Year C

1ST SUNDAY
OF LENT

► Text of Sunday Reflection

“Going out to meet Jesus”
by Bro. Dave O’Hara SDB

Greetings and I hope you are well. This Sunday marks the first Sunday of Lent, a dramatic change in the Church year, It is a time of recollecting, reevaluating and drawing closer to Christ in expectation of the celebration of Easter. Lent is a time when we see the shoots of spring in the world around us, when we can experience new life, new hope and new beginnings.

This Sundays Gospel tells of the story of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and being tempted by the devil. The story follows Jesus’ Baptism, where Jesus is declared by God to be his Beloved Son. Indeed the Devil uses these words in a taunting manner to try to tempt Jesus. The Devil tempts Jesus three times. Firstly with comfort, to provide for himself by turning stones into bread. The Devil then  tempts Jesus with success, with power, with glory and fame if he submits to him. Finally the devil tempts Jesus to prove who he is, God’s anointed Son, by throwing himself down from the temple in a death defying act.

Jesus was tempted for the very same reason as he was baptised, because he was a human being. Although sinless, Jesus went off into the desert to be tested by the Devil, just as we are throughout our lives. He wanted to experience what we experience and show us that through faith and the Holy Spirit we can overcome the temptations we face in our daily lives.

The Church gives us this temptation story at the beginning of every Lent to help us understand and challenge us to do what Jesus did, to face up to the evil that tempts us in our lives.Pope Francis’ in his Lenten message calls us to grow closer to Christ through God’s word and through going out of our way to meet Christ in those in need.I find it quite tempting to daydream when studying the word. I also find it all too easy to turn a blind eye news reports of people’s suffering, to look at statistics on homelessness for example, as numbers and not consider the people they represent. It’s a lot easier to concentrate on myself and what I want! But our faith must find expression in everyday actions to help our neighbour. We must resist the temptation of building our own individual kingdoms and remember there is one kingdom and we are all responsible for it. In the face of so much hardship and suffering it’s easy to experience a dullness of conscience, but if we study God’s word intently and enthusiastically, it will reawaken our conscience and prompt us to touch the flesh of Christ in our suffering neighbours.

As Thomas Merton said, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little”, so let the Holy Spirit guide you into the wilderness this Lent. Trust that the Spirit will give you the strength and courage to fight temptation. Instead of giving up sweets or chocolate this Lent, I’m going to take a step into the wilderness, to see what in my life is drawing me closer to God and to cut away what is not. Through his word, and through the holy spirit, I’m going to try to become more aware of God’s mercy in my life and to share that mercy with those who are in need. It’s a little daunting to go out and meet the crucified Christ in the suffering because it exposes us to our own weakness and vulnerability. However the gift of this is greater communion with the Lord, something we must constantly strive for. I wish you the best of luck over this Lenten season and I assure you of my prayers.

► Readings, Reflections & Prayers

Scripture readings: Association for Catholic Priests
– www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie
Reflections and Prayers by Fr Jack Finnegan SDB

1st Reading – Deuteronomy 26:4-10

When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.

Reflection

Are we ready and willing to offer God a truly heartfelt confession of faith today as we begin the journey through Lent to Easter? Our first reading is an ancient Jewish act of faith, remembering the wonders God has done for his people. Remember! Believe! Two core words for us to reflect on deeply today and in times of hard servitude. Remember the Exodus story! Check out the gifts of grace revealed in the text: an alien becoming a nation, a cry heard, deliverance, a promised land. The Exodus story plays the same role in the Old Testament as the death and resurrection of Jesus do in the New, or the Our Father in our Christian prayer and liturgy. It reminds us that we are pilgrims on a journey out of darkness into light, from slavery to freedom. It challenges us to embrace the meaning of radical change, radical spiritual liberation. The recitation of a creed does more than recall the mighty works of God. It also builds a people of faith, a people gifted with the gift of liberating truth. It reminds us that we too are offered the gift of new life. The spirituality of Lent invites us to remember these things and to reflect deeply on them. Do we want freedom? Are we ready to face the personal and social challenges of liberation from slavery as we journey through Lent? Are we ready to confess our faith? Or will we choose to remain stuck in subservience to mainstream thought? Choose life this Lent!

