One of my favorite movies of all
time is the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson. In my opinion, the most
profound scene in this movie happens in the first ten minutes when Jesus is
experiencing His agony in the garden. In this scene, which is based on biblical
texts and on mystical revelations from a nun named Ann Catherine Emmerich, who
was beatified by Blessed John Paul II in 2004, we witness Jesus Christ being
tempted by Satan in three profound ways that in my experience are very familiar
to all of us. The fallen angel attacks Jesus in three distinct areas. He attacks
Him on His relationship with His Father, His identity, and His mission. He says
to Him, "Who is Your Father? Who are you? And "No man can carry this burden." He
directly attacks Jesus' relationship with His Father, His identity, and His
mission with these questions.
From our reading of the Sacred Scriptures we learn
that Jesus Christ's battle with Satan in the Agony of the Garden was not His
first run in with the enemy. In the Gospel of Mark, we read a similar story.
Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert where He is tempted by the fallen
angels, the demons (Mark 1:12-15). Looking at this story in its context is
perhaps a very important tool for us. What happens prior to Jesus being led out
into the desert by the Spirit is the establishment of His relationship with His
Father. The scriptures proclaim that "a voice came from the heavens, 'You are my
beloved Son; with you I am well pleased (Mark 1:11).'" His Father reveals to Him
and everyone present that Jesus Christ is the Beloved Son of the Father. Jesus'
identity as the Father's Beloved Son is established through His relationship
with His Father. And as the Father's Beloved, He goes out into the desert, which
Scripture scholars say is depicted as the realm of evil powers. He doesn't wait
for the evil spirits to come after Him. He is not on the defense, but rather, He
is on the offense. He goes to the evil spirits and He lets them know that they
can try to overcome Him with their temptations just like they did with Adam in
the garden, but He has a mission; a mission that in fact was proclaimed in front
of Adam in the Garden when God told Satan that He would put enmity between Satan
and the Woman, between her seed and Satan's, and her seed would crush Satan's
head (Genesis 3:15). You see, just like Jesus is playing the offense by going
into the realm of the evil spirits to be tested, God in Genesis was also on the
offense. He is the one who waged war against Satan. Satan messed up. He wasn't
ready for war. He thought he could instigate a fight and get away with it, but
God said, "We're going to war!"
You see, God had a mission, and His mission is
brought to the light following His battle with the evil spirits in the desert.
Mark 1:14 states, "Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of God." He
proclaims the Kingdom of God! That is exactly what the demons did not want Him
to do, but because He was secure in His identity, He was able to withstand their
assaults and fight them by clinging to His relationship with His Father.
My brothers and sisters, it seems to me that we have
got to follow the example of our Lord and be on the offense in the battle with
the fallen angels, the demons. Because they will attack us and they will attack
us on our relationship with the Father, on our identities, and on our mission in
this life. If they can get our focus off of our prayer life, in which we have
the opportunity to be reminded by our Father on our core identity, then they can
have us believing two lies about ourselves. The first lie says this: "We cannot
do what we are trying to do." The second lies says this: "Our identity is what
we do." Hence, if you or I fall into sin, then we become that sin. For example,
your core identity is that you are a liar because you have lied in your
lifetime. Or your core identity is you are a loser because you cannot seem to
win anything. Or you are inadequate because you cannot seem to get a good grade
in that class! This is who you are! My brothers and sisters, these judgments are
lies from Satan! Yet, they are lies that can be easily believed if you are not
strong in your relationship with your Heavenly Father.
Fallen angels attack us on our mission in life
and try to get us to believe that we are what we do because that is exactly
what they are in their essence. Angels and demons get their existence from
what they do! That is how they are defined. An angel is defined as a
messenger. Period! Hence, An angel is what it does. Outside of doing, a
fallen angel does not exist. Yet, that is not who we are. There will come a
day when I cannot play basketball anymore. So if I get my identity out of
basketball, which is something I do, then that will cause a major identity
crisis for me once I can no longer do what is called playing basketball. I
think many of us have met older people who have spent their lifetime
defining themselves by what they do instead of who they are and once they
got older and they could no longer do what they once did, they fell into an
identity crisis. We are so much more than what we do! We are more than our
sins! We are more than our mistakes! And yes, we are even more than
accomplishments! We are God's beloved Sons and Daughters! So when other
people around you tell you that you are not good enough or that God will not
forgive you, run to the Father and ask Him who He says that you are. Spend
time in silence and listen to Him tell you that you are His Beloved! This is
who you are! This is your identity and your identity is nourished by the
time you spend in prayer in which you have the opportunity to hear our
Heavenly Father say to you that you are His Beloved Sons and Daughters. It
is from this foundation and only this foundation that any of us are able to
go out and do the missions that He is calling us to do as priests,
religious, and lay faithful.
Can you spend time alone with God today so that
He may tell you what He desires for you to know about His love for you?
