6ebmary 26. 1993 The Message --for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana N
mentary
4•
By FATHER
DONALD DILGER
J:
i! S Commentary for Feb. 28, the First
el
aay of Lent, Cycle A: Matthew 4:1-11.
gospel for the first Sunday of Lent is al-
of the temptations Jesus was sub-
the devil just before beginning his
r. Our oldest gospel, the Gospel of
a few lines with no details such as
found in Luke and Matthew.
Luke knew the Marcan story but de-
to expand it by adopting a development
In another gospel now lost to us. That
of a triple temptation of Jesus.
the same basic material, Matthew
the original story to correspond
Jesus, their theology of Jesus.
we examine the temptation story we
Matthew. Jesus has just endured
and nights in the wilderness. Matthew
"He was hungry." The devil steps in with
rocks and tempts: "If you are the Son of
stones to become loaves of
rejects the offer by quoting from
8:3: "Man shall not live by bread
r word that proceeds from the
Now does this seem like a temp-
The temptations of Jesus:
Dangers for the church
interpretation of Psalm 91:11-12. Jesus resorts
again to the Scriptures: "You shall not tempt the
Lord your God." In the third temptation the devil
flies Jesus to the top of a very high mountain,
shows him all the kingdoms of the world which
he claims to own, but will transfer ownership to
Jesus if he worships the devil. Jesus tells him to
go to hell and that one worships and serves only
God. The devil leaves "and angels came to serve
Jesus," we hope with some food.
Pity the poor people who read this as history
and lose the beauty, the imagination, and the
meaning. Devils don't fly people through the air
and set them on skyscrapers and mountains from
which they can see the whole world. To accept
this as historical fact is not faith, but gullibility.
Matthew constructed his gospel very carefully to
trace the steps of the ancient Israelites, Jesus is
the new Israel and he must endure what ancient
Israel endured.
Like Jesus the Israelites were refugees in
Egypt. The prophet Hosea depicts Yahweh as say-
ing: "Out of Egypt I have called my son," meaning
the tribes of Israel. Matthew conveniently adapts
this very saying of Hosea from ancient Israel to
Jesus when Joseph loads up his refugee wife and
wilderness forty days and nights undergoing var-
ious temptations. The Book of Exodus depicts
three major temptations for Israel in the wilder-
ness. First they were hungry. Instead of trusting
Yahweh they complained in Exodus 16. Then
they were thirsty, "putting the Lord to the test,"
in Exodus 17. In Exodus 32 they refuse to wait
for Moses to come down with news from Yah-
weh. Instead they form themselves a bull calf and
worship it as their god. In all their temptations
Israel failed. In all his temptations Jesus over-
CalTle.
Matthew writes with a purpose. The tempta-
tions of Jesus symbolize the temptations of his
people, the Christian Church. Like Jesus the
Church is always tempted toward the acquisition
of material goods and material wealth. Like Jesus
the Church is always tempted toward external
grandure, a spectacular magnificence to rival
heaven itself. Like Jesus the Church is always
tempted to acquire political power or to serve po-
litical power, a form of idolatry. This is one inter-
pretation of the triple temptation of Jesus. As the
triple tempation can be applied to the Church as
a whole, so it can also be applied to the individ'
at all? Why not turn the loaves into bread child and comes back to the land of Israel. On the ual. And so we must ask ourselves at the begin-
m . r, LV a bagel? way back from Egvnt ancient Israel had to nass ning of Lent: 1) How much material wealth do I
• J Jr" it-" ? . . .
BE"[ ithe! ''' me second scene the devil takes Jesus to through the water and through the cloud. Paul really need. 2) As a Chrlstmn do I betray a sm-
holy city, Jerusalem, sitting right on the tip of
i thel calls this being baptized into Moses, I Corinthians piicity of life patterned on Jesus? 3) Do I con-
I.eP le. He asks Jesus to jump because, ac-
i| 'tort] 10:2. Jesus also had to pass through the water and sciously or subconsciously strive tor power over
ag to a psalm: "He will give his angels
w'ri | cl the cloud when he was baptized in the Jordan others?
