大象传媒

FR DERMOT PRESTON SJ

Good morning and welcome to Scotland for this service of music & prayer on this the First Sunday of Lent. 听We will use the ingenuity and resources that God has given us to weave a liturgy which will allow us to come together from up and down this land.

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MUSIC: HYMN 鈥� O Worship the King

Choir of St Mary鈥檚 Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh directed by Dennis Townhill. Organ: Peter Backhouse. 听听From CD: Famous Hymns of Praise, Label & Number Priory PRCD 376

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FR DERMOT

Mary O鈥橠uffin will be our spiritual guide this morning, steering us through the reflections and leading us into prayer.

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MARY

During Lent, as a way of preparing for Easter, the 大象传媒 is linking the Sunday worship programmes into a Christian retreat. Shaped by the spiritual tradition of St Ignatius of Loyola, it is an invitation to come to see God through the lens of Jesus Christ 鈥� spending time with him, learning from him, being challenged by him - to come to know the Father through him. You鈥檒l find the information of the retreat on the Radio 4 Sunday Worship website.

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MUSIC:听 Dignus est Agnus (Anon) / MacMillan
From CD: 鈥楳acMillan: Tenebrae Responsories & other choral works鈥�
Label & Number:听 Hyperion CDA67970

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FR DERMOT

The retreat鈥檚 suggested scripture passage for today actually catapults us into the frenzied atmosphere of Passover in the Jewish capital. According to John鈥檚 Gospel, just before the Last Supper, Jesus stood in the Temple in Jerusalem and cried aloud: 听

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DAVID

鈥榃hoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 听On the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life.鈥�

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FR DERMOT

In this slim passage Jesus neatly summarises his message to the world, and his unity with the Father. It is a razor-edged proclamation of certainty before his Passion and Death.

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But I wonder, are we running a wee bit ahead of ourselves? Traditionally the liturgy for the first Sunday of Lent asks us to step back to the beginning of Jesus鈥� ministry and contemplate the Messiah who was starting out on his mission.

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MUSIC: Do The Birds Worry?听 Composer: Cyrillus Kreek

Vox Clamantis directed by Jaan-Eik Tulve. 听From CD: Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel

Label & Number: ECM 2620

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READER

鈥淭hen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.听He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.鈥澨�

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FR DERMOT

Jesus is led by the Spirit up the steep climb from the Jordan valley, where he had been baptised, and is steered into the wilderness to the south of Jerusalem. Except for saying that Jesus was tempted, Mark鈥檚 Gospel leaves this incident tantalisingly unexplained.

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But Luke and Matthew take the story further, drawing on the traditions of the early Church from whispers among the first companions of Jesus.

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Let us allow Matthew to take up the story鈥�

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MICHAEL

The tempter came and said to Jesus, 鈥業f you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.鈥櫶鼴ut Jesus answered, 鈥業t is written, 鈥淥ne does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.鈥�鈥�

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FR DERMOT

Ironically Christians sometimes place an overemphasis on Jesus as being divine: he was God, but to be truly Christian we must recognise that Jesus was fully human. He was fasting and after 40 days and nights he was hungry. He thought about food; he imagined food; his stomach rumbled. He probably licked his lips when the Tempter mentioned鈥� 鈥榖谤别补诲鈥�. As one scholar puts it: the incarnate Jesus was given a mission, not immunity.

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Is it wrong to feel hungry? No: it is part of being human 鈥� hunger prompts us to eat, and eating allows us to live. Part of the reality of our humanness is that we are awash with God-given desires and passions: some, like the hunger, are physical; some are intellectual; others emotional; others again, spiritual.听 If we deny that these passions exist, we are being dishonest; more ominously, we are leaving ourselves open to be driven blindfold into a dangerous storm. These passions can originate from our physical bodies or our emotional hearts or our instinctive souls 鈥� some are to be trusted, some are neutral; others are destructive 鈥� and they compete with each other to dominate.

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MARY

If we ignore our desires or deny their existence, I am like the ship鈥檚 captain who ignores the storm that surrounds them and we just go down-below to sleep in the bunk. At best the ship will stray off-course, but more likely it will be run aground on the rocks or be broken by the wind and plunged into the depths of the sea. The skills of a good captain are to assess the multiple, competing powers which are buffeting the vessel and to use those currents and flows which will steer us safely, and minimise those that will damage and destroy. An inexperienced pilot who has the courage to stay at the helm will, at first, just see chaos; but with insight comes a growth of wisdom.听 Soon they will begin to sift the knowledge and distinguish the differences, and ultimately choose which tides to follow and which winds to resist.

