18 tells us No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.)

o. Do these words give you the comfort Jesus was offering his disciples? Explain.

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. 

11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. 

p. How do these verses further explain what Jesus means when he says to see him is to see the Father?

q. What exactly does it mean to be saved in the context of our relationship with the Father and the Son? How do they relate to Jesus assuring them of their dwelling in his Father's house in v. 2?

12 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.

r. Perhaps immediately we think of the great works of the apostles in Book of Acts after reading v. 12. But is this what the Lord is referring to? What works are they that we are to do?
s. How does Jesus 'going to the Father' influence the greatness of the works of The Way? What event is he perhaps referring to?

Spring Bible Study

Topic: Spring Bible Study

Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Next Meeting: 5 May 2020 - Looking at Gospel for 10 May (5th Sunday of Easter)

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Gospel of John 14:1-12
(Questions will be posted by 3 May 2020

GospelJN 14:1-12“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.”
Jesus said to his disciples:

The Last Rite

Inside the accidental chapel,

linked to monitors and IV tubes,

the sacred Host reposes

in a living tabernacle

young, pale, fragile.

Masks and gloves and aprons keep

germs of humanity from

weakening her further -

if that matters anymore.

The demon crucifies her flesh and bones,

pins arms and legs

to the mattress of a metal bed

where sores and aches

afflict her Lazarus body

beneath its leaden weight.

Her eyes say

she will seek her

Passion, add substance to the

theories we received.

With trepidation she awaits

the unrelenting emancipation

(so hopeful, so beautiful amid such gravity,

one must believe).

Oil of God is spread upon her pallid brow,

transcendent words usher her

towards the deep unknown.

She turns her fretful, hopeful mind towards

the dread cacophony that utters night,

awaits the dawn that from on high shall break

upon a better place

of enduring peace.

From T.S. Eliot's 'Little Gidding'

“You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid.”