Genesis 2:7-9/ Romans 5:12-19/ Matthew 4:1-11
There’s something in the air that tells us that something is not quite right.
Yes, a number of people are coughing away and there seems to be a bug flying around somewhere.
And it is not a matter of whether we catch the bug. Who would want to catch such a bug? It is the bug who wants to catch us!
But besides that, there is something else in the air that doesn’t smell right.
I wonder if we have smelt that there was something burning in the air.
Even though the wind is strong at times, the smell is equally strong.
Well, it is always said, where there is smoke, there is a fire, and where there is something burning, there will be a smell.
We may not see the fire, and it may not be that smoky or hazy, but we don’t have to wait till smoke gets into our eyes to know that something is burning.
Because the smell says it all. And it is interesting to note that we have quite a good sense of smell.
The smell of food will make us hungry, and it also tells us whether the food is barbecued, fried or grilled .
And we don’t even have to taste the food to see if it has gone bad or rancid. The smell will already tell us (blue cheese and smelly tofu)
Yes, our noses are able to pick out what can’t be seen or touched and yet we are able to identify it by the smell.
The 1st reading, began by saying that the Lord God fashioned man out of dust from the soil.
And Ash Wednesday reminds us of that: we remember that we are dust and unto dust we shall return.
Then it goes on to say that God breathed into the nostrils of man a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
So, it can be said that man’s first experience of God was through his nostrils; he breathed in the breath of God.
And with that man also breathed in the life of God, and he also breathed in the love of God.
And with that man also breathed in truth and beauty and goodness. That’s why a good smell always delights us.
On the other hand, a bad, pungent, repulsive smell will put us off and we will immediately cover our noses.
Certainly we enjoy clean fresh air and we would a deep breath of it.
But it would be crazy and stupid if we were to take deep breaths of polluted air or a bad stench.
Also prolonged exposure to foul smells can impair the ability to smell.
In the 1st reading, we heard about the first temptation. The devil, the father of lies, and disguised as a serpent, tried to seduce Eve with a trick question.
Eve could have taken a moment to breathe in the truth of God and hence refused to get entangled with a bad question.
But she opened her mouth to speak, and the more she spoke, the more the breath of life was drained from her.
As we know, when we don’t breathe, we will be deprived of oxygen, we will start to malfunction and eventually die and turn to dust.
Adam and Eve breathed less and less of God, and with the eating of the forbidden fruit, the poison of death has set in on humanity.
In the gospel, we heard that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The Spirit of God is also known as the breath of God. So with the power of the Spirit, with the breath of God, Jesus blew away the smoke that the devil was casting on Him in the three temptations.
In the desert, Jesus reversed the tragedy in the garden of Eden.
With the breath of God, He cast away the smoke of Satan.
But the smoke of Satan is lurking around, and if we are not careful about it, then the smoke of Satan will choke us, and prevent us from breathing in the breath of God.
In 1972, Pope Paul VI delivered a homily that startled the world.
Describing the chaos in the Church, he said: From some cracks and tears, the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.
That statement of Pope Paul VI was ridiculed with sarcasm and contempt. He was criticized for not being a “modern man” and still talking about the wiles of the devil.
Well, forty years later, Pope Francis, just one day after his election, said: Let us never give in to the pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil tempts us with every day.
Pope Francis also powerfully rebuked those who deny the existence of Satan, warning against relativism, deceit and the seduction of evil.
He also spoke about spiritual warfare, and that contending with the devil is precisely our battle on earth.
The smoke of Satan often comes in the form of angry words thrown at us to lure us into an argument that will result in an eye or eye and tooth for tooth.
In such situations, we must pause and take a moment and breathe in deep the breath of God and be filled with the power of the Spirit.
Then with the clarity of the truth and the power of love, we will be able to blow away the smoke of Satan and resist the lure of evil and temptation.
So let us breathe in the breath of God and be united with the Spirit in prayer, so that the enemies of God will flee and scatter, and the smoke of Satan be blown away.