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FR DERMOT

鈥淒omine, non secundum peccata nostra鈥�, by James MacMillan: 鈥淥 Lord, repay us not according to our sins.鈥�

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MUSIC 鈥� Domine, non secundum peccata nostra

Composer: James Macmillan, from CD 鈥極ne Equal Music鈥�. Elysian Singers conducted by Sam Laughton.听 Violin: Alexandra Caldron.听 Label & Number: 听Signum Classics SIGCD575

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FR DERMOT

There are many different desires and levels of desire which I constantly balance; should I sleep or continue watching this film? Sleep is good; but the film is uplifting and inspiring. Which desire is better? There is not a set answer to that. I am choosing between apples and oranges and I cannot automatically say which is better. I need to try to make the best decision in the light of my knowledge, experience and instincts.

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It might be useful at this point to note that some of us envisage evil as having a personality and which the Temptations narrative names 鈥楽atan鈥�, 鈥榯he Devil鈥� or 鈥楾he Tempter鈥�. Some of us though will see evil it as an unconscious power: like a virus-of-the-soul. Whatever our image, the force itself is deadly to the touch.

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Most choices in our lives are actually not between good and evil, but between the good and the better. When a person is really trying to move in the direction of God, it is not easy for the Tempter to dangle evil before them; it is far more subtle for the devil to try to divert them to choose merely the good rather than the better. For the devil it is a small victory 鈥� but it is still a victory because it creates a slight division in the human heart 鈥� an uneasiness that we have not given our best.

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So this temptation of Jesus is not with the simple act of eating bread 鈥� the Devil is trying to force Jesus to choose the good (nourish his body) instead of the better (to wait for God to provide, when the time is right). So the Temptation is to get Jesus to make a choice that would dislocate an integrity in the core of his heart.

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MARY听 听

Our world can present a bewildering array of choices.

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Do these noisy demands of bodily desires drown out the quieter, deeply-rooted desires of honour, duty, faithfulness, loyalty or generosity?

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Can I become still, and ponder honestly, deep in my heart, the times when I have compromised and settled for choices in my life which are second best?

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Prayer:

Heavenly Father, You made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. As we ponder this truth, still the confusion of desires within. Let knowing Jesus guide us towards you. May your healing Spirit anoint our struggles, challenges, choices and loves.

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MUSIC: 听Jacob's Dream / Orthodox Vespers: Proemial Psalm.听 听Composer: Cyrillus Kreek

Vox Clamantis directed by Jaan-Eik Tulve. 听听From CD: Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel

Label & Number: ECM 2620

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MICHAEL

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,听saying to him, 鈥業f you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 鈥淗e will command his angels concerning you鈥�, and 鈥淥n their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.鈥�鈥� Jesus said to him, 鈥楢gain it is written, 鈥淒o not put the Lord your God to the test.鈥�鈥�

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FR DERMOT

Some beaches around the British Isles have a very shallow gradient; and when the tides go out the water disappears into the far distance; when the tides comes in, they do so quickly. Here in Scotland the shallow gradients around the Argyle coastland and the Hebridean island of Tiree, for example, make them ideal for wind-surfing. Thus on such beaches around the British Isles, the sands at low-tide on a hot day stretch to the horizon and are flat, dry and desert-like. Les Dawson said that he once went for a walk along the sands of Southport beach and was mugged by Lawrence of Arabia.

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I can鈥檛 remember exactly where the shallow beach was when the Preston family were on a family picnic: it could have been in Ireland. I was about 8 years old so my memories of time and place are vague but I remember there was some sort of argument and I was given an unreasonable telling-off. Being too close-by after you鈥檝e had a telling-off is a stifling place, but I was also in a huff, so I started walking in the direction of the sea.

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There were some shouts (which I ignored), but no pursuit so I walked steadily onwards. Even at that age, I knew I was pushing the edge of reasonableness. There was a danger, and it had been hinted at that we shouldn鈥檛 go too far away because it was risky as the tide might return. But I walked. I walked a long way. I walked so far that the family disappeared over the horizon behind me. Soon it was just me, the sand and the sky.

