Readings for the First Sunday of Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
This selection from the Book of Genesis follows the second creation account and includes the creation of man (the creation of woman followed in the verses omitted). We pick up in the third chapter of Genesis Adam’s wife, now settled in the Garden of Eden, is tempted by the serpent and, with her husband falls into original sin.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Psalm 51 is a lament and the most famous of the seven penitential psalms. In this first section, the singer asks God to wash away the guilt of sin. In the final strophe a closer relationship is asked for as the familiar “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise” is uttered in concert with all those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
Reading II Romans 5:12-19
The first verses of this longer form of the reading recall the original sin of Adam and Eve recounted in Genesis 3:1-7. Though this action, says St. Paul, sin entered the world although before the Law of Moses, sin was not defined and therefore “…sin is not accounted when there was no law.”
St. Paul continues describing how, through one man, sin entered the world, the mercy of God was even greater in providing Jesus, His Son, through whom all sins were forgiven in his one heroic action, the Passion.
Or Romans 5:12, 17-19
In the sorter version the specific reference to Adam and the Law of Moses are omitted focusing the emphasis on Christ’s righteous act through which “… acquittal and live came to all.”
Gospel Matthew 4:1-11
The footnote from the NAB does an nice job of summarizing the events that take place and the appropriate scriptural references; “Jesus, proclaimed Son of God at his baptism, is subjected to a triple temptation. Obedience to the Father is a characteristic of true sonship, and Jesus is tempted by the devil to rebel against God, overtly in the third case, more subtly in the first two. Each refusal of Jesus is expressed in language taken from the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut 8:3; 6:13, 16). The testings of Jesus resemble those of Israel during the wandering in the desert and later in Canaan, and the victory of Jesus, the true Israel and the true Son, contrasts with the failure of the ancient and disobedient "son," the old Israel. In the temptation account Matthew is almost identical with Luke; both seem to have drawn upon the same source.”
Homily:
At one point in my life I decided to get my private pilot’s license. It was something I had always wanted to do and I had some connections with a flight school that made it feasible. If any of you are considering or want to consider do the same this story will be instructive. I spent my six weeks going through ground school and learning all about navigation, flight rules, centers of gravity calculations and the like and took my FAA written examination. I passed with flying colors (massive pun intended).
Armed with my incredible head knowledge I went off to see a fellow parishioner, Dr. John Freitas. Not only is John a good friend and doctor, he is a certified Flight Surgeon. John gave me my flight physical and something surprising happened. Part of the exam is a test for visual acuity which tests, among other things, color perception. Of the 12 cards John showed me, all of which he alleged had numbers displayed in them of various colors, I got two right. We said earlier that this might be instructive for others considering general aviation, here’s a hint. Take your flight physical before ground school. I was given a student pilots license but in big letters it said; “Not valid for night flight or under visual color signals.”
Some of you may be wondering what this has to do with the Holy Scripture we were given today or even Lent for that matter. Well, as a footnote to the story, John told me that I might be able to get an unrestricted license if I went out and practiced with a person who could show me different lights at night so I would learn to recognize them. Now it should be coming clearer.
In Holy Scripture today we hear a great deal about sin and temptation. In the first reading from Genesis, Eve and Adam had been told by God that they could eat from any fruit in the garden except from the tree of “knowledge”. God’s incredible love for them had caused him to first create them in his own likeness and then provide and idyllic life for them free from the stress and pain of modern existence. But the serpent, taking advantage of our weakness, tricked Eve into violating that command and sin entered the world. Had she been told not to eat of that tree? Yes. Did she know that the evil one would send the serpent to delude her into violating that command? It probably did not occur to her. She made a choice and it was a bad choice. Just so we’re clear, Adam was with her. We quote: “…and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,”
Neither of them stopped and thought – will not God be angry if we disobey him? We know what happened as a result. Because they could not recognize evil, they fell prey to it with disastrous results.
St. Paul provides a nice bridge for us with his second reading. He reminds us that through Adam and Eve sin entered the world, Original Sin. And just as though the gates of death were opened in that act of disobedience, they were closed by Jesus as he defeated sin and death in his passion and resurrection.
