Good looking stuff

applesLent is here. On the first weekend of Lent, our readings direct us to look at temptation. The first (Hebrew scripture) reading is the Adam and Eve sin story. Of course, the first thing to note is the word “story;” we don’t think the first homo sapiens lived in a paradise, spoke in complete sentences, and talked to snakes! There are a lot of lessons in this teaching story, but one is that when a temptation comes along, it always looks good to us! Eve saw that “the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” The same thing is true in the Gospel when Jesus is tempted. He is tempted to use his power for himself to enjoy food (meet his material needs), to get acclaim, to become dominant over other powerful people — all things that look good to us humans! Later in Christian history, the great theologian Augustine reflected on how temptations make something look so good that is becomes difficult to choose the greater good — God. Verify this from some time in your life when you made a choice you now regret. What was the good you were going after? What things look so good to you today that they tempt you? Good reflections to start Lent!

– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia

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