,|:1 Y0,.. River by John.
n °vet you, so that you will not (even) strike
D dergIoS'(:glWaSoin hme tialdernne Jesus (*as in he RomOatnh:5 12-19 gs: Genesis 2:7-91 3:1.7;
• uaentalist tendencies for such a strange ....
" • I II I ! • II I I I I
Ington
page 1
. were poking
n the proposals and
" strategies for pro-
, ueir interests
re, s
eat .seine hope how-
.,,,,-!'':tWith voters on his
on s plans could be
through Congress de-
ernpts to alter them.
Let Clinton (tid quite
and what bad to be
is to say that that
tergroul; politics got
, ' mess," said David
0000Ster Celestine,
dies Feb. 11
Sister Celestine
uer Marshall,
o died Feb. 11,
Feb. 15 at St.
for the Aged in
entered the
of the Poor at
celebrated 69
religious life, She
Years in missionary
in India. She
Tunisia, Italy
ce. She came to
lrL 1976.
I I iii
Ahern, chairman of the politi-
cal science department at the
University of Dayton, a
Catholic school in Ohio.
Such bluntness, coupled
with the public mood that
elected Clinton and gave Ross
Perot 19 percent of the vote
in November, means there's a
better chance than ever for
"politics as usual" to change
this time around, Ahern be-
lieves.
Ahcrn noted the support
the president's proposals
were winning from the pub-
lic.
"The debate this morning
is: 'do you want taxes raised
or do you want to have to cut
H I I
I I
into Social Security and
Medicare?"' Ahern said.
"That's been the avoided dis-
cussion in this country for 10
or 15 years or more."
Two days after the speech,
the National Council of
Churches publicized a call to
its member congregations to
mobilize in support of urban
rebuilding, including both
hands-on activism by
churches and advocacy on
behalf of the cities witl the
fideral government.
At a press conference, the
Rev. Benjamin F. Shavis,
head of the council's racial
justice project and a member
of the Clinton transition
I ql II III III
YOUTH MINISTER WANTED
Progressive parish near University of Notre
Dame seeks full-time director for youth min-
istry program. Qualifications: practicing
Catholic; Bachelor's degree in Theology or
Religious Education, or in Education with
certification in Youth Ministry; excellent pre-
sentation and group skills; minimum of two
years experience as director or assistant
director of a youth ministry program or in a
supervised internship or through volunteer
service with youth. Will participate as mem-
ber of Pastoral Team. Submit resume by
March 25 to Youth Minister Search
Committee, Christ the King Church, 52473
US 33 North, South Bend, Indiana 46637.
..... i v II ]1 I [ I III
II
team, said there is a conver-
gence between what the
council is asking its members
to do and what Clinton is ask-
ing of the American people.
"I'm encouraged by the cli-
mate in which we are operat-
ing," said Shavis.
Campbell said the council
would be attempting the
same sort of impetus from the
bottom up that Clinton is ask-
ing.
"It's not going to be from
the national level that we go
down, but from our local and
regional councils of
churches," she said.
Ahern noted historical
precedents for a wave of pub-
II t I III IIII 1 I ]1
lic support to overwhelm op,
position from Congress, the
most recent example coming
during President Ronald Rea-
gaffs first term.
"Clinton is playing on the
notion of going directly to the
people, over the heads of the
press and Congress," a politi-
cal style that was successful
for Reagan, Ahern said.
"'But Clinton told a true
story rather than a tale,"
Ahem said. "And for that he
should be praised. People
don't necessarily want to hear
what he had to say, but any-
body with any kind of sense
knows it's true.'"
BOOKEEPER/BUSINESS MANAGER:
The parishes of St. Paul, Tell City, St,
Michael, Cannelton and St. Plus, Troy are seeking
a full-time bookkeeper/business manager.
Responsibilities include maintaining finarcial
records, preparing budgets and financial reports
and managing parish facilities.
A college degree, preferable in accounting, is
desired as well as 5 to 10 years of business expe.
dance.
Competitive compensation is provided as well
as excellent benefits which include health care, life
insurance and pension.
Please send resume and salary history, in con-
ficence, to: Rev. Daniel J. Staulin, St. Peul
Parish, 814 Jefferson St. Tell City, IN 47586,
Oeadline for application Is March 17, 1992.
An Equal Opportunity Employer
