This week’s readings are a veritable gold mine of subjects to meditate and contemplate on as we enter into our Lenten journey together. One of the things I love about being Catholic is that every year we get to participate in the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Lent we enter into the time our Lord spent in the desert. It is a time for us to reflect on our own journey and on our sins. It is a time of prayer, fasting and alms giving.
In our first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people to remember where they have come from and what God has done for them in their own lives. We need to do that as well. Do not be afraid to share your stories with others. St. Paul follows up on this by telling us to truly believe and confess with our lips that we actually believe in Jesus. Finally we have the Gospel. Here our blessed Lord goes into the desert for 40 days. The devil tries to tempt Him first with his humanity and His hunger. Second the devil uses power and wealth as a tool of temptation, and finally the devil tries our Lord’s divinity by tempting Him over the power of death itself.
There are many things I could say on this passage, however today I want to focus on the first words from the devil to our Lord. “If you are the Son of God…do this…” Often in my own life I have tried to put Jesus to the test as well with similar words. “If you are truly God, make the lights blink…Or make the lampshade move and then I will truly believe”. It is often our lack of Faith that tries to tempt God. True Faith is not brought about by signs and wonders as Moses points out, or by simply saying the name of Jesus as St. Paul states. It is brought about by our inner life. By truly believing without having to see miracles or lamp shades moved. If they did occur, we would find reason to even doubt those. Lent is a time to do some spring cleaning for the soul. Let us not be afraid to enter into deep prayer with our Lord, to work on ourselves, to fall in love with God. So, this week, let us enter in to a new Lenten journey. Give your heart, mind and even job over to Jesus. Ask Him to draw you near to Him. Reflect on these things and your Lent will never be the same again. Something new to try…May God richly bless you always…