Sunday 22 February 2026 –
I Sunday in Lent (Year A)
Mass Readings: Gen 2,7-9; 3:1-7 Ps 51
Rom 5:12-19 Mt 4:1-11
Key Verse to Meditate: "It
is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
from the mouth of God.'" (Mt 4:4)
My
dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
The
First Sunday of Lent comes each year with the powerful narrative of Jesus’
temptation in the desert. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “Whoever cannot be alone should beware of community. Whoever
cannot stand in community should beware of being alone.” These words
remind us that solitude is essential for discernment, while community is
essential for mission.
Jesus goes into the wilderness to discern
the will of the Father as He prepares to begin His public ministry. In the
silence of the desert, Jesus must say a decisive “yes” to the Father’s will and
a firm “no” to the devil and to the false attractions of the world. Lent,
therefore, is a time to learn to say “no”—no to sin, no to selfishness, and no
to anything that distances us from God. This ability to postpone immediate
gratification and to choose God’s will over present desires is the secret of
true spirituality.
We read in Luke 4:1–2: “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.” Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, yet there He
was tempted by the evil spirit. It is striking to imagine who accompanied Jesus
in that solitude—the devil himself. This is the same tempter who deceived Eve
and led humanity into sin and disobedience (Gen 3:1–5). It is also the same
adversary who later tried to divert Jesus from His mission through Peter,
prompting Jesus to say, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mk 8:33).
Jesus confronted the schemes of the tempter
with the power of God’s Word. The devil, too, can quote Scripture—but he does
so for selfish and deceptive purposes. Jesus, however, uses Scripture in truth,
obedience, and complete trust in the Father.
Lent symbolizes the whole of our baptized
life as a spiritual struggle against temptation. After His baptism in the
Jordan, Christ spent forty days in the desert, where He was tempted. Every
year, on the First Sunday of Lent, the Church presents this temptation
narrative from one of the Synoptic Gospels (Mt 4:1–11; Mk 1:12–13; Lk 4:1–13).
This reminds us that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet remained
without sin (Heb 4:15). Throughout His ministry, He continued to face
temptations in various forms, including the temptation to avoid suffering and
the cross (Mt 16:23).
In the desert, Jesus faced three fundamental
temptations: to turn stones into bread, to throw Himself down from the pinnacle
of the Temple in a dramatic display, and to gain power over the world through
political dominance. These temptations represent the human desires for material
satisfaction, personal glory, and worldly power.
Jesus responded to each temptation by
quoting Scripture. To the first temptation, He replied: “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone’” (Lk 4:4;
Deut 8:3). Human beings are not meant to live enslaved to material needs alone
but find true life in being nourished by the Word of God. Christ Himself is the
Word made flesh, the true manna, the bread from heaven (Jn 6:51).
In response to the second temptation, Jesus
refused to test God. He did not seek to manipulate God for personal security or
public spectacle. Instead, He placed complete trust in the Father, knowing that
God had already affirmed Him as His beloved Son (Mt 3:17; Mt 17:5; Lk 9:35).
Finally, Jesus rejected the temptation of
worldly power and glory. He refused to become a political Messiah or to conform
to society’s expectations of earthly kingship. He chose instead the path of
humility, obedience, and sacrificial love. He rejected the idolatry of power
and remained faithful to His mission of salvation.
Thus, the temptations of Jesus reveal not
only His victory over Satan but also the path that we must follow. Lent invites
us into the desert of prayer, where we learn to rely on God’s Word, trust in
His providence, and reject the false promises of worldly satisfaction, glory,
and power.
Spiritual Lessons from the
Temptation of Christ
We are all tempted. Each of
us undergoes moments of testing and inner struggle. Through His temptations in
the desert, Jesus shows us how to overcome them. What, then, can we learn from
Him?
1. Spiritual Preparation Is
the Key
In spiritual combat,
preparation is essential. Like Jesus, we must learn the art of saying “no.”
Three times Jesus said “no” to the devil because His heart was firmly rooted in
God. He did not allow Himself to be distracted by the allure of temptation; instead,
His heart hungered for God and for His Word.
His thoughts reflected His
intimate communion with the Father: “I am in the Father and the Father is in
me” (Jn 14:11). When the heart is spiritually nourished and centered on
God, temptations lose much of their power.
2. Be Guided by the Spirit
Jesus was guided entirely
by the Holy Spirit. He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Lk
4:18). He was “full of the Holy Spirit” (Lk 4:1), led by the Spirit into the
desert, and returned “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4:14).
Our strength against
temptation does not come from ourselves alone but from the Spirit who dwells
within us. A life attentive to the Spirit becomes a life strengthened for
battle.
3. Seek Always the Will of
the Father
Jesus lived for one
purpose: to accomplish the Father’s will. He said, “My food is to do the
will of him who sent me and to complete his work” (Jn 4:34).
The deepest temptation
Jesus faced was the temptation to bypass the Father’s plan—to anticipate glory
without the cross, to choose an easier path. Instead of listening to the
“father of lies” (Jn 8:44), Jesus listened attentively to the voice of His Father.
True victory over temptation begins with obedience.
Just Like Jesus
Just as Jesus entered the
desert for forty days and was tempted, the season of Lent becomes a sacred time
for us to reorient our lives, to gain proper perspective, and to reorder our
priorities.
St. James reminds us that
each person is tempted by his or her own desires (Jas 1:13–14). Temptation
often arises from within. At times, these trials may even serve as instruments
permitted by God to test the sincerity of our baptismal commitment and our
identity as God’s beloved children.
In summary, Jesus teaches us practical tools for overcoming temptation:
- Prayer
and fasting
- Reflection
and discernment
- Refusing
to entertain evil thoughts
- Keeping
the Word of God on our lips
- Trusting
in God’s providence
Lent and Self-Denial
If a person learns to deny himself in small things, he gains the
strength to deny himself in greater matters. Following Christ demands a price.
Christ, though He was God, emptied Himself for our sake:
“Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6–8)
Self-denial is not loss; it is participation in the humility and
obedience of Christ.
Lent and Prayer
If we wish to encounter God
during Lent, we must enter into the restful silence of His presence. Simone
Weil, the French philosopher and mystic, described prayer as patient waiting
filled with expectancy.
Prayer is a paradox: it
holds together absence and presence, the “already” and the “not yet,” longing
and fulfillment. It is both tender communion and the ache of seeking the
Beloved. Ultimately, prayer becomes listening. It is the surest path for those who
desire to encounter God deeply.
Points for Personal
Reflection
- In
moments of struggle with my personal weaknesses, do I trust God and turn
to Him?
- Do I
remember that no temptation is too great when faced with Christ beside me?
- Do I
place every temptation before Jesus and allow His presence to strengthen
me?
- How
do I discern God’s purpose for my life?
- Do I
take time to be alone with God in prayer?
- Do I
regularly study and meditate on the Word of God?
Temptation arises when
there is tension between God’s plan and my own plans. We must choose between
the two. Jesus chose the Father’s will and gained clarity about His mission
through forty days of fasting, prayer, and penance in the wilderness.
The first parents also
faced a choice: obedience to God or submission to their own desires after
listening to the serpent’s voice. Evil first matures in the heart. Therefore,
we must be attentive to our conscience and our thoughts.
Jesus teaches: “It is
not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the
mouth” (Mt 15:11).
Indeed, “What comes out
of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the
heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false
witness, slander” (Mt 15:18–20).
If we learn to guard our
thoughts, we will guard our hearts. External things do not defile us; it is the
inner disposition of the heart that shapes our actions. Lent invites us to
purify the heart so that our lives may reflect the holiness of Christ.
