For 9 March 2025, The First Sunday of Advent, based on Deuteronomy 26:6–7, Luke 4:5–13
(Artwork by Salvador Dali, Fair use.)
Deuteronomy 26:6–7
When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
Luke 4:5–13
The devil led Jesus up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
————–
On Ash Wednesday in St. Louis, the weather was blustery and flurryie (in that is a word), and my Minnesota DNA began to sing. I had cozy thoughts of lentil soup and potato bread.
But Lent this year stretches our awareness beyond the coziness of hearth and home to the hundreds of millions of dispossessed people at nearly every corner of what Pope Francis calls our common home. Today’s scriptures challenge us to see their affliction, toil, and oppression.
For example, an acting administrator at USAID reported recently, according to historian Heather Cox Richardson, that “without USAID intervention, more than 16 million pregnant women and more than 11 million newborns would not get medical care; more than 14 million children would not get care for pneumonia and diarrhea (among the top causes of preventable deaths for children under the age of 5); 200,000 children would be paralyzed with polio; and 1 million children would not be treated for severe acute malnutrition. There would be an additional 12.5 million or more cases of malaria this year, meaning 71,000 to 166,000 deaths; a 28–32% increase in tuberculosis; as many as 775 million cases of avian flu; [and] 2.3 million additional deaths a year in children who could not be vaccinated.”
Lent this year is not a cozy and joyful season. Our culture stands on the temple parapet, proclaiming the name of Jesus, as Satan tempts us with fake illusions of power and glory. Meanwhile, countless millions of the dispossessed stand below, bereft with their backs against the temple wall.
Jesus says to the devil, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” The Lenten season asks us to renounce Satan, turn away from sin, and believe the Gospel. We pray, fast, and serve the poor to resist Satan, on behalf of our brothers and sisters and their children, bereft and against or outside the wall.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Gregory Heille, O.P.
Gregory Heille, O.P., serves as Professor of Preaching and Evangelization and director of the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a friar of the Province of St. Albert the Great USA and has a particular interest in racial equity education.
9 Mar 2025
0 CommentsRenouncing Satan
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
(Artwork by Salvador Dali, Fair use.)
Deuteronomy 26:6–7
When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
Luke 4:5–13
The devil led Jesus up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
————–
On Ash Wednesday in St. Louis, the weather was blustery and flurryie (in that is a word), and my Minnesota DNA began to sing. I had cozy thoughts of lentil soup and potato bread.
But Lent this year stretches our awareness beyond the coziness of hearth and home to the hundreds of millions of dispossessed people at nearly every corner of what Pope Francis calls our common home. Today’s scriptures challenge us to see their affliction, toil, and oppression.
For example, an acting administrator at USAID reported recently, according to historian Heather Cox Richardson, that “without USAID intervention, more than 16 million pregnant women and more than 11 million newborns would not get medical care; more than 14 million children would not get care for pneumonia and diarrhea (among the top causes of preventable deaths for children under the age of 5); 200,000 children would be paralyzed with polio; and 1 million children would not be treated for severe acute malnutrition. There would be an additional 12.5 million or more cases of malaria this year, meaning 71,000 to 166,000 deaths; a 28–32% increase in tuberculosis; as many as 775 million cases of avian flu; [and] 2.3 million additional deaths a year in children who could not be vaccinated.”
Lent this year is not a cozy and joyful season. Our culture stands on the temple parapet, proclaiming the name of Jesus, as Satan tempts us with fake illusions of power and glory. Meanwhile, countless millions of the dispossessed stand below, bereft with their backs against the temple wall.
Jesus says to the devil, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” The Lenten season asks us to renounce Satan, turn away from sin, and believe the Gospel. We pray, fast, and serve the poor to resist Satan, on behalf of our brothers and sisters and their children, bereft and against or outside the wall.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Gregory Heille, O.P.
Gregory Heille, O.P., serves as Professor of Preaching and Evangelization and director of the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a friar of the Province of St. Albert the Great USA and has a particular interest in racial equity education.