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  • The challenge to reject the devil’s empty promises

    The challenge to reject the devil’s empty promises

    CBCPNews,

    If we want to be victorious and not poor defeated wrecks, we have to be aware of the devil’s “strategy” as well as of Jesus’ “strategy” in overcoming Satan’s temptations. Had Adam and Eve followed Jesus’ strategy when tempted in the Garden of Eden, they would have won and their descendants would not have been born in a condition of global misery. Had the Israelites followed the guidance of God’s Word, they would have entered the Promised Land right away, rather than being condemned to dwell and die in the desert.

  • The Temptations of Setting Aside the Mission, of Image Building and of Power

    The Temptations of Setting Aside the Mission, of Image Building and of Power

    CBCPNews,

    Robredillo, SThD IN today’s Gospel, Matthew brings us to the subject of temptation that is encountered in the Christian community, and he provides us with three typical examples: (1) The Tempter says: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into bread” (Matt 4:3b). For this reason, it might even go against the world and its values (cf Rom 12:2); but certainly it does not need to justify itself before the judgment seat of men, for what the world holds is abominable before God (Luke 16:15). At the same time, this story of the triple temptation of Jesus provides us with a picture of what the Christian community should be: it is a community that lives by the word of God, goes against the values that the world holds dearly, and serves its members even to the point of dying.