Mk.1:12-15
Temptations are part and parcel of our daily life. When we came for our weekly Lectio Devina last Thursday, one of our companions began his reflection with this note: ‘one factor that is common to all of us is that we all have temptations…’ Yes, he is true…’ St. Anthony of the desert used to say: “Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” These words of wisdom explain to us the certainty of temptations in our life. We need to reflect on nature of our response to God, our fellow brethren and ourselves in these fragile moments? Recently I came across a moving life story of a Zhao Zhihan…
On the evening of August 13, 2014, she came home tired after her work. However some of her relatives her eldest sister, her husband and second sister’s husband were waiting with a piece of shocking news. Her husband met with a tragic accident and admitted to the hospital. His situation remained rather critical. Her brother-in-law explained how the accident happened and shared with her the doctor’s opinion that his situation seemed hopeless. ‘Even if he survives, there is a 99-percentage possibility for brain death.’ She called a taxi and rushed to the hospital. Her mind was filled with anxiety and deep sorrow and worrying that would she meet her husband alive again.
She was reminded of the story of Job in the Bible during her journey. Job was a righteous man, yet he had to undergo terrible suffering. Her deep faith helped her to surrender everything in the merciful hands of God. Once she reached the hospital, she met the doctor. The doctor opined that the injuries were very severe and high possibility for brain death. He asked her to pay a considerable sum to continue the medical treatment. It was beyond her capacities. Even if she spends the money, she is not sure that she would get back her husband. If she loses the family’s breadwinner, how she would manage her household with this high debt? These thoughts added her mental agony.
She hurried to the intensive care unit to meet her husband. This tragic scene made her freeze. The blood was kept leaking from his hear because of the cranial fracture. He had broken his three ribs, the femur on his right leg, and also all the toes of the left leg. Along with these injuries both lungs were also severely damaged, and the entire body appeared to be bluish with bruises. How happy he was yesterday morning… how he had called yesterday evening our son… Good old memories of her happy family started to pierce her heart with excruciating pain. Even then, she was never ready to give up on God. She poured out her brokenness as a prayer to the Lord and pleaded with Him for his life.
On the third day, the situation became worse. All the family members thought that he would not last the day and all wept bitterly. The fear of losing him burdened her heart. The fourth day morning, she met the nurse, and she told that there was no further development and slightly better. Her heart was filled with gratitude to the Lord. She thanked God profusely in the silence of her heart. Anyhow, the doctor approached her with a demanding request asking her to shift her husband to another hospital, and it required a huge sum because he had to undergo an urgent operation for his femur; otherwise, he might be permanently disabled.
The hospital expenses of the past five days emptied her bank balance and yet another huge amount was beyond her reach. Unfortunately, none of the family members were ready to lend money to them because they knew that never they would be able to pay them back. She returned home to raise some fund for the operation, and one of her uncles expressed his willingness to help her. Meanwhile, she got a phone call from her son who was in the hospital telling that her husband opened his eyes and doctors were confident of his health and wasn’t a dare need to shift him from there and he could undergo the operation in the same hospital. There was no limit to her joy. Her heart was filled with gratitude to the Lord.
However, that was not the end of her agony. Doctors opined that though he regained consciousness, yet his body is fragile. He had to undergo a rather lengthy operation since he suffered multiple fractures,. Therefore, he had to undertake a general anesthetic. It contained the danger of losing his memory. She thought for a while, her husband had been wavering between life and death for the past ten days. No one ever thought he would survive. God, in a miraculous manner, protected him. She signed the document needed for the operation trusting in the providential care of God.. After the operation, doctors told her: “Your husband waking up is completely beyond what we imagined. It is a miracle!” She thanked God, sincerely.
Her husband lost all his memory and became like an infant; doctors told her that she could take him for therapy after the operation. Almost 21 days were over in the hospital. She slowly taught him how to speak and recognize all kinds of things and people around him. He improved rapidly, and seeing his improvement; doctors told: “It’s inconceivable. No one would have thought that he could recover so quickly. It is a miracle!” Once he was discharged from the hospital, recovery was quickened. He started to walk with the help of the crutches and got back his full memory. She explained to him all what happened and how God miraculously saved him and when he heard about it, he wanted to give a witness for all that the Lord had done in his life so that more people come to faith…
Today being the first Sunday of Lent, we are invited to meditate on the wilderness experience of Jesus. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness fasting and praying, and the devil tested him. In the Old Testament, we see the wilderness experience of Israelites. They had to spend forty years to complete their journey to the Promised Land. The Israelites, they too were tested in various ways during this journey. They failed to see the merciful hand of God, who was with them cloud by day and fire by night. They were lost in the little inconveniences they had during their journey. They remained stubborn and grumbled always. They could not recall to their mind the greatness of Yahweh in those moments of the test and the marvellous that he had done in Egypt to liberate them from the yoke of slavery. In the end, none of them belonged to that generation except Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land.
Whereas the wilderness experience of Jesus marked by his deep trust and belongingness to God. The spirit guided him to be in the wilderness before his public ministry. The Old Israel went astray from the Lord in their wilderness experience. Whereas Jesus the new Israel grow in his deep intimacy with the Lord, knowing his identity as Son of God and the mission for which he has come into the world. The wilderness experience of Jesus teaches us that temptations are inevitable realities of our life. The question is, can we recognize a God in those moments who stand by our side just like cloud by day and fire by night? These temptations can be in any form. It can be our bodily passions, life difficulties, desire to possess someone, hatred towards the other, anger, stubbornness, material possessions, etc. However, we need to face these testing moments, not relying on our strength. We should be able to abandon ourselves to the merciful hands of God, who empowers our fragile moments with his grace. We may think that we are alone, abandoned by our Lord, dear and near ones etc. We could experience the presence of the Lord only when we gratefully recall our Lord. In the gospel passage, we read that the angels ministered to Jesus. The divine grace would empower our fragile moments. Realizing this amazing grace St. Paul says: For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Cor. 12:10)
Jesus comes out of his wilderness experience successful and begins his mission of leading the new Israel to the eternal Promised Land, the kingdom of his Father. Though it was hard, the wilderness experience did not drain out his energy; instead, it boosted him to begin his public ministry in full swing. The moving experience of Zhao Zhihan presents to us how our deep faith sustains us in those moments of temptations and struggles; it was an intense moment of test for her. Anyone could easily doubt the providential care of God or could be angry with God. Her filial trust empowered her to meet those fragile moments with hope and courage. Like Jesus, let us fall on to the Lord in our fragile moments and come out of the wilderness experience be empowered and proclaim the kingdom of God.