This morning’s Gospel reading is Matthew 4:1–11:
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
Today is our first Sunday of Lent, our time in the wilderness for repentance and atonement for all of our sins. We carry their weight in all seasons, of course, and are called to repent and atone at all times. Why, then, do we honor this season of Lent and make sacrifices specific to this time?
Let’s start with the practical application of Lent. The Church gives us seasons in each liturgical year so that we may focus on and anticipate various parts of our faith regularly. For instance, just as we are always an Easter people, we celebrate Easter once a year through the reliving of the Triduum and the Easter octave. We are always in Pentecost, as we continually receive the Holy Spirit. Advent is upon us our entire lives as we form ourselves to meet Christ at the end of our lives, when we come to Him rather than Him coming to us. We are called to the same kind of constant faith and formation of those periods as we are of Lent’s repentance and atonement, but the calendar allows us to explore each of those parts more fully and more openly.
In this season, we are not only asked to explore our sins, but also to explore the nature of those sins as a means to abandon them for good. Today’s readings start with Genesis, in which the true nature of sin becomes clear, and in fact, demonstrates original sin in its purest form. The Lord God plants Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, living in close communion with Him in the Trinitarian love for which He designed us. Sin arises for the first time, in its core form:
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
What is original sin? It is not sexual in the least, despite the impression that some have of the term. It is not even disobedience, although disobedience played a role in it. Original sin is our predilection to putting ourselves above God in all things, wanting to replace Him with our own will and judgment. That is the wicked promise of the serpent of Eden: you will be like gods. That is the basis of all sin – rejection of God the Father and our arrogance in attempting to take over His authority over Creation, including ourselves.
While this is not part of our reading today, the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) speaks directly to this, as well as providing a model for Lent. What happens in this parable? The younger son of a wealthy man demands his share of the father’s estate, essentially demanding that the father act as though he’s dead. The son takes his share of the estate in cash and utterly dissipates it in actions that his father would never approve. The ruined son falls into slavery because of his appetites, until he finally decides to return to the father in poverty and repentance, hoping only to be allowed back as a servant. The father welcomes him back as a son, seeing the honest repentance and atonement of his younger son.
That is our path in Lent. Our Gospel reading today provides us the path we walk when we have decided to return to the Father. Each of the temptations Satan creates for Jesus can be analyzed in many ways, but all of them attempt to force Jesus to put Himself above the will of God and to assume His authority. Rather than surrender to those temptations, Jesus recites scripture to rebuke the devil at every turn, and in doing so remains faithful to the authority of the Father. In these responses, Jesus teaches us that we can rely on the Father to lead us, even when the world has emptied us of our strength, and He will lead us home regardless to a loving welcome – as long as we place our faith in Him rather than rely on our own appetites and worldly ambitions.
This task may seem impossible for us, especially those in the firm grip of sin and arrogance. Paul writes to the Romans in our second reading to reassure them that salvation is at hand for those who follow Christ’s example. Original sin does not doom us, thanks to the New Adam that Christ presented in the desert:
For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.
We cannot get there alone. Going it alone is how we got lost. Christ leads us back to the Father, in repentance and atonement, at all times of our lives. Lent gives us a season to focus and reflect on that truth, and that blessing.
Previous reflections on these readings:
The front page image is “Temptation of Christ” by Philips Augustijn Immenraet, 1663. On display at the Museum of John Paul II Collection in Warsaw, Poland. Via Wikimedia Commons.
“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature that looks at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections can be found here.
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