February 22, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03Every year on the first Sunday of Lent,
2. 0:06the church brings us into the desert.
3. 0:10Not as spectators,
4. 0:12not as tourists, but as participants.
5. 0:17Because a desert is not a place on a
6. 0:18map, it is a place in the soul.
7. 0:23And there's a question waiting for all
8. 0:24of us there.
9. 0:27What actually rules your heart?
10. 0:30Not what you say rules your heart, or
11. 0:33not what you post on social media, not
12. 0:36what you think
13. 0:38rules it,
14. 0:40but what actually rules your heart?
15. 0:44We often imagine temptation as something
16. 0:46crude, something obviously dark,
17. 0:50something ugly and destructive.
18. 0:53But here's the truth.
19. 0:56The devil does not tempt a good people
20. 0:58with evil.
21. 1:00He tempts good people with good things.
22. 1:05That's why the gospel today is so
23. 1:07dangerous.
24. 1:09Because it exposes how subtle the battle
25. 1:12really is.
26. 1:15Jesus goes into the desert after 40 days
27. 1:18and 40 nights.
28. 1:20He's been fasting.
29. 1:22He's hungry,
30. 1:24weak, human.
31. 1:27And the devil comes to him not with
32. 1:29horror, not with violence, but with a
33. 1:32reasonable suggestion.
34. 1:35He says to him,
35. 1:36"Hey, why don't you turn these stones
36. 1:39into bread? I know you're hungry."
37. 1:43Well, bread is not evil.
38. 1:46Bread is good.
39. 1:48You ever had some fresh Cuban bread with
40. 1:51nice butter and a cafecito?
41. 1:56Food is good.
42. 1:58Pleasure is good. Comfort is good.
43. 2:02The temptation was not to do something
44. 2:05wicked.
45. 2:06The temptation was to meet a legitimate
46. 2:08need in a way that bypassed
47. 2:12the trust of the Father.
48. 2:15To use power for self before obedience.
49. 2:21And Jesus answers with words that should
50. 2:23shake us.
51. 2:25Man does not live on bread alone.
52. 2:30Translation means your deepest hunger is
53. 2:34not physical.
54. 2:37And yet how many how much of our lives
55. 2:39are spent chasing satisfaction?
56. 2:43We feed our bodies constantly. We feed
57. 2:45our egos constantly. We feed our
58. 2:48impulses.
59. 2:50But do we feed our souls?
60. 2:54That's why the church asks us to fast.
61. 2:57Not because food is bad,
62. 3:01but because hunger clarifies.
63. 3:05Hunger exposes what we depend on.
64. 3:11Then the devil raises the the stakes.
65. 3:15He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the
66. 3:17world.
67. 3:19Power, influence, control.
68. 3:23Again, none of these are evil in in of
69. 3:26themselves.
70. 3:28Leadership is good and necessary.
71. 3:31Authority is good. Influence can be very
72. 3:33good.
73. 3:36But the temptation is to grasp them
74. 3:38without the cross.
75. 3:41To win without obedience. To rule
76. 3:43without surrender.
77. 3:46"Worship me," the devil says,
78. 3:50"and it all will be yours.
79. 3:53In other words, compromise. Just a
80. 3:56little and you can have it all.
81. 3:59Isn't that the same whisper we hear
82. 4:01today?
83. 4:03Cut corners.
84. 4:05Adjust the truth a little bit. Who's
85. 4:07going to see?
86. 4:08Soften the gospel.
87. 4:11Don't be so serious. Don't be so
88. 4:13radical. It's not such a big deal.
89. 4:15Everybody does it.
90. 4:18You can have success. Just don't let
91. 4:20Christ interfere too much.
92. 4:24And finally, the most subtle temptation
93. 4:26of all. Throw yourself down from this
94. 4:29temple. Let the angels save you.
95. 4:34The temptation to perform, to impress,
96. 4:37to be spectacular.
97. 4:41Again, prestige in and of itself is not
98. 4:43evil. Reputation is not evil.
99. 4:47But living for applause is deadly.
100. 4:51The temptation was to manipulate God's
101. 4:54power for public approval.
102. 4:57To build a following without fidelity.
103. 5:01But Jesus refuses.
104. 5:04He refuses bread without trust. He
105. 5:07refuses power without obedience. He
106. 5:10refuses glory without sacrifice.
107. 5:15But here's some gospel truths.
108. 5:18These are the same three temptations we
109. 5:21live each and every day.
