The temptation of being incomplete
Today I'm going to speak about the temptation of being incomplete, feeling incomplete. We have begun our 40 days Lenten Journey. A journey towards light, the Risen Lord. And today, this Sunday, May we call it Temptation Sunday because you heard about the first reading: Temptation - the gospel's Temptation. So the Sunday readings enlighten us about the possible Temptation that comes our way and how we need to respond to it.
The temptation of feeling incomplete or incompleteness is in us. In the creation story, the tempter Tells Eve that if you eat the food you will be complete like God, you will be able to judge between good and evil. They eat the fruit and what happens? They want it to be complete but their feeling of incompleteness increases, leading them to realize their nakedness and lead them to hide. Before eating, before God, they were able to talk to him, and then but now they're hiding. They were complete in the sight of God but now they desire to be more than what God has entrusted to them, leading them to hide before God. And obviously their relationship with God is broken.
Coming to the gospel, Jesus was baptized before The Temptations. You will see Jesus was baptized he hears, and he realizes that he was fully human and divine. And that was a time he went to have his experience with God. Maybe 40 days in the visit is the right and favorable length of time for us. And the devil finds a favorable time when we are in the desert. So the first temptation is: oh, you're the Son of God, prove yourself. You’re not complete, if you don't prove yourself to the world. if you are hungry, turn these into bread, and then, jump from here, your father will send Angels. Come on, prove yourself. Fall before me, and worship me, I will give you the whole Kingdom. In all of these Temptations, we can see that the tempter leaves Jesus to prove himself that he is complete both human and divine. That's where the tempter sees: "if you are the son of God", the same phrase in the first reading of the creation story. "if you want to be like God".
Adam and Eve fail. But Jesus wins over the Temptation saying I am full with God and have the word of God. it responds with the word of God as it is written in your news bulletins. What is written there on the top the captions of today's handout: tempted, tested, and triumphed. So Jesus triumphed. I already heard from my father that I am beloved. What more do I need to prove myself and to prove to you the tempter. So get behind me.
The world makes us feel incomplete. The world often tells you to prove yourself and your worth to others. For example, I just went to Google and searched out some of the products and their slogans that make you feel incomplete without them.
Disneyland, what is the slogan? "The happiest place on Earth''. As if you don't go, you don't visit the happiest place. Samsung has its slogan as "do what you can't". As if with Samsung you can do everything. And then you have Wal-Mart: "save money live better", so if you don't go to Wal-Mart, you don't live better. American Express: "don't live life without it". Facebook has this slogan: "more together". Oh, you have lots of friends but you are alone in the room with Facebook. I went to see cosmetics. Revlon has this "Feel like a Woman ''. And then Old Spice, "smell like a man". As if without that you don't smell like a man. In 1982, Max Factor had this slogan: "don't you love being a woman", as if without their products you don't want to be a woman. So these are some of the examples I found. I'm not saying you don't use them, but saying that they are not the ones which make you a complete human being.
There is always a tempter in us telling us we are incomplete. Oh, you do not have... you have not gone to a good restaurant, you do not have a costly dress, you do not own a profitable company. I do not have a beautiful face, good health. you know bank balance. Once you feel not full, it leads to craving for more. Be it food, power, or possessions, look out into the world. The feeling of incompleteness led to Wars.
