First Sunday Of Lent

1. Jesus Went Through Our Temptations
2. With Jesus in the Desert
3. 

 

Greeting (See Second Reading)

May the word of God be near you,
on your lips and in your heart.
May your lips confess here
that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
May his grace be always with you. R/ And also with you.

 

Introduction by the Celebrant

1. Jesus Went Through Our Temptations

People of God, you who are tempted to let consumers’ goods make you their slave and prisoner, Jesus refused to be fascinated by them and he wants us to hunger for people, for prayer and for God. People of God, you who are tempted to impress people and to control them, Jesus came to bring the power of love and he tells you to serve God in people. People of God, you who are tempted to create your own idols and to make yourself the center of the world, Jesus wants us with him to worship only God. With him who overcame our temptations we confidently enter this Lent.

 

2. With Jesus in the Desert

At our baptism, through our godparents, we said NO to Satan and his temptations before we said YES to the covenant of love, which God offered to us. There we joined Jesus in his NO to Satan and his temptations that tried to make him abandon his mission of restoring people to God’s covenant love. During Lent we are challenged to make this YES and this NO come true. Like Jesus, are we willing to be faithful to our mission in life, to join Jesus in his NO to all evil and in his YES to God and neighbor and to our truest self?

 

Penitential Act

We welcome this Lent as a time
to seek conversion and reconciliation.
                        (pause)
Lord Jesus,
let your Spirit lead us into the desert
to recover the spirit of prayer:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ,
let your Spirit lead us into the desert
to rediscover our neighbor:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus,
let your Spirit lead us into the desert
to make us see again
what really matters in life:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Lord, in your loving kindness
forgive us all our sins
and make us new and alive.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

 

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to our living God
to turn our heart to him
                        (pause)
God, you want to be near to us,
you lead us with your Son Jesus
to the desert of questions and temptations
that you may speak to our heart
and bring us back to you in loving trust.
Open our eyes, our minds and our hearts
to discard all that leads us astray
and to look for you and for the plans you have
for us and for the world.
Let your Spirit give us the mentality of Jesus,
that we may seek your will in all we do
and serve you in our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

 

First Reading (Dt 26:4-10): A People Saved by God

Like the Jewish people, we must be convinced that it is God who makes us a free people: he is our Savior.

Reading 1: Dt 26:4-10

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
“The priest shall receive the basket from you
and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God.
Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God,
‘My father was a wandering Aramean
who went down to Egypt with a small household
and lived there as an alien.
But there he became a nation
great, strong, and numerous.
When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us,
imposing hard labor upon us,
we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers,
and he heard our cry
and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
He brought us out of Egypt
with his strong hand and outstretched arm,
with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;
and bringing us into this country,
he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey.
Therefore, I have now brought you the firstfruits
of the products of the soil
which you, O LORD, have given me.’
And having set them before the Lord, your God,
you shall bow down in his presence.”

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15.

(cf. 15b)  Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
say to the LORD, “My refuge and fortress,
my God in whom I trust.”
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

No evil shall befall you,
nor shall affliction come near your tent,
For to his angels he has given command about you,
that they guard you in all your ways.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Upon their hands they shall bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the asp and the viper;
you shall trample down the lion and the dragon.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress;
I will deliver him and glorify him.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

 

Second Reading (Rom 10:8-13): Jesus Is Our Lord and Savior

This is the faith that we profess and live: Jesus is our Lord and he alone is our Savior, whatever our race or nationality.

Reading 2: Rom 10:8-13

Brothers and sisters:
What does Scripture say?
The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart
—that is, the word of faith that we preach—,
for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
For the Scripture says,
No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

Verse Before the Gospel: Mt 4:4b

One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

 

Gospel (Lk 4:1-13): Jesus Remained Faithful to His Mission

Jesus, God’s Son, is the new human being who resisted the temptations of self-indulgence, power and trying to bend God to his will. We are called to follow him on his way of fidelity and responsible freedom.

