“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 prostate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”

Once more I turned to poet Malcolm Guite for a sonnet commentary on the last temptation from toady’s Gospel https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/tag/lent/:

“So here’s the deal and this is what you get:
The penthouse suite with world-commanding views, The bankers bonus and the private jet
Control and ownership of all the news
An ‘in’ to that exclusive one percent,
Who know the score, who really run the show
With interest on every penny lent
And sweeteners for cronies in the know.

A straight arrangement between me and you
No hell below or heaven high above
You just admit it, and give me my due
And wake up from this foolish dream of love…” But Jesus laughed, “You are not what you seem. Love is the waking life, you are the dream.”

Fr Matthew