Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory (Phil. 2:3)<\/i><\/p>\n
Herod wants to meet Jesus, now to kill him, now to allay his own bewilderment, now to gratify his curiosity.\u00a0 But at the coming of the moment of encounter, no revelation is granted to the one who remains self-centered.\u00a0 Unhinged perhaps, the fox feels the need to make use of brute force and of mockery, and to entertain himself by watching a show or witnessing a miracle.<\/p>\n
The one who looks out only for his own interests cannot be open to others.\u00a0 He takes others as mere objects to be used.\u00a0 He remembers only his own name when others introduce themselves to him and he introduces himself to them.\u00a0 As suggested by St. Vincent de Paul, they will have difficulty finding someone who can show them something new, those who seek only their own convenience and \u201chave only a narrow outlook\u201d in which they \u201cshut themselves up as if on a tiny spot\u201d (P. Coste XII, 92).<\/p>\n
This is the kind of blindness the worst blind of all wishes us to be afflicted with.\u00a0 The tempter proposes that we choose as our priorities bodily satisfaction, devotion to the spectacular and commitment to arrogant riches (cf. 1 Jn. 2:16).\u00a0 He flatters us so that we may marvel at and congratulate ourselves in the manner of the rich man who had many good things stored up for many years or of the other rich man, without an identity of his own either, who was indifferent to Lazarus.<\/p>\n
But the one who has been tested like us in every way, yet without sin, models the overcoming of temptations.\u00a0 In the first place, without settling for a quick fix, the favorite of the technological society, he makes it clear that his food is to do God\u2019s will and to finish his mission of healing and preaching (Jn. 4:34; Lk. 7:18-23).\u00a0 He is more than a wonder-worker.\u00a0 Stable and sure of his identity, he need not show off as someone with great power.<\/p>\n
We Christians, therefore, will be unpretentious.\u00a0 We will take our time feeding ourselves with Jesus, the Word that is near us.\u00a0 He himself draws near and walks with us.\u00a0 He explains Scriptures to us lest we become like the devil who interprets them as he sees fit.\u00a0 Our Teacher makes our hearts burn.\u00a0 And he opens our eyes at the breaking of the bread so that we may truly recognize him and discern his body in those who have nothing.<\/p>\n
In the second place, Jesus does not exchange his food and his mission for the power and glory of riches that can disappear as instantly as they can appear, and which do not satisfy ultimately, as the devil himself admits since he is willing to part with them in exchange for the worship he seeks.\u00a0 Being poor himself, Jesus is credible when he proclaims:\u00a0 \u201cBlessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.\u00a0 Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.\u201d\u00a0 St. Francis of Assisi lived this, correct in his intuition that Christian poverty is indispensable to the rebuilding the Church.<\/p>\n
Finally, Jesus is not presumptuous.\u00a0 He comes to do God\u2019s will, and not to force God\u2019s hand.\u00a0 The wondrous cannot be the center of attention, for signs and wonders are only meant to point to the God who saves, and not so that one may point to himself or that one may boast of a position or career.\u00a0 To focus on the miraculous is to run the risk of losing sight of Jesus; he who keeps putting himself at the center remains blind.\u00a0 And as it turns out, the one who attracts is not the one who is supported by angels, but rather the one who is lifted from the earth, feeling forsaken by God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"