Choosing between good & evil
AYOUNG man was constantly bedeviled by sensual thoughts. Remorseful, he consulted a priest-friend. “Don’t worry,” the priest assured him, “These thoughts pop out unexpectedly in our minds. They’re not sinful but merely temptations. The moment you start entertaining them, they become sinful. Did you entertain them?”
The young man paused, then sheepishly replied: “I did not entertain them, Father, but they entertained me!”
* * * Temptation is an ever-present reality in life. Even the Lord Jesus was tempted as the gospel of this first Sunday of Lent shows. (Read Matthew 4,1-11).
As Jesus withdrew to the wilderness for a retreat, he encountered Satan who offered him the ultimate in power, money, and material comforts.
* * * The offer was, of course, conditional. Jesus was to acknowledge Satan as supreme being. “All these (worldly possessions) I will give you if you will fall down and worship me,” the devil said. Jesus answered with an emphatic no. “Begone Satan! The Lord your God shall you worship and him alone shall you serve” (Mt 4,10).
* * * The struggle between Jesus and the devil goes on within each of us, every day of our life. St. Paul describes the inner struggle as a “spiritual combat” (Romans 7,15).
In temptation the devil does not always appear in the stereotype image of a horrible looking half-man, half-animal with horns and forked tail. He can appear in the form of a well-dressed man with pleasing personality who incites us, for instance, to bribe people or steal.
The devil could use a smart, charming lady to seduce a husband to be unfaithful to his wife.
* * * One form of temptation is the socalled “occasion of sin.” There’s this man who’s been drinking heavily and said he wanted to kick the habit.
On the way home, he is invited by his barkada to drink just one bottle of beer — for friendship’s sake. “But after one bottle,” he says, “I couldn’t refuse to take a second, then a third, and so on.” So instead of the concluding toast “One for the road!” it becomes “One for the canal!”
If one knows he’s weak, he should avoid the people that would lead him to fall. * * * Apart from a bad barkada, other occasions of sin are pornographic materials, say, from movies, Internet, magazines; places of vices, like bars and gambling dens.
Remember the devil in the Garden of Eden? How he sweet- talked Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit?
The crafty serpent seduced the two to disobey God in the guise of good: “Your eyes will be opened; it will make you very wise” (Gen 3,5).
* * * In today’s scenario that would be like a police officer or a government official being dangled with P10 million to help facilitate the entry of highgrade shabu. Entertaining the huge amount and thinking what it would bring him for a few hours job, he gives in. He may succeed but the remorse of conscience will forever hound him or, if caught, will end in prison.
* * * Lent is a season of testing and discipline. Are we making the right choices against evil? Pray that the Lord will give us strength to say No when temptations provoke us. Giving in causes guilt feelings and leads to moral perdition.
* * * FAMILY TV MASS — aired on IBC 13 (channel 15 cable) at 7-8 a.m. every Sunday; also on international GMA Pinoy TV. Sponsor: NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE DIVINE MERCY, MARILAO, BULACAN. Priest celebrant: Fr. Prospero V. Tenorio.
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