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Now I am going to be a big disappointment to you: this story ends boringly. There was no racing tide to knock me off my feet; no quick-sands; no air-sea rescue helicopter; there was no close shave with a Great White Shark. After about 30 minutes I turned and walked back. I鈥檇 been gone about an hour. My parents were suitably narked and I got another telling off. End of Story.

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But it didn鈥檛 quite end internally because I look back now and, 55 years later, and I can still touch the warm embers in the crucible of my feelings: of the rebellion, the challenge, but also of the uncertainty鈥� That strange combination of the bravura 鈥淚鈥檒l show them!鈥� and the fearful 鈥淲ill they let me die?鈥�

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Jesus wasn鈥檛 an 8-year old on an Irish beach, but I can resonate with the echo of the Tempter鈥檚 probing. The Devil was not quite tempting Jesus but more taunting him: 听鈥淚F YOU ARE the Son of God鈥︹��

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There will be part of Jesus which just wants to wipe the smirk off the Devil鈥檚 face 鈥� 鈥淚鈥檒l show him!鈥�; and yet also there will be a deeper existential question of 鈥淲ill the Father protect?鈥� and the sudden urge to test the relationship.

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Once more, in this second temptation, at the profound level of the heart and soul, the Devil is trying to drive a wedge between the unity of the human heart of Jesus and the infinity of the Godhead. Can he provoke doubt in Jesus, cause a misstep and leave him feeling compromised?

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MUSIC 鈥� Domine, non secundum peccata nostra

Composer: James Macmillan, from CD 鈥極ne Equal Music鈥�. Elysian Singers conducted by Sam Laughton.听 Violin: Alexandra Caldron.听 Label & Number: 听Signum Classics SIGCD575

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MARY

When am I tempted to belittle or diminish others rather than show sympathy and understanding?

Has my own woundedness ever driven me to wound others in word or deed?

Using my personal gifts, do I foster anger or resentment in others rather than encouragement and support?

Do I use social media as a means of gaining the 鈥渦pper hand鈥� or as a means of sharing truth, light and friendship?

Am I ever boastful or smug in order to undermine another鈥檚 sense of worth?

Do I take secret delight in harming another through gossip?

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FR DERMOT

As the saints would counsel: never be frightened or panicked by the prompting of a spirit. If that spirit is of God it will be happy to be scrutinised and discerned; whereas the devil hides in half-shadow trying to bend the light away and hurry things along, instilling the heart with a shuffling fear.

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It is a strange Greek word: 鈥�Pterygion鈥�. It is only used twice in the New Testament: in the Temptations narratives of Luke and Matthew. The word is often translated as the 鈥榩innacle鈥� of the Temple. But it literally means 鈥榣ittle wing鈥�/winglet of the Temple. Pterodactyl is the same root 鈥� a winged dinosaur. Pterygion. Matthew (who knows his scripture intimately) is likely ghosting the rabbinic understanding of the Jerusalem Temple being a symbol of the divine eagle spreading its protective wings over the people of Israel.

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MUSIC:听 On Eagles鈥� Wings

Composer: 听听Alexander L鈥橢strange.听 From CD 鈥極n Eagles鈥� Wings鈥�. 听Label & Number:听 Signum Classics SIGCD454

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MARY
From 鈥楪od鈥檚 Grandeur鈥�, by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

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鈥溾��And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs 鈥�

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.鈥�

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FR DERMOT

In 1987 Stephen King wrote a novel set in a small town called Castle Rock.

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One day a mysterious shop opens in the centre of the town. The shop is called 鈥楴eedful Things鈥�. No-one locally knew anything about it, just one morning it was there. People are curious and one by one they engineer to pass by to look in the window, and some venture in.

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The proprietor, tall, elegant Leland Gaunt, is both charming and commanding.听 As the story of the novel unfolds, so do the stories of the people of the town. Each of them has a background, each has a history; each has hopes & fears; they wrestle with failure, they strive to improve. Leland Gaunt understands each of them intimately and with each tinkle of the silver bell as the shop-door opens, they might come in hesitantly, but when they do they always find what they want鈥�

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How do I hear the beguiling sales-pitch of Leland Gaunt?

