Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 26, 2023
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.
Earlier this year, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, resigned. A newspaper later reported on her resignation with the headline “Jacinda Ardern Resigns: Can Women Really Have It All?” While the backlash to the headline was swift, it struck me that there was a better question to ask—not could Jacinda Ardern have it all, but rather did she want to have it all?
In today’s gospel, the devil shows Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence” and says you can have it all. Though I’ve heard this passage many times, I have never stopped to wonder why Jesus would want it all. What was tempting about possessing all the kingdoms in the world? And was the offer tempting because Jesus had spent forty days fasting, or was it the forty days fasting that gave him the perspective and strength he needed to resist temptation?
As a second-year law student, I feel as though I am surrounded by shiny opportunities I am told I should want. Often, I am so steeped in my day-to-day that it’s difficult to ask myself if I even want what is offered. Like the newspaper headline and the devil’s question, it’s assumed we all want it all.
Lent is an opportunity not simply to give things up, but to fast—to practice emptying ourselves and creating space to consider what we want and are called to desire beyond the immediate world we are offered. What inconsolable longings would we uncover?
It is then we might begin to do things that others wouldn’t understand—like walk away from all the kingdoms of the world. We might then understand that yes, we can have it all, but no, we don’t want it.
Prayer
Almighty and everliving God, as we step into this holy season of Lent, show us the way. Bless and guide our every effort that we might navigate the tempest of temptation. May our hungers, our ambitions, and our misguided affections not distract us from your promise and our purpose revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of your Son Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Isabel was sister to the great king of France, St. Louis IX, in the 13th century. Not only was she royal and wealthy, but she also had a sharp intellect and was a highly accomplished lady. She left aside all of these advantages of life as a princess, however, and sought holiness above everything.
Even as a girl, she was known for fervent prayer and fasting. She loved learning and studied Latin so that she could pray the liturgy of the hours and read the Church Fathers.
Isabel refused to be married, even when famous men courted her. Once, the pope wrote to her directly to encourage her to marry the king of Jerusalem for the good of Christendom, but her refusal to him was so humble and wise that he acknowledged her desire to dedicate her life to God alone.
Every day, before she ate her dinner, Isabel would seat poor people at her table and serve them herself. She would spend the evening visiting others who were sick and poor.
She established a convent for Franciscan nuns, asking St. Bonaventure to write up the rule of life for the community, and named it the Monastery of the Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Isabel never joined the community herself, but did live in the monastery in a room separate from the nun’s cells. She suffered from illnesses during her life, and these prevented her from following the rule of life for the nuns—this was one reason she refused to be named abbess of the monastery. That also allowed her to keep her wealth and resources, so she could support the community and continue to give to the poor. She kept a discipline of silence for most of her day.
Isabel understood the connection between the Eucharist and its call to service. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper, which calls us to humble ourselves in love for others. Before she received communion herself, Isabel always begged forgiveness, on her knees, of the few servants that she retained.
Her life of prayer was marked by ecstasies at several points of her life, including a period of time near the end of her life when she stayed awake through several nights in rapt contemplation. She died in 1270 and her image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
St. Isabel of France, who had the known world at her fingertips and left it all to serve God and the poor—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Isabel of France is in the public domain. Last accessed December 6, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
