First Sunday in Lent AD 2024

Man is special among God’s creatures. He has one or two things in common with other creatures, but there is something important in which he differs even from those who are most similar to him: animals and angels.

Unlike animals, man has free will. This does not mean that we are always free to do whatever we want, but it does mean that the value of our decisions, choices and actions depends on whether or not there is free will behind them. There can be no true goodness or love if it is forced, unwilling. Yes, animals too can show affection and loyalty, but they do so instinctively, while human goodness, righteousness, and love must be conscious and intentional.

What distinguishes man from angels is that although they both have free will, angels are completed beings, they are who they are from the moment of creation, while man is bound not to remain who he is, but called to become something more. We are God’s creatures, but God wants us to become His children.

No one can and shouldn’t force us to become children of God – however, we ourselves must force ourselves to do it. We have to grow, and it’s not easy or painless. It means effort, self-discipline, even self-sacrifice. It means consciously renouncing evil and doing what is right and good, even if it means pain, contempt and suffering. It’s almost always choosing the harder path over the easier one.

Just as Our Lord Jesus Christ did when the devil offered Him an easier way while tempting Him in the desert. Our Lord decisively said no to the devil, and we know which way He finally chose – the way of suffering and the cross, so that we don’t have to perish, but may know and live the true love.