Pastor's Reflection

Last week we were in the wilderness with Jesus. He was tempted by the devil. The wilderness is the lonely, vast expanse of emptiness where everything else is stripped away and we can only rely on God. Recall that the devil tempted the Lord by saying, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Mt. 4:3).

That is the garden-variety temptation in the wilderness: pride. Of course it doesn’t look like pride. If the temptation to pride looked like pride, we’d run in the other direction, because the deadly sin of pride, when we see it for what it truly is, is gruesome. So, the devil inserts some small dose anesthesia into the temptation to lure us along. But we can’t plead complete ignorance. God guides us through His Word and the teaching of the Church. This is why the devil makes temptation look alluring, so that we won’t look away. Temptation looks alluring because of his low dose tranquilizer, pride. By the time the partial sedative wears off, if we have made the temptation our own by our free action, then we have internalized it through sin. And sin wounds us. It fixes nothing. It only doubles down on the hurt.

The temptation is repackaged a thousand ways every day: “Fix it. Command that everything be perfect … get what you want not simply at the push of a button but at the tap of a screen.” The central move of the temptation to pride cannot be hidden, however: “command.” Command that what can’t be will be. Command what cannot happen. Stone cannot become bread. Control cannot become joy. Impatience cannot become peace. Yelling and fighting cannot become peace. But when we give in to the temptation, what does God do? He doesn’t scream and shout. He doesn’t yell and go silent on us. He reaches out. The problem is that one of the effects of sin is that we take the reaching out of God as a threat … to our pride. In the Gospel today, Jesus reaches out even further. He gives us a glimpse of His glory. “ … He was transfigured before them; His face shown like the sun and His clothes became white as light” (Mt. 17:2). Jesus gives light. And not just any light. It is certainly not the artificial spotlight of pride that in the end scorches us. The Light of Christ is the true light. His light endures and goes through the wilderness to summon and call forth everything we thought was lost. His light is so resounding and strong that it becomes a voice. The Greek word used in the Gospel passage for the “voice that came from the cloud” is the root word for light. Light becomes sound. Light becomes words. This Lent, listen for the light. Let the word of God cast away the temptations of the wilderness so that His garden may rise in our hearts. And in our voice. And in our words.

God bless,

Msgr. Brian Bransfield

“He is more afraid of us than we should be of him.”

We hear that phrase a lot. It is especially true of bullies. The reason bullies come on with aggression and anger is because they are afraid.

The reason bullies follow a pattern of aggression is that they want to convey anger rather than the fear they experience deep inside. It is easier for bullies to feal anger than to feel their deep fear.

The bully’s fear hides, and every time it gets close to the surface, the bully gets angry rather than work on the chronic fear. Fear loves to hide under anger.

“He is more afraid of us than we should be of him.”

This is ultimately true of the devil. He is more afraid of Christians than Christians should be of him.

That sounds counter to much that we have heard.

The devil likes to build his reputation on fear and dramatics rather than reality. That is because the reality is that on the Cross the Lord Jesus has defeated the devil once and for all. Christians follow and are united with Jesus in Baptism and faith. The devil flees Jesus Christ. But like a bee that has been swatted and is dying, the devil gets angry and comes on more strongly.

If we are united with Jesus by practicing the faith, then the devil will flee us, too. But first, he will repeatedly try to lure us away from Jesus by convincing us we can have it both ways. He will offer us control, power, and everything going our way. Sooner or later, this will run out – we will either resist it outright or see through his lies of control.

After that, when he knows we are on to him, he will try to make us afraid of him through a thousand different lies. He lies to us either with promises of all types of riches or threats of doom. He wants us, in fear, to let go of Jesus. But if we cling to Jesus, the devil will ultimately have to flee.

This is why it is crucial that we practice our faith. If we become lax or negligent in our faith, our protection can wane, and we can be far more vulnerable to the evil one’s manipulation and lies.

In the Gospel today, Jesus resists the devil’s temptations. Notice that each temptation looks alluring: turn stone to bread, get all the kingdoms of the world, and control even the angels of heaven.

This Lent, let us together unite closer to Jesus. Cling to Him – go to Confession, go to Mass and pray. That is the path to union with the Lord.

God bless,Msgr. Bransfield

Lent is God’s invitation to deepen our intimacy with Him.

Even though Ash Wednesday is a few days away, February 18, the invitation has already arrived. It is nearby, unopened … waiting.

If we listen closely, something is stirring in our soul. It is not just sentimentality or the desire for selfimprovement. Fear and pride can hide disguised under self-improvement projects for years.

The soul is deep and vast. It lies in a region beyond the coping mechanisms, the rush, the tumult of every day. The thing that blocks our way, and God’s way, to our soul is sin.

The invitation begins, “Turn away from sin …” Those are the words of Ash Wednesday. It's possible for the invitation to feel like the heaviest thing in the world. Stubborn and insistent layers build up between us and our soul - layers of sin. Sin doesn’t mean we are bad people. It means we are wounded. And wounds look for rewards.

Temptation opens one curtain after another for us, promising us all kinds of rewards, riches, and advancement if only we listen and follow the path away from God. And we get lost in a maze of confusion that leads away from the depths of our soul. It can be difficult for us to reach our soul.

But it is easy for God. And He wants to stir something in our soul on 2/18/26, but also now, today. Open the invitation. A great way to open the invitation is to go to Confession. That is the way God gives us to turn away from sin. Confession heals wounds. And with wounds healed, sin runs out of gas.

Lent is right around the corner. So is God.

Open the invitation now. Follow Him today.

God bless,

Msgr. Bransfield