Philanthropy in the Desert

It is meet and right that Lent should start with Matthew 4. Its first sentence sums up not just Lent but the entire Christian life. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1). We may apply this to ourselves: “Then was I led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Our brief span of life is the wilderness. The Spirit himself has led us here. His purpose is that we be tempted by the devil. ...The misery of the wilderness is going to be ours till the last day of our lives. These forty days of Lent we face the question: When the devil comes to tempt me, how do I respond—with self-love or with true love? The virtue of philanthrōpia is the overcoming of philautia. Read Full Article »