Continuing yesterday's reflection on the meaning of Jesus' temptation in the desert, here is a passage from a compilation of spiritual writings by Pope Benedict XVI, titled Journey to Easter. There, the Pope Emeritus wrote of the implications for clergy:

Jesus goes into the desert to be tempted, to share in the temptations of his people and of the world, to bear our misery, to conquer the foe and so to open the way for us to the Promised Land. It seems to me that all of this belongs in a particular manner to the office of the priest: to be exposed in the front line to the temptations and necessities of any given time, to suffer the sufferings of faith at a given time with others and for others. If at a certain period philosophy, science, [and] political power create obstacles to the faith, it is to be expected that priests and religious should feel it even before lay folk.

Matt Emerson's essays have appeared in a number of publications, including America, Commonweal, and the Wall Street Journal. The Catholic Press Association named his September 2012 essay "Help Their Unbelief," published in America, as the "best essay" in the category of national general interest magazine for 2012. He is the author of the book Why Faith? A Journey of Discovery (Paulist Press 2016).Articles:Fruitful Searching (Jan. 5-12, 2015)Preambles for Faith (May 13, 2013)Help Their Unbelief (Sept. 10, 2012)Posts at The Ignatian Educator