BEING TEMPTED AFTER BAPTISM
(Monday, January 20)
As those of us on the Older Calendar just celebrated the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, I’ve been thinking about what happened right after He was baptized: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted (πειρασθῆναι) by the devil (Mt 4:1).” The post-baptismal temptation or being tested in the desert is reminiscent of the chosen people being tested in the desert after crossing the Red Sea. That “exodus” via the crossing of the Red Sea, of a body of water, is seen as pre-figuring the mystery of Baptism.
It’s also reminiscent of what happens to us, after we are baptized. The faith or fidelity to God and His word, which we profess at baptism, is tested, time and again, in our “wilderness,” so that we grow in our conscious commitment to Him. And so we can be better prepared to fulfil our vocations, as did our Lord after the temptation in the desert: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Mt 4:17).”
Let me not be discouraged, by the tests and temptations through which God leads all of us, who are clothed in Christ in Holy Baptism. We are not to desire or recklessly seek out these temptations, which is why the Lord taught us to pray, “lead us not into temptation.” BUT we know that these are part of our cross-carrying journey to freedom; to the freedom in and by the Spirit, which develops in us as we exercise our faith and fidelity to God, through learning amidst our temptations to rely on Him and not on ourselves, for deliverance from them. That’s why we also pray, “BUT (when temptation comes) deliver us from the evil one.” Let us pray together this January 20, dear friends, from the bottom of our hearts, as the Lord taught us to pray, both for ourselves and the incoming President of the U.S. Because God can and does deliver us from the inevitable tests and tribulations of this world, by the prayers of all of us, the praying Church.