At last we come to the Gospel story today. Setting the stage, Jesus has just been baptized in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist. He comes out of the water and St. John sees the Holy Spirit descend and rest upon him “like a dove”. Jesus is immediately led into the desert where, we are told, he fasted for forty days. Scripture says “…and afterwards he was hungry.” Fasting for that long Jesus was probably more than just hungry; he was on the verge of starving. Into this time of vulnerability comes Satan. Using passages from Holy Scripture, he firsts tempts Jesus to use his power to make bread to ease his hunger; then he tempts him with a test to see how much God loves him; and finally he offers the Lord power of the earth. At each of these temptations the Lord refutes Satan. Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus sees the evil one’s plan and defeats him.
We are given two examples of temptation from the sacred texts; one failed and the other successful. The examples place new emphasis on the final sentence of the Lord’s Prayer. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Temptation, as we have seen is what Satan is best at. When we are at our weakest he will show up in one guise or another.
When we are hungry – he will tempt us with food. When we are struggling financially, he will tempt us with money that is not ours. When we are lonely, he will surly provide unsavory company and comfort. It is what he is best at.
We saw him in the Gospel. He used tricks, even with Jesus. He quoted scripture to try to entice the Lord to fail. He will come to us the same way. It won’t be like the horror movies where Satan is hideous or repulsive. He will come to us in charming or sweet ways. His proposals will see reasonable, his words fair sounding. It may not be easy, but under the surface we will see the motives of the fallen angel.
This is where the analogy with my color perception test above comes in. We may not be able to distinguish the good from the bad at a glance. We need to practice seeing what God wants and does not want. To do this we need to practice. We practice this in a few ways that are especially appropriate during our Lenten Season. First and foremost is prayer. Getting to know the Triune God through speaking with him is one of our best exercises. When we especially pray the Our Father, let us make the words meaningful. If we really want to be saved from temptation and delivered from evil, we can make that prayer intensely personal.
Another excellent way is to review our past mistakes. Taking advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation with its examination of conscience and discipline of atonement will move us forward along the path of understanding the traps laid for us.
The discipline of Lent also includes almsgiving and fasting. Using these tools we sharpen our perception of what God calls us to and what the evil one would like to call us away from. The most important thing is for us to sharpen our understanding of God the Father, His Only Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit so we will not fall to the traps set for us on our path to salvation.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used is “The Temptation of Christ” by Juan De Flandes, 1500
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
This selection from the Book of Genesis follows the second creation account and includes the creation of man (the creation of woman followed in the verses omitted). We pick up in the third chapter of Genesis Adam’s wife, now settled in the Garden of Eden, is tempted by the serpent and, with her husband falls into original sin.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Psalm 51 is a lament and the most famous of the seven penitential psalms. In this first section, the singer asks God to wash away the guilt of sin. In the final strophe a closer relationship is asked for as the familiar “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise” is uttered in concert with all those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
Reading II Romans 5:12-19
The first verses of this longer form of the reading recall the original sin of Adam and Eve recounted in Genesis 3:1-7. Though this action, says St. Paul, sin entered the world although before the Law of Moses, sin was not defined and therefore “…sin is not accounted when there was no law.”
St. Paul continues describing how, through one man, sin entered the world, the mercy of God was even greater in providing Jesus, His Son, through whom all sins were forgiven in his one heroic action, the Passion.
Or Romans 5:12, 17-19
In the sorter version the specific reference to Adam and the Law of Moses are omitted focusing the emphasis on Christ’s righteous act through which “… acquittal and live came to all.”
Gospel Matthew 4:1-11
The footnote from the NAB does an nice job of summarizing the events that take place and the appropriate scriptural references; “Jesus, proclaimed Son of God at his baptism, is subjected to a triple temptation. Obedience to the Father is a characteristic of true sonship, and Jesus is tempted by the devil to rebel against God, overtly in the third case, more subtly in the first two. Each refusal of Jesus is expressed in language taken from the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut 8:3; 6:13, 16). The testings of Jesus resemble those of Israel during the wandering in the desert and later in Canaan, and the victory of Jesus, the true Israel and the true Son, contrasts with the failure of the ancient and disobedient "son," the old Israel. In the temptation account Matthew is almost identical with Luke; both seem to have drawn upon the same source.”
Homily:
At one point in my life I decided to get my private pilot’s license. It was something I had always wanted to do and I had some connections with a flight school that made it feasible. If any of you are considering or want to consider do the same this story will be instructive. I spent my six weeks going through ground school and learning all about navigation, flight rules, centers of gravity calculations and the like and took my FAA written examination. I passed with flying colors (massive pun intended).
