Holy Thursday retreat: 3 temptations, 3 basic needs

The evil spirit knows best when to tempt us:
when we are at our weakest.
It did exactly that to the Lord.
It came with all its inducements
when Jesus was most hungry, lonely, and exhausted.

The 3 temptations in the desert are quite simple
when you think about it.

Which of the 3 do you think
was most difficult for our Lord to resist?
Why do you think so?

The temptations can actually stand for
3 of our most basic needs.

All our temptations are based
on these 3 primal needs:
our need for security and comfort,
our need for support and affirmation,
and our need for control over our own lives.

The needs themselves are not bad;
in fact, they’re healthy needs –
needs that make us human,
without which we can’t survive.

Among them,
which type of temptation do you think
would you find – or have you found –
hardest to resist? Why?

Indicate your choice here.
You may want to note the responses
of the rest of the retreatants as well.

For our retreat these next 3 days,
we will use the Temptation in the Desert
as our framework.

During His Passion and Death,
our Lord shows us that he is no slave to these 3 basic needs.