First Sunday of Lent (A)
Greeting (See Second Reading)
We are gathered in the name of Jesus.
He brought us life instead of death;
by his obedience he made up for our disobedience.
May his grace and peace be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
When we take a serious look at ourselves, we realize that there are things that keep us from being the persons and the Christians we wish we were. We feel that we are not free to be our true selves. At the beginning of his mission Jesus looked at himself and saw the temptations that would keep him from carrying out his mission. Lent is for us the time to look into ourselves and to see what keeps us from being free to serve and love God and people the way we should. Let us go with Jesus into the desert, look into the depth of ourselves, and with Jesus reject what imprisons us, what keeps us lukewarm and indifferent, so that like him and with him we can serve.
On this First Sunday of Lent we have just begun our journey of forty days to Easter. We are the people of the forty days: the people of God in the Old Testament needed forty years in the desert to grow through their trials and mistakes into the People of God ready for the Promised Land. Jesus spent forty days in the desert in fasting and prayer to prepare himself to make his choice to be the kind of Messiah God wanted. We today are given our forty days too, to re-examine ourselves before God whether we want to be and are the kind of Christians God wants us to be. We look up to Jesus here among us to see if with him and by his power we are willing to reject the temptations that try to divert us from the task God has given us.
Penitential Act
What keeps us from following Jesus all the way
on the road to God and to people?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you rejected serving yourself,
for you chose to serve the Father and people’s happiness:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you rejected impressing people
with spectacular actions,
but chose the humble way of the cross:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you rejected power and wealth
but made love and the faith of the poor
the foundation of the kingdom of God among us:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Make us reject all temptations with you
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that during this Lent
we may be truly converted
(pause)
God our Father,
in the desert your Son Jesus struggled forty days
with the demands of his mission,
and he overcame all temptations.
In these forty days of Lent
convert us, turn our hearts
to the peace of your forgiveness,
the light of your love,
your concern for people.
Let us find the life and the joy
which Jesus brings us,
and dispose us to share it with others.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading (Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7): Tempted from the Beginning
In a symbolical story, the sacred writer says that as far as people can remember they have always been tempted to make themselves their own gods, absolute masters of their own life and happiness. This is the human tragedy.
Second Reading (Rom 5:12-19 or Rom 5:12,17-19):
We Are Saved by the Man Jesus Christ
Adam, standing for all of humanity, has spoiled the right relationship with God, other people, and himself. God’s Son, the man Jesus Christ, came to restore this relationship. This is the human tragedy Jesus came to remedy.
Gospel (Mt 4:1-11): Jesus Overcomes Our Temptations
Jesus overcame all our human temptations of selfishness, pride and power. He wanted to serve God and save people. In this way he made us capable of humbly serving God and our neighbor.
Intercessions
Let us pray to the Lord together with all Christians who make with us the effort this Lent to be free for God and for one another, and let us say: R/ Lord, save us by your love.
– For the Church we love, that we may grow together on the road of service and love, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your love.
– For those who hesitate when tempted, for those attracted by violence, for those in the chains of evil, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your love.
– For those who abuse their power, for those who reject God, for those who refuse to serve, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your love.
– For those who are hungry, for those who are persecuted, for the victims of violence, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your love.
– For those who doubt, for those who despair, for those who are unfaithful, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your love.
– For communities without love, for those who cannot forgive, for those hardened in hatred, let us pray: R/ Lord, save us by your love.
God our Father, we have prayed to you for so many. But we include ourselves too, for we are weak and fallible. Touch us with your love and convert us all, through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these humble signs of bread and wine
your Son Jesus comes among us
to help us serve you and people.
May he overcome in us and in the world
the temptation to be rich,
powerful and influential
rather than good and just.
May we learn from him
to do your will and seek your happiness,
for you are our God for ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Let us thank the Father for having given us Jesus as one of us. He overcame temptation, and because of him we too can resist evil and live for all that is good.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
With Jesus our Lord
let us pray to our Father in heaven
that we may stand the test
of all temptations. R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us Lord, from every evil
and grant us peace with you,
with ourselves and one another.
In the necessary tests of life,
keep us loyal to you
and do not allow us
to trample anyone underfoot.
Help us to build up together
your kingdom of justice and love
until you will bring everything to completion
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God,
who overcame all our temptations
to bring us justice and life.
Happy are we to be invited
to share his holy meal. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Faithful God,
your Son Jesus was faithful to you and his mission,
even at the cost of his life.
May we go his way of loyal love
to you and to our brothers and sisters.
May we always choose you and life
rather than sin and death
and prefer the good of those around us
above our selfish interests,
as Jesus did, your Son,
who lives with you and with us
now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
In this Eucharist we have looked at Jesus
and saw how he went through our temptations
and overcame them.
We have looked at Jesus
and in him we recognize our true selves.
He is the kind of person we, have to try to become
each in one’s own way.
During our forty days of Lent
we keep looking at him
and try to become more like him,
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go in peace
to love and serve the Lord in one another. R/ Thanks be to God.
Reflection:
1st Sunday of Lent
26 February 2023
Matthew 4:1-14
Temptations are for a lifetime to tackle
Imagine to place ourselves in the place of St. Matthew while he was writing his Gospel. What was his source of information for the episode of the temptation of Jesus? This passage could raise a lot of questions: Where is the high mountain from which somebody could see the world's kingdoms? How could Jesus go so long without eating? Who told Matthew about the conversation between Jesus and the devil?
There we come to the realisation that this is a page of catechesis, and this narration of temptation in the desert was lasting a lifetime. In the Bible, the number 40 indicates a whole generation, a lifetime. Matthew’s readers were mostly Jewish Christians who knew the Old Testament well. To them, Matthew explains a parallelism between the life of Israel and the life of Jesus:
The three temptations refer to three events of the Exodus: The temptation to turn the stones into bread refer to the murmurings of the people over the lack of food and the gift of the manna (Ex 16). The temptation to perform a spectacular show refer to the protests of Israelites over lack of water (Exodus 17). The third temptation refer to the idolatry represented by the golden calf (Exodus 32). Jesus, therefore, is subject to the same temptations and teaches his followers how to overcome them.
God has placed Israel in front of the manna to educate them to trust in God’s providence. They are caught up in the frenzy of desire to possess wealth and accumulate food. God wanted to teach them to control their greed, but failed: the seduction of the goods of this world is almost unstoppable. It is difficult to make everyone content with what is just enough to live on.
Jesus proposes an antidote to the temptation to accumulate wealth and food – every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
The second temptation: “Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple” (vv. 5-7). The ultimate goal of evil is to undermine any relationship with God. Devil creates doubtsin people’s minds whether the Lord keeps his promises or not. The need ‘to demand proof’ arises from this doubt. In the desert, the people of Israel, exhausted by thirst, succumbed to this temptation and exclaimed: “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Ex 17:7). When faced with struggles in life, we too experience similar temptation – Is the Lord among us?
The third temptation is the temptation of power, of domination over others. The people of Israel in the desert got tired of their God and worshiped a golden calf. Where dominion is exercised over others, where people struggle to prevail over others, where someone is forced to kneel or bow down in front of another, the logic of evil is at work. Jesus did not overcome the temptations in forty days, but through his life.