Armed with my incredible head knowledge I went off to see a fellow parishioner, Dr. John Freitas. Not only is John a good friend and doctor, he is a certified Flight Surgeon. John gave me my flight physical and something surprising happened. Part of the exam is a test for visual acuity which tests, among other things, color perception. Of the 12 cards John showed me, all of which he alleged had numbers displayed in them of various colors, I got two right. We said earlier that this might be instructive for others considering general aviation, here’s a hint. Take your flight physical before ground school. I was given a student pilots license but in big letters it said; “Not valid for night flight or under visual color signals.”
Some of you may be wondering what this has to do with the Holy Scripture we were given today or even Lent for that matter. Well, as a footnote to the story, John told me that I might be able to get an unrestricted license if I went out and practiced with a person who could show me different lights at night so I would learn to recognize them. Now it should be coming clearer.
In Holy Scripture today we hear a great deal about sin and temptation. In the first reading from Genesis, Eve and Adam had been told by God that they could eat from any fruit in the garden except from the tree of “knowledge”. God’s incredible love for them had caused him to first create them in his own likeness and then provide and idyllic life for them free from the stress and pain of modern existence. But the serpent, taking advantage of our weakness, tricked Eve into violating that command and sin entered the world. Had she been told not to eat of that tree? Yes. Did she know that the evil one would send the serpent to delude her into violating that command? It probably did not occur to her. She made a choice and it was a bad choice. Just so we’re clear, Adam was with her. We quote: “…and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,”
Neither of them stopped and thought – will not God be angry if we disobey him? We know what happened as a result. Because they could not recognize evil, they fell prey to it with disastrous results.
St. Paul provides a nice bridge for us with his second reading. He reminds us that through Adam and Eve sin entered the world, Original Sin. And just as though the gates of death were opened in that act of disobedience, they were closed by Jesus as he defeated sin and death in his passion and resurrection.
At last we come to the Gospel story today. Setting the stage, Jesus has just been baptized in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist. He comes out of the water and St. John sees the Holy Spirit descend and rest upon him “like a dove”. Jesus is immediately led into the desert where, we are told, he fasted for forty days. Scripture says “…and afterwards he was hungry.” Fasting for that long Jesus was probably more than just hungry; he was on the verge of starving. Into this time of vulnerability comes Satan. Using passages from Holy Scripture, he firsts tempts Jesus to use his power to make bread to ease his hunger; then he tempts him with a test to see how much God loves him; and finally he offers the Lord power of the earth. At each of these temptations the Lord refutes Satan. Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus sees the evil one’s plan and defeats him.
We are given two examples of temptation from the sacred texts; one failed and the other successful. The examples place new emphasis on the final sentence of the Lord’s Prayer. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Temptation, as we have seen is what Satan is best at. When we are at our weakest he will show up in one guise or another.
When we are hungry – he will tempt us with food. When we are struggling financially, he will tempt us with money that is not ours. When we are lonely, he will surly provide unsavory company and comfort. It is what he is best at.
We saw him in the Gospel. He used tricks, even with Jesus. He quoted scripture to try to entice the Lord to fail. He will come to us the same way. It won’t be like the horror movies where Satan is hideous or repulsive. He will come to us in charming or sweet ways. His proposals will see reasonable, his words fair sounding. It may not be easy, but under the surface we will see the motives of the fallen angel.
This is where the analogy with my color perception test above comes in. We may not be able to distinguish the good from the bad at a glance. We need to practice seeing what God wants and does not want. To do this we need to practice. We practice this in a few ways that are especially appropriate during our Lenten Season. First and foremost is prayer. Getting to know the Triune God through speaking with him is one of our best exercises. When we especially pray the Our Father, let us make the words meaningful. If we really want to be saved from temptation and delivered from evil, we can make that prayer intensely personal.
Another excellent way is to review our past mistakes. Taking advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation with its examination of conscience and discipline of atonement will move us forward along the path of understanding the traps laid for us.
The discipline of Lent also includes almsgiving and fasting. Using these tools we sharpen our perception of what God calls us to and what the evil one would like to call us away from. The most important thing is for us to sharpen our understanding of God the Father, His Only Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit so we will not fall to the traps set for us on our path to salvation.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used is “The Temptation of Christ” by Juan De Flandes, 1500
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