First Sunday of Lent



The Temptation of Christ by Eric Armusik

   

"He was tempted by Satan, and the angels looked after him."  ~Mark 1:12-15

Everything the Lord Jesus decided to do, everything he chose to endure, was ordained by him for our instruction, our correction, and our advantage; and since he knew that the teaching and consolation we should derive from it all was far from negligible, he was loath to let slip any opportunity that might profit us.

And so when he was led out into the wilderness there is no doubt that his guide was the Holy Spirit whose intention was to take him to a place where he would be exposed to temptation, a place where the devil would have the audacity to accost him and put him to the test.

The circumstances were so greatly in the devil’s favor that he was prompted to capitalize on them: here was Jesus alone, at prayer, physically worn out by fasting and abstinence. A chance indeed to find out whether this man really was the Christ, whether or not he was the Son of God.

From this episode therefore our first lesson is that human life on earth is a life of warfare, and the first thing Christians must expect is to be tempted by the devil. As Scripture tells us, we have to be prepared for temptation, for it is written: When you enter God’s service, prepare your soul for an ordeal.

For this reason, the Lord desires the newly baptized and recent converts to find comfort in his own example. Reading in the gospel that Christ too was tempted by the devil immediately after he was baptized, they will not grow fainthearted and fearful if they experience keener temptations from the devil after their conversion or baptism than before -- even if persecution should be their lot.

The second lesson Christ desires to impress upon us by his own example is that we should not lightly expose ourselves to temptation, for we read that it was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness. Mindful of our frailty rather, we must be on the watch, praying not to be put to the test, and keeping ourselves clear of every occasion of temptation.

~John Justus Landsberg, 1489/90-1539, Complete Works 1 [1888] 120)

Ave Maria!  Having never heard of John Justus Landsberg, I was interested to learn more from the following found on the Web.  "John Justus Landsberg, so called from the place of his birth in Bavaria, received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Cologne, and then entered Saint Barbara’s, the celebrated charterhouse there. He made his profession in 1509, and in due course was ordained a priest. From 1530 to 1534/35 he was prior of the charterhouse of Vogelsang, and at the same time preacher at the court of John III, duke of Juliers, Cleeves, and Berg, an unusual function for a Carthusian.  Landsberg was one of the best spiritual writers of his day, the chief characteristic of his spirituality being the contemplation of Christ, the man-God, in his life, and in his passion and death. Landsberg was the editor of the works of Saint Gertrude, the great apostle in the middle ages of devotion to the Heart of Jesus, and he himself was one of the earliest promoters of this devotion."  What intrigues me most is Landsberg's active ministry, which is indeed unusual for a Carthusian, whose life is entirely devoted to prayer and contemplation and whose solitude is so great that he interacts with the brethren of his community only on Sundays.  Such are the mysterious ways of God, who, when we surrender ourselves to Him and His adorable will for us, often leads us in ways that we would not have thought possible. 

O the depth of the riches

of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!

How incomprehensible are his judgments,

and how unsearchable his ways!

~Romans 11:33