Therefore, dear friends during this Lenten Journey, look out for one thing that is bothering you and telling you are incomplete without this or that. See how much you are breaking your back to prove to the world, to the people, to your neighbors. Maybe I would give up during this season, the feeling of not being enough, not worrying about having full, and accept we can never have it full. Reminding ourselves: we could be better persons with what we have, and what we are in the presence of God. With it, win these Temptations of feeling insecure, incompleteness. Have confidence that our Jesus showed us the way to defeat the tempter. Therefore asked for courage during this season of lent as we journey with God towards hope. Ask for the courage to tell Satan to get behind me. Amen
倚靠耶稣来战胜那不足与不完整感觉
今天我要谈谈那种欠缺或不圆满的感觉。在这四旬期的第一个主日，读经一和福音记载了魔鬼的诱惑，也教导我们如何来对抗魔鬼的诱惑。
我们常常有一种欠缺和不满足的感觉。在乐园中，天主告诉亚当和夏娃：”乐园中这棵树上的果子，不可以吃，免得死亡”. 魔鬼却说: ”那天你们吃了这果子，眼就开了，如同天主一样能分辨善恶”。听了魔鬼的谎言，亚当和夏娃就吃了果子。二人的眼立刻开了，发觉自己赤身露体，就躲藏了起来。这到底是怎么一回事呢？期望完美吃了禁果，却感觉不完美。吃果子前，他们已经是完美的，可以与天主面对面交谈。吃果子后，却躲了起来。这就是欠缺和不满足的诱惑，他们想要超越完美的创造，以致失落了天主赐的美善，羞愧的躲了起来。
耶稣受到魔鬼试探之前受了洗。在洗礼中，耶稣听到天父的话，了解到他是全人又真天主。然后，祂就进入沙漠禁食祈祷四十天来体验天主。同样的，让我们也用这四旬期来体验天主。在沙漠中，魔鬼找机会试探耶稣。第一个试探是：”你若是天主子，就将石头变成饼来证明你自己“。第二个试探是：魔鬼将耶稣立在圣殿顶上说：”从这里跳下去吧，你父亲会派天使来，用手托着你”。加油，证明自己吧。最后一个试探是： “你若俯伏朝拜我，我必把世上一切国度及其荣华交给你”。在这三个试探中，魔鬼都是用这些话来挑战
亚当和夏娃无法克服诱惑的挑战。 ，耶稣却战胜了诱惑。祂说：“我心中充满了天主，口中是天主的圣言”。耶稣以天主圣言来回应。今天你手中主日的简报标题是 ：“试探、考验和得胜”。耶稣得胜了，因为他明认：“天父已经告诉我祂爱我，我还需要用什么来证明我自己呢？魔鬼，到后面去”。
这个世界总是想让我们感受到欠缺或不足，以此谋利。我用谷歌搜索了一些产品和他们的口号。这些口号的目的就是要我们买它的产品来填满那感觉欠缺或不完美的诱惑。
迪士尼乐园的口号是： “地球上最快乐的地方”。好像你不去迪士尼乐园，就没有体验到最快乐的地方；三星电子的口号是：“做你做不到的事”。好像有了三星，你就可以做任何事；walmart的口号是：“省钱，又活得更好”，如果你不去walmart购物就不会活得更好；脸书 的口号是：“更多的人在一起”。虽然有很多朋友，但没有脸书，就像一个人独处ㄧ室。让我们来看看化妆品的口号。露华浓：“感觉像个女人“；Old Spice：“闻起来像个男人”。好像没有Old Spice 闻起来就不像男人。 ；蜜丝佛陀：“做女人真好”，没有密斯佛陀就没有享受到做女人的好处。 ：我并不反对使用这些产品，我只想告诉你们世上没有一个产品能将你变得更为完美。
我们的内心总有感觉到欠缺或不满。诱惑说：“ 哦，你有没有做某些事情？“。 ”你有没有去过这一家好餐馆？你有没有这件昂贵的大衣？你是否拥有一家赚钱的公司？ 我也问自己是否有美丽的容颜？身体是否健康？银行帐户的余额够不够？ 一旦你感到还不够，你的渴望及欲望就会更多。 无论是食物、权力还是财产，都是一样的。放眼世界，欠缺或不完满的诱惑甚至 会引发战争。
朋友们，在这四旬期我们要找出一件困扰你，使您感觉欠缺的事。那件你尽力向世界、人们、或你的邻居证明自己价值的事。让我们超越那欠缺和不满足的诱惑，不再担心自己是否圆满。因为我们无法以做更多证明自己存在的价值。我们要以自己所拥有的，天主创造的样子来成为一个更好的基督徒。倚靠耶稣来战胜那不足与不完整感觉的诱惑，学习耶稣击败魔鬼的试探。偕同天主迈向希望的旅程，大声斥责撒旦：到后面去。阿门！