First Sunday of Lent

The Month of February Dedicated to the Holy Family

In other years: Saint Alexander of Alexandria (250-328)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 20 Reverence in Prayer

Mass: Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Resp Ps 51; Rm 5:12-19

A clean heart create for me, O God.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

OUR LADY OF SNOWS,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH, RESTORERS OF FALLEN FAMILIES,

PRAY FOR US.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning.

(Heb 4:15)

Today's readings give cause for invoking Saint Michael the Archangel every day and throughout the day too. First, we have the cunning serpent that tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. They caved. It is like seeing a sign on the door that reads, "Please do not enter." And we enter anyway. Or seeing a note on the pot that says, "Please do not open." And we open it anyway. These are trivial things, yes. However, if we are tempted by trivial things, just what does that mean when we are tempted by material attachments, power, prestige, or just thinking we are in control, especially when we are gravely ill, down and out, bitter or resentful, feeling lost, confused, isolated and lonely? We are a vulnerable people; the devil preys us on. Jesus was tempted by the devil who went after Him when He was hungry. The Lord did not cave. Jesus, the Holy Father preached this morning, "never enters into dialogue with the devil; He does not negotiate with him, but He repels his insinuations with the beneficent words of the Scripture"*, One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God (Mt 4:4). With Jesus leading the way, this "is an invitation to us too; one cannot defeat him by negotiating with him, he is stronger than us. We defeat the devil by countering him in faith with the divine Word. In this way, Jesus teaches us to defend unity with God and among ourselves from the attacks of the divider. The divine Word that is Jesus' answer to the temptation of the devil."* 

We are blessed with our faith tradition as the Church gives us all the weapons we need to ward off the temptations of the devil. Essentially, as I heard the designated exorcist of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis Father Vincent Lampert say in an interview, we go to Mass, celebrate the Sacraments, pray, and read the Bible. Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do (Mt 16:23). 

And we ask ourselves: what place does the Word of God have in my life? Do I turn to it in my spiritual struggles? If I have a vice or a recurrent temptation, why do I not obtain help by seeking out a verse of the word of God that responds to that vice? Then, when temptation comes, I recite it, I pray it, trusting in the grace of Christ. Let us try it, it will help us in temptation, it will help us a great deal, so that, amid the voices that stir within us, the beneficent word of God will resound. May Mary, who welcomed the Word of God and with her humility defeated the pride of the divider, accompany us in the spiritual struggle of Lent.*

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, 

that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need. 

(Heb 4:16)

If in Christ we have been tempted, in Him we overcome the devil. Do you think only of Christ's temptations and fail to think of His victory? See yourself as tempted in Him, and see yourself as victorious in Him. He could have kept the devil from Himself, but if He were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.

(From a commentary on Psalm 60 from Saint Augustine, in Office of Readings, First Sunday of Lent)

SAINT ALEXANDER OF ALEXANDRIA,

PRAY FOR US.

*Pope Francis, Sunday Angelus Address, February 26, 2023.

Today's photo: A scene from yesterday morning's Spaziergang. Of my sin cleanse me.

© Gertrude Feick 2023