Temptation is real. It is not the stuff of legend and myth nor is it some figure of speech. Temptation is not sin and sometimes people inadvertently mingle the two. Temptation is an invitation to turn from God and to serve ourselves. If we consent to temptation then the actual act that constitutes the turning from God is what is sinful. We know that temptation itself cannot be sinful because of the Gospel proclaimed to us this weekend from Luke regarding Jesus being tempted by the devil. In fact, all four Gospels state that Jesus faced temptation.

Why was Jesus tempted? The Catechism (##538-540) teaches us that Jesus underwent temptation for us, to show us that we are not alone in our struggle to follow God’s will in our lives, and to show us that we can be victorious in the face of temptation. While the devil tempted Jesus through the allurements of pleasure, power, and honor, the basis for this temptation was Jesus’s sonship. Twice in Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus the devil premises his temptations with “if you are the Son of God.” The devil tempted Jesus with a perverted notion of what Jesus’s sonship was while Jesus clung to the truth of his sonship which called for perfect obedience to the Father’s will. In the Garden, Adam and Eve lost sight of what it meant to be children of God, of the obedience that was expected of them and the grace that come as the fruit of obedience. Jesus in his temptation, and ultimately in the Cross, shows us that he is the new Adam whereby he completely and perfectly chooses the Father’s will over his own.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask the Father to “lead us not into temptation.” Immediately we are faced with the problem of an insufficient translation from the original Greek to English. We don’t have to ask God to not lead us into temptation. He won’t, because for him to do so would be contrary to his divine nature as God wants us to be free from the power of evil. However, God does allow is to be tempted. He allows us to be challenged to use the grace the he has given us to discern what is of him (good) and what is not (evil). Facing temptation and overcoming it leads to spiritual growth. Again, this is why prayer, the Sacraments, mediating on the Scriptures, and good works are all so important in our discipleship because these are pathways to the grace that we need.

Let us pray together that these Lenten days may be a time of increased grace for all us through our prayer, fasting, and acts of charity. The grace given to us, that is the fruit of these holy acts, will strengthen us in our struggle against temptation and evil and allow us to stand victorious with the Lord Jesus over the power of sin and death in our lives.

Father Christopher House is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in various roles within the diocesan curia, namely Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.

Have you come across the 40 Day Generosity Challenge? Last year I came across this Lenten resource, and wanted to find a way to introduce something like it at Cathedral. You can find out more information here, https:/40acts.org.uk/. In general it invites participants to challenge themselves each day with a task which would engage them in acts of stewardship.

We have created our own Lenten challenge called the “Discipleship Challenge.” It is based on the idea that when we make small goals and have a friend to hold us accountable, transformation occurs. The Discipleship Challenge invites you to find a friend and challenge each other to be disciples. Each week during Lent we will suggest a challenge. The challenges are based around the CRS Rice Bowl and the Lenten Prayer Booklet we have provided you. The goal is to complete the challenge and then hold the other person accountable by calling, meeting, or emailing and asking how they did or are doing with the challenge. Accompaniment can have the power to transform. When we minister to each other, God is present. He shapes us into disciples who make other disciples. We are in this together.

Cathedral staff is committed to walking through Lent with anyone who may not have a partner. Please contact the offices if you would like to participate, but need someone on staff to join you. We welcome your feedback during the challenge and look forward to hearing your witness stories along the way! Please send any questions or thoughts to Katie Price at [email protected].

Katie Price is the Coordinator for Stewardship for the Cathedral and coordinates stewardship for the Diocese.

Yes it’s later this year but the time is finally upon us as this coming Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Like many things in life, what you get out of Lent will depend on what you put into it and, with Lent, attitude is everything. I will confess that in my younger days that I saw Lent as nothing more than a forty-day slog through drudgery and Friday nights of limited options for going out to eat; once again, attitude is everything. So how do we see/approach Lent?

Lent is a great love story.

It may not seem to be so on the surface but what is the season all about? If we first focus on sacrifice, self-denial, and penance, then we will be placing our focus in the wrong area. Lent is a great love story because it is about a God who has a love for us that is unbreakable, unrelenting, and inexhaustible, even though we are guilty of rejecting his love time and time again. The selections that the Church gives us from the Scriptures demonstrate this. We are reminded that God has chosen us to be his own and that he has done this in a wonderful way in his only Son through baptism. Through sin, we have squandered the grace that God has given us through this sacrament, but Lent is about a call to return to that grace again. This is what the first four and a half weeks of the season speak to, from Ash Wednesday until the Fifth Sunday.

The second part of Lent continues to tell that same great love story but recalls how this love of God was perfectly manifested in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus, that is, in his passion, death, and resurrection. The fifth week of Lent transitions us to Holy Week which ends with the triumph of Easter. It is at this glorious feast that we renew our baptismal promises, having focused on allowing God to renew the grace of that same sacrament in us throughout Lent.

Sacrifice and self-denial are our responses to the gift of God’s grace that is offered to us for our renewal. The penances and pious acts that we may choose to adopt are not ends in themselves, but acts by which we seek to root out in our lives what does not belong so that the grace of God may find a welcome place deep in our lives. The same is true about the reception of Ashes on Ash Wednesday. The ashes we receive are nothing more than the ash of old palms that has been blessed. There is nothing mystical about the ashes in themselves. What is important about the ashes is that we receive them as an outward sign of an inner desire to change our lives, to be converted back to right relationship with God. The reception of ashes and pious acts of sacrifice and self-denial must come from a genuine desire to change; if not, then these acts are empty.

There are many things that we can do for Lent: add daily Mass to our daily routine, pray the Stations of the Cross, ready the Scriptures daily, participate in giving to CRS Rice Bowl, give alms in the special collections for charity, give your time to a good cause, add time for daily prayer, and the list goes on and on. Whatever you may do or not do, make whatever choice you do in the hope of growing deeper in the love that God has for you. Lent is not about what do I have to give up but rather how can I respond to the Lord’s call to turn back to him. The first reading on Ash Wednesday from the Prophet Joel says: “even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.” Make sure that this coming Lent is about your journey deeper into the grace, love, and mercy that is freely offered to us by our God through Jesus.

Father Christopher House is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in various roles within the diocesan curia, namely Chancellor and Vicar Judicial.

I have a brochure entitled, “Why do we ‘have’ to go to Mass?”. The cover photo portrays a young child facing backwards in the pew and looking bored. My husband, a convert, long ago also asked the same question about the “obligation” of going to Holy Mass. Each question came from a different orientation, i.e., boredom versus obligation. Of course, the answer is because it is one of the Ten Commandments to Keep Holy the Lord’s Day! It is not an obligation so much as it is a commitment to honor the Lord’s Day.

Personally, I never had either of these feelings because I always felt it was an honor to go to Holy Mass (BTW, when did we drop the “Holy” Mass part?). Every Sunday on the way to Holy Mass I say to myself, “I GET to go to Holy Mass today.” It is an invigorating expectation! As I genuflect to the Altar and Tabernacle, I’m excited!

After Vatican II lay people were encouraged to participate more fully in the Liturgy. I finally got the courage to volunteer as a Lector/Reader and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. What a gift that has been in my life. I GET to give Jesus to others. I GET to serve Him more dearly. I GET to speak His words in this Holy place, our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception What a blessing!

Rebecca and husband, Woody, have been Cathedral parishioners since the mid-1990’s and led the Cathedral Bible Study group for many years. She assists Sr. Francella with home and hospital visits. Rebecca has served as CCCW President, Springfield Deanery President, Springfield Diocesan CCW President, Chicago Province Director, and National