fr paul's spiritual reflection

In everything Our Lord does He is teaching us something.  His truth is without ambiguity and in the clear light of His divinity all error is exposed.
God does not need Lent but we do! So when the Holy Spirit drove Our Lord into the wilderness for forty days to do battle with the Deceiver He was showing us and teaching us the perfection of His Fathers love.  In the wilderness the All Good, Perfect, Holy and Innocent one as Holy Trinity confronts the unholy trinity of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Now God has given us all good things to enjoy and these things give us happiness which is appropriate to our human life.  Without humility we cannot take wings and fly above our pride.  We are called to trust the Lord and ask Him for the strength to resist temptation before it becomes sin.  It is not temptation itself that leads to sin but our lukewarm surrender.  Do we have a real genuine desire to do only Gods will?  The will to do the good is strengthened by forming good habits of virtue.
The devil is an opportunist.  He seeks to exploit our weaknesses and tempt us to despair.  Watchfulness rooted and grounded in prayer helps to overcome and avoid temptation.  If we cease to pray, we cease to watch and the devil knowing this suggests to the tempted soul that it is unworthy to approach God by reason of sin.  Sometimes it is a real struggle but we should never despair.  By careful self-examination discover your weak spots and concentrate your energy in building the virtue which is lacking or weak.