These Things Are Not First - But We Forget

[When Satan tempted Jesus in the desert] our Lord was not denying that man must be fed, or that social justice must be preached, but He was asserting that these things are not first. 

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

He was, in effect, saying to Satan, 'You tempt me to a religion which would relieve want; you want Me to be a baker instead of a Savior; to be a social reformer, instead of a Redeemer. You are tempting Me away from My Cross, suggesting that I be a cheap leader of people, feeding their bellies instead of their souls...

Be gone Satan! I am not just a social worker who has never been hungry Himself, but one who says I reject any plan which promises to make men richer, without making them holier.’

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen