Begone Satan!
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FATHER SCHIRO’S EIGHTH RETREAT LECTURE DISMISSES THE ‘EASY WAY OUT’
The mood at a Manresa retreat may never be so reverent as it is right now. It is late Saturday afternoon, and just as each man in attendance has found his seat in the lecture hall, he has also found his purpose and direction on this retreat. These 109 men convened two days ago, on Thursday afternoon, and have not spoken to each other since the silent retreat began. They have been together in the chapel, in the dining room, and in the lecture hall - with no need for conversation with anyone but God. Many have spent time alone in adoration or walking the verdant campus. Many have visited the Jesuit priests for consultation and confession. But through shared experience, a respectfully observed discipline and a common purpose, they seem to know each other - and themselves - a bit better now. It does not matter that they come from different communities, and it does not matter that most see each other only once a year at Manresa. They are united as brothers in Christ. Father Nick Schiro has directed the men through seven previous lectures. They look forward to this, his eighth lecture, and in many ways regret that the retreat will end tomorrow after the conclusion of his eleventh lecture. Like yesterday, after the delicious lunch today each man had nearly three hours of unscheduled time, to do as he pleased. Most, if not all, have used it productively toward the goal of their retreat - each goal as different as each man here, each goal surely including Christ’s unchanging message. Father Schiro’s lecture to the July 2004 Manresa retreat group begins with the same beautiful prayer the men have heard at the outset of each lecture and many have already committed to memory: “Grant, O Lord, that all our thoughts, words, actions and intentions of this period may be directed purely to the praise, reverence and service of your Divine Majesty.” Father moves immediately into the gospel story of the temptation of Jesus by the devil. In the story, which occurs just before Christ begins his public ministry, Jesus has been fasting in the dessert for forty days. Father Schiro reads aloud the passage [MT 4:1-12]: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards He was hungry. The tempter approached and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took Him into the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him. As with so many writings in the holy scripture, Father explains, there are several interpretations. He explores several of the explanations and provides contemporary background for these first century writings. Then, as he is so skilled in doing, Father boils down what could be studied for years into the remaining minutes of his comfortably brief, thirty minute talk. He says that the temptations were to give the people what they were looking for in a Messiah. Jesus is being tempted to use his power to take the easy way out. “Jesus took no shortcuts,” Father Schiro summarizes. “He took the completely human way - he expressed all the emotions we experience.” The men are accustomed, from so many other scripture passages, Sunday homilies, and retreats, to being encouraged to be more like Christ. Although this is not the first time they have heard the story of the temptation of Christ in the dessert, it is not so familiar to hear that Christ on earth was like us in so many ways of trial and tribulation. “The same temptations that affected Jesus back then,” Father concludes, “now affect us - each time we are tempted to ‘take the easy way out.’”