First Sunday of Lent

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Temptations

He was in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan…Mark 1:13

Yes, there is that voice, the voice that speaks from above and from within and that whispers softly or declares loudly: “You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests.” It certainly is not easy to hear that voice in a world filled with voices that shout: “You are not good, you are ugly; you are worthless, you are despicable, you are nobody – unless you can demonstrate the opposite.” These negative voices are so loud and persistent that it is easy to believe them. That’s the great trap. It is the trap of self-rejection. Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity and power can, indeed, be a great temptation, but their seductive power often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions.

Lord, help me to appreciate just how much you have blessed me in so many ways.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, Renewed FOR LIFE

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