Prayer

LORD, Adonai, you led the people out of slavery into the Promised Land. You revealed your awesome power! We cry out to you LORD, God of our forebears. We are pilgrims on a journey out of darkness into light. We are pilgrims on a journey from slavery to freedom. Renew your wonders in our days! Liberate us afresh! Show us new ways to the Promised Land! Touch us with new insights! See our affliction, our toil, and our oppression! Accept the first fruits of our freedom. We set them before you and sing our songs of thanks and praise. We worship your glorious presence. Be our refuge and our fortress, our God in whom we trust. Now and forever. Amen and Amen.

Psalm 91:1-2, 10-15

Reflection

We traditionally read Psalm 91 today because it plays a major part in the temptation of Jesus as told in the gospel. But it also invites us to call out to God in times of trouble in the sure knowledge that God is with us. Like Jesus, we too are in God’s shelter and shadow. That is why we can cry out in faith, My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust! Like Jesus we know that God is with us in our distress. We know that God is our deliverer, the one who gives us courage, the one who lifts us up. That is why we call on God’s name in testing and in trying times, more especially in times when God seems far away. Remember Jesus when he was tempted. Remember him in the Garden of Gethsemane! Remember him when you feel stuck or trapped. Where do we go for stability in these days? Where do we dwell spiritually? Where do our spirits abide? Do I dwell in the shelter of the Most High? Do I abide in the shadow of the Almighty? Lent is a time to reflect deeply on such questions

Prayer

LORD Adonai, you are with us in our hour of need, in our times of trouble and distress. You shelter us in the shadow of your wings and send your angels to watch over and protect us. You are indeed our fortress and our rock! Let your victory be strong in our lives and in our hearts this Lent! Make us dwellers in your loving presence! May we stand with you in testing and in trying times. Deliver us! Empower us! Answer us! We acknowledge your holy Name. Give us the grace to stand firm. May your glory shine round us like the strong shield of a warrior! Now and forever. Amen and Amen.

2nd Reading: Romans 10:8-13

Now what does Scripture say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with he heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Reflection

What St Paul offers us today may be easily summed up in the cry: I believe! Today, St Paul confronts us with a profound statement of faith. Here is the heart of our faith: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. More exactly, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. The very ground of our being will be healed. We are liberated in Christ. We are freed from every form of slavery. No one who believes in him will be put to shame. How can this be? God has raised Jesus from the dead and made him Lord! Such is our simple faith. Such is our fundamental creed. Are we ready to make it part of our lives? Are we ready to proclaim that Jesus is Lord? Are we ready to proclaim to God with him: Hallowed be thy Name! Thy kingdom come!

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we believe in you! We acclaim you! We proclaim your wonderful name! You died that we might be set free from the works of darkness. You died that we might live! You rose and opened for us the gates to glory! Let your living word be ever near us. Alive on our lips, alive in our hearts! Fan into flame the gift of your Spirit within us. Empower us to love the world in your holy name. Amen.

Gospel Reading: Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Reflection

There is very little difference between Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of the temptation of Jesus. Luke rearranges the second and third temptation and tells us at the end of our passage today that the devil left Jesus waiting an opportune time: probably a reference to the passion to which this story is clearly linked. Reflect for a moment on Jesus’ replies to the tempter: We do not live by bread alone! You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve! You shall not tempt the Lord your God! Here we have Jesus’ own confession of faith. Here we have his single-minded commitment to God’s will for him. This is what underpins every aspect of his public ministry. And it is also what brings him to his destiny. Are we ready to stand with Christ this Lent? Are we ready to make his words our own? Hostile forces abound in the world. So do places of testing. Are we ready for such encounters in the power of the Spirit as we journey through Lent?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, the Spirit led you into the desert for forty days and there you were put to the test. But your heart was alive with scripture and you came out charged with divine power and the Spirit. Touch us today. Renew us today. Fill us with your life-giving word today. Build our faith and our openness to the Father. Mend our hearts. Quiet our busy minds. Teach us the Spirit-blest secrets of stillness and silence that we may recognise you in the breaking of the bread. And when we still try to command stones lead along your sacred ways of trust. Now and forever. Amen and Amen.

► Lectio Divina

If it were not well known, the story of the temptations of Jesus would surprise us and shock us. Certainly it is surprising that Jesus, should be led by the Spirit into the desert, there to be tempted for forty days. We are surprised to see Jesus subject to temptation like the rest of us. The fact that Jesus  has to undergo testing makes him appear human, like ourselves, but is there not something disturbing about the fact that Jesus feels tempted by evil?  We can identify with this Jesus who suffered temptation and experienced the same doubts, the same rebellion, the same wish to be free from God that we experience, and that we, unfortunately sometimes give way to. His being tempted makes him seem closer to us, but does it not also make him seem less divine?

Read: understand what the text is saying, focussing on how it says it

The gospel tradition (Mk 1,12-13; Mt 4:1-11; Jn 6,14-15; 7,1-9; 12,27-28), and also Hebrews 2, 14-18 and 4.15, reveal the disconcerting fact that Jesus was tempted. Luke places his account of the three temptations in a strategic location (Lk 4,1-13), immediately after he affirms the full humanity of Jesus by publishing his genealogy (Lk 3:23-38), and immediately before he recounts the beginning of his public ministry at Nazareth (Lk 4,14-30). He was proclaimed by God as his beloved Son (Lk 3, 22). He is also son of his people and of the human race (Lk 3, 23-37). Before being rejected by his own townspeople (Lk 4, 24-30), he has to choose to be as God wants him to be, his beloved Son. Being the Son of God is for Jesus a grace he must defend. The triple temptation he must undergo is an experience that he confronts guided by the Spirit. It begins when he is feeling weak, after a long fast, but the temptation comes, not from human weakness, but from the enemy of God.

Luke has changed the order found in Matthew. He makes the temptation in the temple of Jerusalem the highest point of the devil’s attack, which begins and ends with a challenge to Jesus as the Son of God (Lk 4, 3.9) as he was assured by God at his baptism (Lk 3,22). In the temptations, Jesus experienced a struggle between two wills, two powers, that of the Father who willed him as his Son, and that of the devil who disputed the will of God. The place of battle was the personal consciousness of Jesus, but the real combatants were God and his opponent.

The account of the three attacks, in a single temptation, is schematic: the first and the last (Lk 4,3.9) concern the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, ahead of his more urgent needs for food and attention. In the second temptation, the devil changes tactics. He begins by promising Jesus that, if he adores him, he will be all-powerful. It is significant that this promise is not backed up by the word of God, like the other two. And it is even more significant that Jesus resists the three attacks and overcomes them by relying, without comment, on the word of the Father. The sons and daughters of God will be saved when they allow the word of the Father to be their defence. To hold to what God has said is to remain in the Father’s love.

Meditate: apply what the text says to life

Led by the Spirit, Jesus is tempted in the desert. The story seems straightforward and simple, but it is full of meaning and rich in symbolism. Jesus repeats the experience of Israel in the desert and he emerges victorious over evil, until another “opportune time”. Being in possession of the Spirit of God, and his mastery of the Word, lead him to a triple victory:  victory over his own bodily needs, victory over the thirst for power, and the victory of his own awareness that he was the Son of God. In all three cases, Jesus lets God be God and this is what determines his victory over the tempter. He is hungry, but puts the will of God before food. He is tempted to choose power, but chooses instead to obey God. He knows that he is the Son of God and will not put it to the test. He, the Son, experienced temptation and proved that he was indeed the Son of God. It will be difficult for anyone who refuses to face temptation or fears that he will give way to it, to aspire to be considered a son. Anyone who possesses the Spirit of Jesus and obeys God’s Word, will be victorious in the time of trial, because he knows he can rely on God, even when his fidelity is tested by temptation.

It may seem hard to explain, but knowing that Jesus was tempted should be good news for us today.  There is something good and a reason for hope in all of this. It is not for nothing that we have just proclaimed as word of God the story of the temptations that Jesus had to undergo in the desert. The first thing we should learn from this Gospel reading is that there is nothing deplorable, nothing unworthy, in being subjected to temptation. If the Son of God was tempted, we should not feel embarrassed or humiliated at having to admit that we also face temptation. Anyone who has not known doubt, can never know certainty. If we have never felt the temptation to free ourselves from God, we will never know the joy of remaining in his presence. Anyone who has not known the possibility of abandoning God, will never know the reasons why he should remain with him. Anyone who has not felt the desire to plan his own life independently of God, will never accept fully God’s plan. Anyone who has never wanted to live by his own light and with his own strength, will not know what it means to live in God’s light and with his strength.