110. 5:24Appetite, power, prestige,
111. 5:28pleasure, control, recognition,
112. 5:31accumulation.
113. 5:33The devil rarely destroys a soul by
114. 5:36offering something obviously corrupt and
115. 5:39bad. The good person will discharge it
116. 5:42right out.
117. 5:45He destroys a soul by slowly rearranging
118. 5:48priorities.
119. 5:51By convincing us that good things are
120. 5:53the ultimate things.
121. 5:56And when good things become the ultimate
122. 5:58things, they become idols.
123. 6:00God then takes a second place.
124. 6:05That's the real battle of Lent.
125. 6:08Not chocolate, not coffee, not social
126. 6:10media, not all of those things that you
127. 6:12may have given up. The real battle is
128. 6:15hierarchy.
129. 6:16What is first? Who is first?
130. 6:20You cannot serve two princes.
131. 6:23The prince of peace and the prince of
132. 6:25this world.
133. 6:27One leads to freedom through the cross.
134. 6:30The other leads to slavery disguised as
135. 6:33earthly success.
136. 6:38Saint Pope John Paul II once told the
137. 6:40generation, "You must choose.
138. 6:43Your choice must be clear and your
139. 6:45decision must be firm."
140. 6:48Wasn't dramatic rhetoric. Was realism.
141. 6:52Every generation faces that moment where
142. 6:54they have to come to a decision.
143. 6:58But here's the sobering truth.
144. 7:01You do not make that decision once. You
145. 7:04have to make that decision every single
146. 7:06day where you wake up in the morning and
147. 7:08you say, "I choose you, Christ.
148. 7:10I will shape my life, my priorities, all
149. 7:13of my decisions, everything that I do
150. 7:15based on you."
151. 7:17Every time you choose prayer over
152. 7:19distraction.
153. 7:21Every time you choose integrity over
154. 7:24convenience. Every time you choose
155. 7:26fidelity over applause. Every time you
156. 7:29choose Christ over comfort.
157. 7:33Now, let me say something plainly.
158. 7:37The devil is real, whether you believe
159. 7:39it or not.
160. 7:41He hates Christ.
161. 7:43He hates the church. He hates marriages.
162. 7:46He hates families. And he most
163. 7:48definitely hates priests.
164. 7:51He will have nothing more than to
165. 7:52convince you that the desert is
166. 7:54unnecessary.
167. 7:57But the desert is where clarity is born.
168. 8:02Lent is not about minor adjustments.
169. 8:06It's about reordering the heart.
170. 8:10It's about asking with brutal honesty,
171. 8:12where have I placed bread before God?
172. 8:16Where have I sought power instead of
173. 8:18obedience?
174. 8:20Where have I craved applause more than
175. 8:23seeking holiness? Serving the Lord
176. 8:26quietly.
177. 8:30Again, this is not meant to discourage
178. 8:32you.
179. 8:33I'm giving you the good news.
180. 8:37Jesus did not just resist temptation for
181. 8:39himself. He resisted it for you.
182. 8:43He entered the desert so that when you
183. 8:45enter your desert, you are not alone.
184. 8:47You know that he's there walking with
185. 8:49you.
186. 8:50He defeated the devil so that you could
187. 8:52fight with his strength.
188. 8:56The desert is not where we go to fail.
189. 8:58The desert is where we go to decide.
190. 9:02So, I'll leave you with this.
191. 9:05What will profit you to gain the whole
192. 9:08world and lose your soul?
193. 9:12What would it profit you to win
194. 9:13admiration and forfeit eternity?
195. 9:17What would it profit you to feed every
196. 9:19appetite and starve your heart?
197. 9:24This is a generation of decision. Not
198. 9:26political decisions. Not cultural
199. 9:29decisions.
200. 9:31Spiritual decisions.
201. 9:34Nothing comes before God.
202. 9:37Not success,
203. 9:39not comfort, not more things, not
204. 9:42relationships, not reputation, nothing
205. 9:45comes before God.
206. 9:48And if you make that decision that
207. 9:50nothing comes before God, truly make
208. 9:53that decision, Lent will not be a season
209. 9:55of deprivation.
210. 9:57It will be a season of liberation.
211. 10:01Because when Christ is first, I promise
212. 10:03you everything else falls into its
213. 10:05place.
214. 10:07Choose clearly this year.
215. 10:10Choose firmly.
216. 10:12Choose Christ today and always. Amen.