Satan’s efforts. How did Satan in the story we have read prove himself to be a liar? By the words: ‘‘All these things will I give you.” And how did he at the same time betray that he was the adversary of God, and possessed by a senseless pride? By the condition he made: “If thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Thus he demanded divine worship for himself! His whole desire is to oppose what is divine, and to put himself in God’s place as lord of creation!
Application. After you received holy Baptism, you too were a beloved child of God with whom your Heavenly Father was well-pleased. Are you still a holy and innocent child? Is your soul still unstained by sin? Is there anything in you with which God cannot be pleased, such as lies, disobedience, anger or deceitfulness? Oh, remember that by sin you have stained your white robe of innocence; repent of this, detest sin and avoid it for the future.
If you pay attention to yourself, you will find that in the course of the day you are assailed by many temptations. Do you know to what you are most often tempted? Yet temptation is not sin; it only becomes sin when you take pleasure in it and consent to it. As often as you resist and overcome it, you gain in virtue, and merit a reward from God. When you are tempted, turn to God; pray to Jesus and Mary for help, and remember the word of God which warns you against the very sin to which you are tempted. If anger rises within you, say: “Blessed are the meek,” or else: “For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God” (James i, 20). If you are inclined to quarrel or fight, say to yourself: “Blessed are the peace makers”; or if you are in danger of telling lies, remind yourself of the proverb: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12, 22).
Chapter XIII.
THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST.
[John 1, 18 — 51.]
JESUS left the desert and returned to the country about the Jordan. As soon as John saw Him, he said to the multitude that surrounded him: “Behold the Lamb of God![1] Behold Him who taketh away the sins of the world! This is He of whom
- ↑ The Lamb of God. i. e. this is the true Paschal Lamb, sent and consecrated by God, who will take our iniquities upon Him, and redeem all men from sin, as was foretold by Isaias (Old Test. LXXII).
