First Sunday in Lent
- 19 hours ago
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Today’s readings, as we begin the season of Lent, give us two special reminders that will help us on our journey: Who God is and who we are as human beings.
Entrance: Ps 91(90):15-16 – “When he calls on Me, I will answer Him; I will deliver him and give him glory, I will grant him length of days.”
First Reading: Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7 – “The creation of our first parents, and sin.”
Psalm: Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 – “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.”
Second Reading: Rom 5:12-19 – “Where sin increased, there grace increased all the more.”
Verse before the Gospel: Mt 4:4b – “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
Gospel: Mt 4:1-11 – “Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights and was tempted.”
Communion: Mt 4:4 – “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
The reading from Genesis presents our creation story: The Lord God formed us out of the clay of the ground and animated us by breathing life into us. So, let’s face it, without God, we simply would not exist.
Yet from the very beginning, it has been hard for us as human beings to remember this basic fact. Like Adam and Eve, it is very easy for us to fall into the trap of wanting to be like God – wanting to be in charge of our lives and wanting to know good from evil. We certainly can go through our lives reacting to our problems and challenges as if we’re in charge of everything and forget to rely on the wisdom and guidance of God. Perhaps, however, as we begin our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, our focus should be to remember to put God first in our lives, and to wrest out of our lives anything we want to put before God.
Jesus gives us a masterful example of how to do just that in the Gospel, as He’s confronted with various temptations by the devil. For every temptation that Satan puts before Him, Jesus counters with a reminder that God comes first. Tempted to make stones into bread after 40 days of fasting, Jesus notes that we live not only on bread, but on the Word of God. Tempted to fall down and let God save Him, He reminds the devil that he is not to put God to the test. Finally, tempted with all the riches of the world if He only worships Satan, Jesus counters that God alone should be worshiped. Jesus gives us a clear model: In all temptations to hunger, power, and wealth, we are to remember that God, our Creator, comes first. As I meditated on the readings, I was simply reminded of the two greatest commandments: You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The traditional practices of Lent … fasting, prayer, and almsgiving help us to once again focus on those commandments.
As we begin our own challenging journey of Lent, we should be assured by the words of Saint Paul in today’s Second Reading. Although sin abounds in our world, God’s grace abounds even more. As we struggle in the weeks ahead to put God first and to remove from our lives the obstacles to our union with God, God gives us graces to help us in our struggle. We are never alone on the journey when we strive to come closer to God – God is always waiting to give us any help we need. We need only remember to turn to Him. We should face the Lent ahead with the courage and strength of Jesus. And we should pray that this journey of Lent helps us to return to God and put Him first in our lives and hearts.
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