The first truth that jumps out at us in the readings for today’s Holy Mass, is how God has the power to defend and protect us when we find ourselves in very difficult situations. The second element to highlight which we derive from the first, is his invitation, therefore, to completely trust in him.
In the first reading, we are introduced to Joachim’s beautiful wife, Susanna, whose physical attributes are overwhelmingly enticing for the two elder men appointed judges from among the people who, rather than finding the strength to control their lust, allowed it to overrule the governance which the mind possesses over corporeal appetites. We are told, “They threw reason aside, making no effort to turn their eyes to heaven, and forgetting its demands of virtue.” Daniel 13:9
We need to stop and reflect on this point. These two men were presented with a temptation. How had they dealt with temptations before? We do not know. That detail isn’t given to us. What is given to us is that they had their eye on Susanna every day, while she would take her midday walk around the garden, until eventually they began desiring her. We see how it wasn’t an immediate temptation, but grew into one, because the door wasn’t shut in their pride, and hell was unleashed on their imagination.
Let’s unpack that a bit. First of all, temptations are always going to be with us. We remember they come from three sources; the world, our fallen human nature, our concupiscence and from the evil one and his devils. From the moment we begin to reason, to the moment we die, temptations have and will always surround us. Yes, God has allowed it to be so, in that this is how our character and our virtue is developed, purified and made stronger. "Regarding temptation, Book 1, Chapter 13 in the Imitation of Christ is rich in wisdom. It reminds us that we will suffer temptation our whole life, “...because we have lost the good of our original happiness," and because one of the sources of temptation is within us, being born in concupiscence as we just stated. It goes on to describe the importance of overcoming them by patience and
humility and by God’s grace. Most importantly to be watchful especially at the beginning of temptation because that is the easiest time to fight it. Perhaps that refers to the near occasion of sin, “Withstand the beginning, after-remedies come too late"... “First a bare thought comes to the mind; then a strong imagination; afterwards delight, and an evil motion and consent." Knowing that temptation “tries a just man," like fire tries iron, it helps us to know ourselves. Only then can we look at trials and temptations as gifts from God." (1) Whether we resist temptation depends therefore on varying circumstances of course. We need God’s grace, but we need to also cooperate with that grace and even the cooperation with that grace, is a grace. That is, our volition, in choosing God and his goodness, virtue over vice, is a grace from God himself.
It’s what Saint Augustine taught, for example, when he spoke of "prevenient grace" (Latin: Gratia praeveniens). As we know, he also spoke of "operative and cooperative grace". In reaction to Pelagianism, Augustine stated that prevenient grace is necessary to aid the human will in embracing conversion. The doctrine that God is the ultimate source of all good, was totally undermined by the teaching of Pelagius, in the view of Saint Augustine. It encouraged the virtuous and well-behaved Christian to feel that they had earned the approval of God by their own efforts.
The men in our story, like all of us when it comes to succumbing to temptation, were given the necessary graces by God to resist, but chose otherwise. They also didn’t help themselves by putting themselves in the occasion/proximity of sin. Day after day, there she was, the beautiful Susanna walking around in front of them. One would have to be the Man of Steel not to bend under such pressure, and even he was overtaken by Lois Lane. We are much weaker than we think. It is our pride that says to us we can play around with temptation. It is pride, for example, that makes a married man or woman think that going out with another woman or man time after time on our own won’t finally get to us. There’s God’s grace which helps us to be prudent and to reflect on how it won’t be wise if I am trying to diet, for example, to always have a chocolate cake staring me in the face on the kitchen table. Likewise, it is not wise to always be seeing suggestive images on the internet and think it won’t lead to abusing ourselves, and succumbing to impure thoughts. The internet is rife with seductive and suggestive media. We simply are not strong enough in this fallen human nature to place ourselves in the proximity of sin and then expect to escape unscathed.
These men ended up dying for the mistake they made. What makes us think we are any better? As Jesus says, “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” What he’s meaning is, we need to be smart about what’s making us weak. If our computer, phone or whatever device is leading us to sin, we need to be proactive. We need to sell it, remove it, be radical when it comes to protecting your soul and truly living your vocation. Again, we need to strategize. If that phone is causing us to sin we should think of it like Superman thought of kryptonite! It will ultimately cause our downfall! But the phone is just one example. The phone could be a person, popularity, wealth... etc. We could become, yes, even as friars, overly attached to money. Hence Saint Francis’ absolute disdain for possessing any of it. But Francis was radical about his love for Christ. What about us?
God is radically in love with us. Susanna was innocent, and the men who were accusing her were guilty. God saw, and God dealt with it. In the gospel, the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, was guilty. She committed the sin and there was no doubt, but so were the men who wanted to stone her. God saw, and God dealt with it. This is why Jesus said to them, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ The innocent are spared in the first reading, but so are the guilty under the new covenant in the Gospel. In yesterday’s Mass we just heard how through Jeremiah God promised, under the new covenant, how he would accompany his precious children: “I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind.”
Yes, what we know clearly through the gospel is that Christ wishes us to extend mercy now to the sinner, after we ourselves have asked for mercy. We know that we are living in days of mercy, and how grateful ought we to be every day, that God has forgiven us. Let us show that gratitude in a concrete and tangible way to our Lord, by extending mercy, compassion, patience and charity to others.
(1) Josée Peppler
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Regarding temptation, book 1 chapter 13 in the imitation of Christ… Is rich in wisdom. It reminds us that our whole life we will suffer temptation “Because we have lost the good of our original happiness“, and as you said father; beacause source of temptation is within us, being born in concupiscence”. It goes on to describe importance of overcoming them by patience and humility and by God’s grace. Most importantly to be watchful especially at the beginning of temptation because that is the easiest time to fight it. Perhaps that refers to the near occasion of sin, “WithStand the beginning, after-remedies come too late“... “ First a bare thought comes to the mind; then a strong imagination; afterwards delight, and an evil motion and consent.“. Knowing that temptation “tries I just man”, Like fire tries iron, it helps us to know ourselves, only then can we look at trials and temptations as gifts from God. 🤍🙏🏽J
Dearest Josée, thank-you for the great comment. The Imitation of Christ is a classic powerhouse when it comes to helpful reflections on how to be a good follower of Christ. We have added it to the homily. Pax!