SUNDAY HOMILY: The Happy Priest - The Nature of Temptation
these dramatic words: "So we know that this dark disturbing being exists and that he is still at work with his treacherous cunning; he is the hidden enemy who sows errors and misfortunes in human history. It is worth recalling the revealing Gospel parable of the good seed and the cockle, for it synthesizes and explains the lack of logic that seems to preside over our contradictory experiences: 'An enemy has done this.' He is 'a murderer from the beginning, and the father of lies,' as Christ defines him."
"He undermines man's moral equilibrium with his sophistry. He is the malign, clever seducer who knows how to make his way into us through the senses, the imagination and the libido, through utopian logic, or through disordered social contacts in the give and take of our activities. He can bring about in us deviations that are all the more harmful because they seem to conform to our physical or mental makeup, or to our profound, instinctive aspirations."
Prayer, daily Mass, filial devotion to our Lady, the reading of the Sacred Scriptures, adoration and the frequent reception of Confession are the proven remedies for temptation.
At the same time, it is essential that we avoid the occasions of sin that put us in the danger of not only being tempted, but also may cause us to sin. Young people who are preparing themselves for marriage need to be prudent about their relationship and establish firm boundaries that will help them to be chaste. Parents need to be vigilant about the use of the television, music, video games and the Internet in their homes.
The triple concupiscence of the world, the flesh and the devil are just as real today as they have been over the entire history of humanity.
Lent provides us with a special time of grace to examine our conscience and remove those things that are holding us back from a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ or may in fact be an obstacle to our eternal salvation.
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Acknowledgements
http://www.sermonillustrations.com
Father James Farfaglia is the Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, TX. Click here and listen to Father's Sunday homilies. Visit Father on the web and check out his book Get Serious - A Survival Guide for Serious Catholics, an inspirational and easy to follow guide for living a deeper spiritual life. Father's new book is an excellent Lenten companion. Android and iPhone apps are now available for Father's homilies.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
Keywords: Lent, temptation, concupiscence, sin, original sin, Fr James Farfaglia
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To doubt the true existence of Satan and his minion is folly. For one to deny his existence cannot negate the fact that he exists. This seems to be a prevalent theme for many in this fallen world in which we live. Legal abortion is a perfect example of this. With continued affirmation we will pretty much believe/ accept anything. Hitler certainly knew this implicitly.
Prayer and all its relatives are the weapons to conquer this. We cannot possibly do this on our own. May God bless us all.
Satan fell from the sky like lightning. He came to put on a big show, lights a flashing and lots of noise to boot. Jesus came from the Father as a helpless newborn baby. One came to seduce man with his self- importance the other who is really the Important One comes to be embraced by man.Is it not right and just to admire and follow the one who actually cares and wants nothing but the absolute best for us.The One who will do everything in his power to rescue poor desolate man from his incredulous enemy.Let`s cry out like St. Michael the Glorious One " who is like God " !!! Nobody !!! St. Michael defeats Satan with the truth.
A truthful study of the event at Eden helps us to grasp The satanic temptation, its cause effects & agendas. Where the woman was created to be a help mate to the man to a blessing, satan uses the female to go against the man, as a curse, exemplified in today's radical Feminism. To prevent the female from becoming satan's moll reflected today in the same feminism, GOD put a wedge called enmity between the woman & satan , as also He put the desire of the woman to the man & the man to rule over her, all of these that GOD did is for the good of them, to corrections unto redemption against the satanic agendas & to think that satan does not exist seen in through the extent that some, even Christians trying to discount the existence of Adam & Eve, making it to be allegorical speak the deceits, projected through the Jezebel spirit, typically to satanic temptations, with every temptation small or big, Physical or Spiritual attributed to him, for God does not tempt as the Bible says "At no time has God ever tempted any man " in other words where temptations is to a fall, test is to a rise" & just as the word "Equality is to an illusion, the word "In Christ" is to reality in the truth" to a fulness.