The Hour of Temptation

     “Lead us not into temptation. . . We ought to offer this prayer very seriously. Our Lord knew what it was to be tempted and what bitter struggles temptation may entail. Who can be sure of himself? When things are going well we let these words pass over us negligently, thinking very little about them as if they really did not apply to us at all. And then all of a sudden the sky becomes overcast -- a storm arises, and with the wind blowing from all directions at once, we do not know which way to turn.
      Take this journey of mine up the perilous face of my cliff. How many hours of weakness and despair have had to be endured in making that climb, hours of sheer helplessness, of doubt, not knowing which was the best course. How is it that conditions suddenly get distorted, their balance disturbed and their threads twisted and entangled, producing a pattern far from our intention and quite beyond our power to unravel?
     No one can escape the hour of temptation. It is only in that hour that we begin to sense our weakness and have a faint inkling of the vital decisions we are expected to make. If only I can manage to keep a hold on this perilous perch and not faint and let go.
     I have committed my soul to God and I rely on the help of my friends.”                                                                                                                               Father Alfred Delp, S.J.


     Oh the wisdom of Father Delp’s words! How often the phrase, “lead us not into temptation,” passes mindlessly through our lips. We have become so adept to praying the “Our Father” that the words have lost the meaning that Jesus intended. Christ was very deliberate in composing this prayer and did not haphazardly add this phrase without the knowledge of our need.

His Gaze of Mercy

     While I don’t really experience a lot of physical suffering, I was being plagued by interior suffering, and I was not faring well! Interiorly, I felt as if I were experiencing labor and could not handle it. I wanted to scream! I wanted to shout! I wanted to give birth without all the pain that goes along with it. I tried to unite my suffering with Jesus,’ but that did not seem to make a difference. I was struggling within myself between what I felt like doing or saying, compared with how I knew I should act. The duplicity in my heart made me feel like a hypocrite. I knew I was in need of supernatural help, so off I went to Confession.