Theme: If you take short cuts then you will get cut short; so learn to take long cuts. It will bring you success.
Scripture: Gen. 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Ps. 50:3-6, 12-14, 17; Rom. 5:12-19; Mt. 4:1-11
Tour de France is considered to be one of the exciting tournaments in the world. It is an annual men’s multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France. It started in 1903. It consists of twenty-one days long stages. It is considered to be the world’s most prestigious and most difficult bicycle race. The first tour got widest coverage so many joined in the second tour de France in 1904 with a similar edition. But the tour became infamous because of the scandals. The twelve cyclists including the first four finalists were disqualified for choosing shortcuts such as opting for trains. At last, the winning trophy was awarded to Henri Cornet after four months. He was placed originally fifth in the race. The first four finalists chose the short cuts, finally they got cut short. Someone has rightly said never take short cuts in life. Take the long cuts because one picks lots of experiences on the way. Today’s liturgy on the first Sunday of Lent gives us beautiful message on short cuts that we take in our lives.
In the first reading from the Book of Genesis, Satan in form of serpent enticed Eve to choose shortcut. He told Eve three things. Firstly, she will not die even she touches the tree of knowledge. Secondly, her eyes will be opened when she eats the fruit and thirdly, she will be like God to know good and evil. Eve got tempted. Once again with three things: Firstly, she saw the tree was good for food. Secondly, it was pleasant to the eyes and thirdly, the tree would make her wise. Satan placed before Eve all the truths but challenged her to achieve it by her own accord. By choosing to do her own will, Eve rebelled against God. She disobeyed God’s commandments. Adam also opted to listen to her in spite of knowing the command of God. Under the sin of disobedience, there layed a thought to achieve goals by short cuts.
Gospel tells us that Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness to be tasted. In other words, Jesus allowed himself to be tasted is the ordinary process in order to fulfill the plan of God. God had revealed Jesus’ true identity in the baptism i.e. he was the Son of God with whom He was well pleased. It is interesting to see that each of the temptations targeted Jesus for He was the ‘Son of God’.
The first temptation was to prove himself as Son of God by making bread for himself from stones. The temptation was to work miracle for himself. The temptation was to turn His spiritual nature to satisfy the material needs without finding the will of God, His Father. Jesus refused to use power for his personal gain. He said, man does not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God.
The second temptation was to jump from the pinnacle of the temple and God will not allow Jesus to be hurt. If the first temptation was reputed by the spiritual power over material needs, the Satan cleverly used the same spiritual power with the force of Scriptures. Satan wanted Jesus to make spectacular things to shoot up to fame. He also wanted Jesus to portray himself spiritually perfect. Jesus responded by not putting God to a test. Jesus believed to walk in the direction of His Father. He retained the dignity of spiritual power of God.
The third temptation was to fall down and worship Satan and he would inherit the all the kingdom. Satan comes with amazing boldness. He directly proposes shortcut to established kingdom on earth. Satan shows that he had right to hand over his kingdom to whoever he wishes. He also knew that Jesus was there to establish his kingdom though suffering and death. Jesus refused to bow down to Satan. In all the three temptations, we find human cravings namely, power, fame and wealth. Jesus refused all of them. Satan proposed all easy ways to complete his mission. Satan was asking Jesus to be unfaithful to the plan and mission of His Father by taking short cuts in his life.
All of us in this world want to be successful. There is usual process that we need to follow in our lives to be successful. One of the down falls, we all face in our world today is the temptation to take short cuts in our lives. They may be moral shortcuts, spiritual shortcuts, financial shortcuts or ethical shortcuts. The athletes while in the race were tempted to take shortcuts as they were approaching their winning line. These shortcuts actually got them off the track. Adam and Eve also in the Garden of Eden chose the shortcut to become god. They were thrown out of paradise. Shortcuts are always short sighted. They distract us from the goal. We fail to understand the truth while taking shortcuts i.e. the longest way to success is a shortcut. This was the main difference between Adam/Eve and Jesus.
The season of Lent is a reminder to all of us that we need be aware of temptations in our lives especially the temptation of shortcuts to achieve our selfish goals. Adam and Eve sought shortcut to be wise and gods in this world. Jesus chose the long cut to prove himself that He was the Son of God. He chose to suffer and die on the cross. Let us make every effort to walk on the path that God has given to us in all areas of our lives. It may be hard and difficult but it is the surest way to reach our destination. For there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
Fr. Alex D’Mello
