Reflection for Vigil of the First Sunday of Lent 2010
20 February, 2010

by Irene Nowell, OSB

You may have seen the Fidelity Investments commercial where a green line with a moving arrow appears as soon as someone signs up. The line is the path to prosperity and, whenever the person is tempted to turn away, he or she is reminded to "stay on the line." Tonight's readings are about choices and about finding the path, not only to prosperity but to life. "I set before you life and death. Choose life." We all want to choose life—the good life now and, we pray, the good life in eternity. But where is that green line with the arrow?

In the gospel the devil sets choices before Jesus. The temptation is real. When you have been fasting for forty days, wouldn't it seem that getting food would be choosing life? If you were really hungry and had the power to turn rocks into bread, wouldn't you think it was a good idea? But Jesus resists. This is a diversion from the green line that leads to life. The devil's other proposals are tempting also. Haven't you ever wished for power over nations and rulers, power to compel them to take care of the poor and to cherish the earth? Don't you sometimes long, even momentarily, for some tangible evidence that God really cares for you? Jesus is wise enough to see that this instant relief or satisfaction isn't the way to life. He is strong enough to resist the temptation to choose something less than the genuine life we desire.

But what about us? We cannot claim to be either as wise or as strong as Jesus. Where do we find this green line to life? How can we muster the discipline to stay on it? By his replies to the devil, Jesus shows us the green line and how to stay on it. He refutes all the devil's suggestions by relying on the word of God. It's true that the devil also quotes Scripture to suit his own purposes, but he is wrenching the words out of context. The devil hasn't done his lectio, hasn't pondered the deep and living meaning of God's word! Jesus, on the other hand, knows the whole of God's word. (He is, after all, the living Word of God!) He knows that following the devil's suggestion—taking control and seizing immediate satisfaction—is, in fact, not the way to choose life. The way to choose life is to follow what Deuteronomy teaches us. It's a much slower, less dramatic process. We choose life every day by patient perseverance, loving God, obeying God, holding fast to God. That means life for us and length of days" (cf. Deut 30:19-20).

We begin Lent knowing that we have not always stayed on the green line, have not always chosen life. We probably should admit that sometimes we cannot even see the green line! But we resolve again to rely on God, to ponder God's word, to choose God's will. We know deep in our hearts that it is not Fidelity Investments that shows us the green line, but fidelity to our monastic way of life. The green line is right here in our everyday lives of prayer, obedience, and love of one another. Choose life! Stay on the line!

© 2010 Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica
Atchison, Kansas