TRUE SOLIDARITY VS FALSE SOLIDARITY: THE KEY TO OVERCOMING TEMPTATIONS
Dear Friend,
Today, we are invited by the Spirit of God, like Jesus, to make a journey to the desert, the school of overcoming temptations. I would like to point out that the first verse of the first reading on this first Sunday in Lent is the key for us to understand how to overcome temptations like Jesus shows us in the Gospel. The verse reads: “The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being” (Gen 2:7). Beloved, the point is plain and profound: we started living by the breath of God. We live and move and have our being by the breath of God. We owe our existence and loyalty to God above all else. The last reading of today, concludes with a confirming reminder: “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and Him alone shall you serve.” I would like to show that original sin and all sins since then after are a due to a false solidarity. Overcoming them is learning from Jesus true solidarity with Jesus the New Adam.
What is False Solidarity?
The question I would like to ask is: If you were asked to impute original sin on Adam or Eve, whose sin would you call it: Adam’s Sin or Eve’s Sin? If you said, Adam’s sin, you got it right. It is Adam’s sin not because Eve had nothing to do with it, but precisely because Adam was the first to receive the command and knew for sure without doubt what it was but due to false solidarity with Eve, he decided to act otherwise. With teens, this is called peer pressure. With Adults it is called human respect. A typical biblical example of false solidarity because of human respect is the martyrdom of John the Baptist by Herod because of his audience and his wife. At the root of false solidarity is a fear of man rather than a reverential fear of God and His commandments. Beware of human respect! Delight in the fear of the Lord!
But where does false solidarity begin? It begins with a failure to read the signs. Failure to read the signs can only plunge us into sin like I was soaked in rain on Thursday by taking a walk in the field when the rain was approaching. I doubted the dark clouds. Adam and Eve doubted God. The best way to overcome any sin is to nip it in the bud when the signs of temptation start showing up.
What is True Solidarity?
Any time we encounter a temptation is an opportunity to practice true solidarity, which simply put is taking a stance on God’s side than any other. Overcoming temptation is proving our love for God over the things that tend to distract us. True solidarity is standing always and everywhere for God’s commandments, for that which is true, for that which is just, for that which is merciful, for that which is good and beautiful.
In the Gospel, Jesus shows us how to overcome our three common sources of temptations, that is, pleasure, power, and possession, by practicing true solidarity. As Jesus shows us, true solidarity is possible only when we are rooted in God’s Word as He responds to Satan directly from scriptures. God’s Word must be handy to us even like a carpenter’s tools are handy to him in his toolbox whenever he needs them. How can God’s word be on our lips or our finger tips if we spend all the time on social media and have not the time to meditate on His Word day and night? How can we continue to explore Jesus’ teachings for us if we stopped learning about our faith since confirmation? Like Jesus, most of the saints would repeat a scriptural verse when tempted or simply call on the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph until the temptation goes away. St. Vincent de Paul would write the creed and put in his pocket. When the temptation of doubt arose, he would touch the piece of paper as a sign of his allegiance to God and not to the doubts.
The first temptation is a temptation to pleasure: turn these stones to food and eat. Jesus’ response: Man does not live on bread alone but from every Word that comes forth from the mouth of God is an invitation to recognize the precept of fasting in overcoming the sins of the flesh. Fasting from food enables us to hunger for the One who alone can truly satisfy all our desires. The second temptation is a temptation to fame and power: fall down from this hill and all will believe you. Very often our fights in relationships at home or at work are due to a tendency to control, to exercise power over others. True power comes from God. We must let God be God without putting Him to the test. The best way to understand this is to recall what the Catechism teaches: work as if all depended on you and pray as if all depended on God. The third temptation is a temptation to possession: “Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, ‘All these I shall give you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” The remedy to greed and possessiveness is found in the third Lenten discipline – almsgiving. The true Kingdom of heaven is gained not by possessing, but by giving away. I was hungry and you gave me to eat, in prison and you visited me – now come into the Kingdom prepared for you by my Father. Such is the meaning of Jesus’ response: “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Alms giving reminds us that we are mere stewards of all that God has blessed us with, and there is no more practical way we can serve God than serving the poor – You did it for me. Whenever we serve we draw closer to Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God in person – the greatest amongst you must be your servant (Mtt 20:26-28).
How to Exercise True Solidarity with Jesus
Beloved at the end of the day, true solidarity can only be exercised successfully with Jesus and for Jesus. Jesus is the One and only Savior. In this Season of Lent He invites us in the desert to teach us how to overcome temptations by standing with Him and for Him. St. Paul in the second reading captures this when He notes: For just as through disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. Obedience is the primary key to overcoming temptations. From the Fall of Adam and Eve, we deduce that they lacked obedience because they lacked gratitude and humility. If they were humble and content for who they were and what they had, they would not have fallen into the temptation to want to be like God without God. Only Jesus can make us like unto God as He does at every communion – we become what we receive. May the simplicity of the host we receive, its purity, and totality be inspiration for us as we resolve this day to be always in solidarity with Jesus and for Jesus.