Gospel: Lk 4:1-13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days,
and when they were over he was hungry.
The devil said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered him,
“It is written, One does not live on bread alone.”
Then he took him up and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
The devil said to him,
“I shall give to you all this power and glory;
for it has been handed over to me,
and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“It is written:
You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then he led him to Jerusalem,
made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down from here, for it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,
and:
With their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“It also says,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
When the devil had finished every temptation,
he departed from him for a time.

 

Intercessions

Let the Holy Spirit inspire our prayer as we bring before the Father the great needs of our brothers and sisters, of the Church and of the world. Let us say: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

–          That the Lord may give us and all Christians a deep and strong faith, which we profess not only with our lips but which we also live in our deeds, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

–          That we and all those caught up in material tasks and concerns may learn to seek other food than bread alone, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

–          That we and all those who work to increase their influence and power may learn to seek the Lord and adore him alone, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

–          That we and all those who are tried by temptations may remain faithful to God and answer his call to serve God and people, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

–          That we and all those surrounded by suffering, injustice and illness may be made more sensitive by the Lord to the needs of people and love them more, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

Loving Father, you stood by your Son in his temptations. Sustain those who hope in you and keep them in your love, now and for ever. R/ Amen.

 

Prayer over the Gifts

God of mercy and compassion,
we are aware of our weakness and our faults.
We bring before you these signs
of our good intentions and our will to change.
Let them empower us with the strength of Jesus
to give ourselves with him
to you and to one another.
Guide us by his Holy Spirit
on the humble way of conversion.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.

 

Introduction to the Eucharist Prayer

Let us now with our hearts and voices give thanks to our Father that Jesus, suffering our temptations, overcame them and gives us the strength also to resist them.

 

Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray in the words of Jesus
to our Father in heaven
to set us free from evil
and to stand by our side in days of trial: R/ Our Father…

 

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant us peace with you
and with one another.
When you test those who belong to you,
do not allow us to yield
to the seductive power of sin
but refine our loyalty and love
and strengthen us with the hopeful joy
that you will complete your victory in us
at the full coming
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…

 

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus the Lord,
who was tested for our sake
and whom God raised from the dead.
If we believe in him
and eat his bread of life,
we are saved.
Happy are we to be invited
to eat from his table. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, our Father,
you have let us encounter here Jesus,
your Son, who had been tempted like us,
and Jesus has refreshed our courage
by his word, his example and his body.
By the strength of the food of the eucharist
lead us on our journey of forty days
and take us to the mountain of Easter,
that we may share in his risen power
as people renewed to love and trust you more
and to serve better our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

 

Blessing

It is good for us to know
that Someone before us
has successfully faced the illusions
and the misleading attractions
of a world estranged from God.
With him we can overcome,
we can make a strong choice
for God, for people, and for our better selves.
Let us go Christ’s way,
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

 

Be guided by the Holy Spirit
on the road of conversion and renewal.

R/ Thanks be to God.

 

Commentary

“If”

Read:

Remembrance of God’s intervention helps us surrender our lives into His hands. We are invited to trust that memory and believe in our hearts and confess with our lips the Lordship of Christ. Jesus has such trust in his Father that he refuses to test God’s fidelity.

Reflect:

All three temptations of Jesus are predicated on conditional clause: “If you are the Son of God” (temptations 1 & 3), “provided you worship me” (temptation 2). Jesus resists such temptations, because, in his heart, there is no “if” clause with regards God. For Jesus, the Father-Son relationship he has with God is not a hypothesis to be tested and proven; it is an experiential truth he has lived eternally. His life is so one with God that there is no space for worshipping someone else, even when the Father is seemingly absent or silent. When the devil, quite ingeniously, tempts Jesus with words from the Scriptures, Jesus does not budge: You do not put conditions on God; you simply live God.  

Pray:

In your relationship with God, do you use “if” clauses, such as: “if God heals…” or “if I get a job…”? If you do, pray for the grace of abandonment to God’s will.

Act:

Make an act of abandonment to God’s will. 

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF