Welcome to the first Sunday of Lent 2022. On Ash Wednesday, we began a spiritual
journey. On this journey, we will follow
Jesus through Galilee to Jerusalem - from the beginning of his ministry to his
crucifixion. Today, we enter the
wilderness with Jesus as he confronts the devil and temptation. Next Sunday we will climb a high mountain
with Jesus, Peter, James and John and we will hear how Jesus revealed his
divine glory. On the following three
Sundays we will listen to Jesus teach the disciples and us about repentance,
reconciliation and forgiveness through parables. Then on Passion Sunday, we will follow Jesus
on his journey to the cross. Each step
of this journey offers each one of us the opportunity to grow in faith, to
discern God's will for our lives, to repent, reconcile and forgive and to
experience real conversion so we can reawaken our relationship with God and
experience the bright promise of Easter.
Jesus went into the wilderness almost immediately after his
baptism. He entered the wilderness
"filled with the Holy Spirit" (Luke 4:1). During the forty days he spent in the
wilderness, he fasted and he prayed.
Prayer and fasting prepared Jesus for his encounters with the devil and
for his ministry. Each time the devil
presented Jesus with a temptation, Jesus rebuked him by quoting scripture and
asserting his unwavering trust in God his Father.
We too must prepare ourselves for this journey through
Lent. If we are to overcome temptation
and conquer the devil, we need fast and pray.
We should engage in almsgiving "to free us from attachment to
worldly goods." Another way we can
prepare for our journey is to ground ourselves in scripture. In today's second reading from Romans 10:8-13, St. Paul reminds us as Moses reminded the children of Israel that "The
word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart." And that "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" (Romans 10:8-9).