The believer who is tempted is not weaker or less faithful than others, but has more opportunity to show his fidelity. Only the one who is tempted, is able to prove his fidelity. Fidelity that has not been tested is fidelity that is still to be tested. We need to call to mind more often that temptation, our daily temptations, are not an obstacle to our meeting God, but rather an opportunity to choose to stay with God. Only those who are living with God are tempted to leave him. It is encouraging, and it is good news, to know that it is the children of God, and not strangers or enemies of God, who are tempted. Hatred is not a temptation for the enemy but only for a friend or family member. Being tempted to renounce the Father is proof that we are his children – Jesus, the Son of God, experienced this temptation. Knowing this should help us to use our temptations and trials, the small daily temptations and also the bigger less frequent ones, to prove our fidelity to God and allow him to make us his children.

The first temptation undergone by Jesus related to his need for food. After fasting for forty days, he felt hungry and was tempted to use his divine power to satisfy his hunger. It would have been enough to tell the stones to become bread. But he chose to put up with his hunger and refused to satisfy it miraculously. He knew that he owed his life to God, his Father, and that the Father would take care of it. He preferred to trust God than to trust in his own powers. His need for God was greater than his need for food.

The son knows that what matters is not to live life anxiously seeking to satisfy his own desires and needs, however important they may be, but to live life meeting the desires and needs of his Father. A son is defined, not by what he needs, but by how much his father needs him. If the son wastes time and energy looking for food to satisfy his hunger, there is no need for a father who lives in order to give life to his sons and sustain them. We should not be surprised that Jesus was hungry, nor that he felt the need to look for food, but we should envy his capacity to delay gratification in order to allow God, his Father, the joy of satisfying his hunger.  If we want to have God as our Father, we will need to learn from Jesus, the Son of God, to put ourselves into God’s hands and wait for him to satisfy our needs. For the children of God, nothing, no matter how urgent or irresistible it may be, can come before the will of the Father.

The second temptation experienced by Jesus is even more relevant and more dangerous.  He was offered power over all the world, if he denied his God and Father. Jesus refused absolutely: only God is deserving of exclusive service. Filial obedience is due only to the Father. Nothing is to be preferred to God, not even power so great that it would make him like God. Being able to rely on God as Father is to enjoy the power of God.

Anyone who overcomes, as Jesus did, the temptation to exercise power over others, does not render himself weak. Instead, he allows God to be his God more readily, and he becomes more securely his son. Knowing that we are servants of God frees us from serving other gods. We know ourselves: nobody is free more than the one who has only one Master to serve. Having God as our God makes us sons of one Father. How much more freedom we would enjoy, if we lived to serve God alone! Instead of living peacefully with God as our Father and only Master, we destroy ourselves by worrying about how important we are, or what we are able to do, constantly comparing ourselves with others. By not choosing to serve God alone, we lose the chance of having his almighty power at our disposal. By choosing other fathers, we deny God the possibility of being our only Father.

The third temptation overcome by Jesus was the most subtle and the most serious. He knew with certainty that he was the Son of God, and he felt that he could rely with certainty on his Father’s protection. What use is a Father that cannot save his Son? A God who did not help his own children would be of little benefit. The trust that Jesus had in his Father could lead him to temerity. It would be wrong for the Son to risk his life, just because he knew that God would protect him. It is wrong to put the Father to the test, just to prove that one is a son.

Jesus, the Son of God, did not put his Father to the test, precisely because he knew that he was the Son of God.  Anyone who expects too much from God, who asks for more than God wants to give at any particular moment, or gives up on God because he does not give him what he wants, is putting God to the test. He does not accept God’s decisions or respect his will. God is not at the service of whoever needs him or only when he is needed. The Father of Jesus wants to be our Master always, in time of need and in time of plenty, in sorrow and in joy, in small things and in big things.

Jesus, the Son of God, reminds us today that there is no shame in suffering temptation. There is no son who has not felt, at some time or other, the desire to leave his father.  This is comforting, but it is also demanding.  Only those who choose to remain always at home with their father, doing his will, whatever it may cost, are truly sons of God. If temptation is the way to remain more consciously with God our Father, then we should welcome it.