Scripture Reflections for the First Sunday of Lent

“Lent is a kind of desert, in which we voluntarily deprive ourselves of the comforts we have come to rely on for our consolation, so that we may rediscover our true nature as living members of Christ’s Body”

“The thing is, Jesus had a choice. He could have let the world change Him out in the desert, or He could be changed through His Father. Thankfully, He chose the latter.”

“That Jesus is tempted is thus a sign and measure of his full solidarity with our human condition”

“Sin renders us blind and insensitive; sin stops us from being truly free. When sin gets into the system, when our whole way of thinking is touched by it, we can find ourselves almost sleepwalking into sin, shoring up the patterns of sin.”

“Given the Spirit at baptism, we are to reflect that it is our spiritual lives in God that will sustain us”

“How do I stand with God? (prayer). How do I relate to others, especially those most in need? (almsgiving). How do I treat myself? (fasting)”

“We are a consumer society and we can fall into the trap of treating God and neighbour as consumables or disposables”

"Friends, we come now to the great and holy season of Lent, a time to get back to spiritual basics. This First Sunday of Lent, we hear Luke’s account of..."

“May we always think and behave as Jesus has shown us today. That when we get tempted we put ourselves second and continue to put God first, the God to whom we give all glory, praise and honor”

"Lent is a time of paring down — a time spent in the desert, if you will — as exemplified by Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in these arid, barren..."

"Today’s Gospel presents the dramatic scene of the Lord Jesus’ confrontation with the evil one. The evil one attempts to frustrate the Lord’s mission by tempting him to become a..."

"As we once again commence the penitential season of Lent, it is good to get back to basics. We journey with Jesus into the desert, and with him, we confront..."

"Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the desert in order to be tempted by the devil. The three temptations–to sensual pleasure, to power, and to pride–respresent three fundamental ways..."

“As we turn inward to examine our hearts and recall our identity and mission as Christians, we can also turn outward to see how our failure to love God fully is manifested in society”

“One of the enemies of the spiritual life is forgetfulness. We forget what God has done for us. We forget who we are, what we have experienced as God’s people, where we come from and where we are going.”

“It isn’t enough to keep Lent with some external behaviors. I need to open myself to God.”

“when the Gospel is at the front of our minds, we are more able to keep things in perspective, more able to choose the right path, more able to live in hope with our thoughts and emotions under control”

“What God did for us though the cross of Jesus, he wants to do in us. That requires us to put on the mind of Jesus and take up our cross and follow him.”

“we don’t stop to think that evil now comes in the guise of international commerce”