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MUSIC: Do The Birds Worry?听 Composer: Cyrillus Kreek

Vox Clamantis directed by Jaan-Eik Tulve. 听From CD: Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel

Label & Number: ECM 2620

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DAVID
鈥淭he lost toy from childhood鈥� the rare baseball card鈥� the fishing rod鈥� the medallion that relieves the pain鈥� 鈥� they are all here! But on finding it, people say to me: Ah! I can鈥檛 pay those big city prices! Surely I will never be able to afford such a wonderful thing??听 The price? I answer; 听It is not really about money鈥� a few dollars perhaps, but I have a little task that I would ask of you鈥� A prank - a mere trifle! What is it in comparison with the precious gift you have found and which could be yours鈥�?鈥� 听

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READER

Again, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour;听and he said to him, 鈥楢ll these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.鈥櫶齁esus said to him, 鈥楢way with you, Satan! for it is written, 鈥淲orship the Lord your God,听听and serve only him.鈥濃��

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DERMOT

From the Jordan to the wilderness to the pinnacle of the temple and now to this impossibly high mountain, the stakes of the poker-game rise higher with the altitude. Yet, despite the wondrous landscape around them, it is the Devil who is front and centre. He has dropped the false innocence of the first Temptation, and the fey sardonic tone of the second Temptation, for now he has a weighty offer for Jesus that can stand on its own merits.

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Everyone has desires and needs: everyone has their price 鈥� what is the price of Jesus? It is all very well being idealistic, but he needs to be practical. 听Control over the whole world, here and now? A world he is meant to redeem!?

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This is the deal which each of us is likely to be faced with at some point in our lives. Not quite everything, but almost everything. But to achieve it we will need to compromise with something small, but something deeply rooted within our souls.

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As in the parable of the village of Castle Rock, where the cumulated pranks cause real damage, Leland Gaunt is eventually unmasked as the Devil himself and it becomes clear that he has found the price of each person. The small compromises are spiralling their community into division and disintegration.

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J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the great scientists of the 20th Century. I first came across his work in Quantum Mechanics when I studied Chemistry at University.

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But what makes Oppenheimer鈥檚 name so well-known was that he became the lead scientist on the US development of the nuclear bomb during the Second World War. Oppenheimer was offered the job of co-ordinating the stellar cast of world-renowned scientists to take the theory of nuclear science and to turn it into the reality of a droppable bomb in just three years. He took the job; they accomplished the task.

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But as the project approached completion, Oppenheimer began to realise that his power was ebbing away to the politicians and the military and he was becoming merely advisory; and when the bomb-test in New Mexico was successful, Oppenheimer (a secular Jew with an interest in Hinduism) spontaneously remembered a chilling phrase from the Bhagavad Gita: 鈥淚 am become death, the destroyer of worlds.鈥�

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In the years that followed, Oppenheimer was haunted by his involvement with the tens of thousands of deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He looked back and, although he recognised there had been a passionately good desire to deter the ambition of the Axis forces, who were so close to the same expertise, and to stop the slaughter of the war quickly, he saw that, crucially, the scientists at the cutting-edge had been intellectually tempted. Using a laser-like phrase, Oppenheimer said that he, and the other scientists, found the challenge 鈥榯echnically sweet鈥�. It was this hypnotic attachment to the intellectual problem which had gently but profoundly unbalanced their task: 鈥淵ou go ahead and do it,鈥� he said, 鈥漚nd you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success.鈥� But by then it was too late.

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In a lecture to MIT in 1947, Oppenheimer summarises this compromise in one of the most poignant sentences in the history of science:

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DAVID

鈥淚n some sort of crude sense which no vulgarity, no humour, no overstatement can quite extinguish, the physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.鈥�

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MUSIC 鈥� Domine, non secundum peccata nostra

Composer: James Macmillan, from CD 鈥極ne Equal Music鈥�. Elysian Singers conducted by Sam Laughton.听 Violin: Alexandra Caldron.听 Label & Number: 听Signum Classics SIGCD575

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MARY 听

Can I recall a time when, against the prompting of my best self, I compromised something deep within?听

Perhaps there was a niggle or a doubt that I chose to ignore?

Did a vague insight grow into certainty of a misguided choice?

Or perhaps it was in viewing the damage and hurt of that compromise, that I recognised the consequences of that choice?

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FR DERMOT

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In his book 鈥淭he Spiritual Exercises鈥�, St Ignatius of Loyola names evil as 鈥渢he enemy of our human nature鈥�. He would emphasise how it is folly for us to think that we can negotiate with the forces of darkness, no matter how reasonable or enticing an offer it might appear to be.

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In the Temptations narrative, notice how Jesus never negotiates with the Devil 鈥� there is no banter or even argument 鈥� as he will have later, for example, with the Pharisees. The Gospel is clear that the marauding entity which is Evil is alien to our being and will always attempt to inflict colossal damage on the human heart.

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MARY 听

God of the Heart,

You show us that temptation alone is not sin.

In Jesus you show us the power of a human heart united to you.

Mend our broken wills and hearts,

That through Jesus, we may bring peace and unity to others.

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MUSIC: HYMN 鈥� O God, you search me and you know me (Bernadette Farrell)

From CD: Favourite Catholic Hymns. 听Choirs of the Dioceses of Leeds

Label & Number: Herald HAVPCD 397

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MICHAEL

听鈥淭hen the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.鈥�

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FR DERMOT

The Devil tempted Jesus to provoke the appearance of angels by throwing himself down from the winglet of the Temple, but he didn鈥檛 鈥� and the angels came in God鈥檚 Good Time. Matthew uses the word 鈥�顿颈补肠辞苍辞耻苍鈥�鈥� 鈥榤inistering to him鈥�.

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As you might expect the battle between Jesus and the Devil is being played out against the backdrop of the Old Testament. The Devil 鈥� note he can quote Scripture like the best of us! - cites the beautiful Psalm 91 about God鈥檚 care for his creatures. But Jesus鈥� three quotations spring from just three chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy where Moses reminds the People of Israel that they were tempted in the wilderness and they failed. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and succeeded. As Moses climbed Mt Nebo and could only gaze into the Promised Land, Jesus (who in Matthew鈥檚 eyes is the 鈥楴ew Moses鈥�) goes up the highest mountain and will now lead the People of God into Eternal Life.

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MARY

God of Promises

The symmetry of your salvation catches our breath.

Patiently you journey with us through history.

And you do not despise this life, this biography, this year of 2021.

The Promise of your Son, Jesus, patiently waits for us.

Help us to trust your word.

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FR DERMOT AND MARY: Lord鈥檚 Prayer

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FR DERMOT

When Luke completes his telling of the Temptations story, he adds a phrase not found in Matthew:

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MICHAEL

鈥淲hen the devil had finished all this tempting,听he left him听until an opportune time.鈥�

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FR DERMOT

鈥淎n opportune time.鈥� The Greek word is 鈥楰airos鈥欌�� Often seen as an opportune time for God and God鈥檚 people, but Luke is wanting to make clear that the ending of the Temptations does not mean the disappearance of the Tempter - he will return when the time is right.

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MUSIC:听 Dignus est Agnus (Anon) / MacMillan
From CD: 鈥楳acMillan: Tenebrae Responsories & other choral works鈥�
Label & Number:听 Hyperion CDA67970

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FR DERMOT

In John鈥檚 Gospel we will catch a reflection of him when he incites the crowd to push to make Jesus King after he fed the five thousand with bread. We will glimpse him also nudging Peter to urge Jesus to tone down the predictions of the Passion he was to suffer 鈥� 鈥淕et behind me Satan!鈥� Jesus yells 鈥淲hat does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his very soul?!鈥� A deal Jesus himself had been offered.

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But we also see in the ministry of Jesus times when he shares the wisdom of his experience discerning the spirits of good and evil. Lord, how can we tell the difference between a true prophet and a false prophet? 鈥淵ou can tell them by their fruits鈥�.Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.鈥� Should we root out evil like weeds? 鈥淣o, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.听Let both grow together until the harvest.鈥�听

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MARY

God of growing things听听 听听听听听

Scatter your Word in our world and in our hearts.

Do not break the bent reed nor judge the tiniest seed.

You wish that all be saved - give time for hearts to burn with divine love.

Through Jesus, the Christ, let us see the face of the Father and the Power of the Spirit.

Amen

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FR DERMOT

So, let us leave Jesus now, gazing across a landscape from the high mountain, being ministered to by angels as he ponders his next step. And let us ask the blessing of the Spirit of Christ as we continue to walk on our pilgrim way. We ask that Spirit to heal our brokenness, to give strength & courage to our fight and to knit together the integrity which our hearts desire. Amen. 听

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MUSIC: HYMN 鈥� Praise to the holiest in the height
From CD: 听Ultimate Hymns Volume 4 听Label & Number:听 Authentic Media 8204672