First Sunday of Lent
"Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness."
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As we begin the season of Lent, the readings highlight our freedom to make choices.
God gives us the freedom, out of love, to make the wrong choices – as did Adam and Eve (First Reading) when they succumbed to the enticing voice of the serpent.
The Psalm is the prayer of one who realises that they have made wrong choices, but then seeks forgiveness, a pure heart and a steadfast spirit, promising in return to praise the Lord joyfully.
For Paul (and in the words of St John Henry Newman), ‘when all was sin and shame, a second Adam to the fight, and to the rescue came’ – in the person of Jesus. Jesus restores our friendship with God and our life with him. (Second Reading)
Jesus himself, even though he was sorely tempted, made the right choices by refusing the devil’s repeated offers; preferring instead to serve and worship God at all times. (Gospel)
Lent is a good time to become more aware of the choices that we make in our own daily lives. We can do this by spending a little more time each day with the Lord, as we accompany him on his journey towards Jerusalem and his Passion, and then to the resurrection at Easter.
(c) William Brassey Hole, Temptation of Jesus (1908)
Here’s a text if you’ve only a minute …
Create a pure heart for me, O God: renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm
Restore in me the joy of your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit. Psalm
‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ Gospel
Further Reflection
​Gospel Matthew 4: 1–11
The Temptation of Christ
The account of Jesus’s temptations in the desert can be found in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and Mark. Mark’s account is very much shorter, while Matthew and Luke relate the temptations in a different order but probably drew on the same original source. The episode of the temptations takes place just after Jesus’s baptism when he has been affirmed as the Son of God: This is my Son, the Beloved.
Being tempted Scholars suggest it would be better to translate the Greek word by ‘tested’ rather than tempted. Temptations or tests are different from being coerced. Tempting someone is enticing them to want to do something. It does not take away free will. We can still choose to do right or wrong.
Into the Wilderness The wilderness into which Jesus was led was probably the Judean desert: a rocky, barren, scrubby, uninhabited place with a few points where water could be obtained. Some of the stones here are coated in soft lime, resembling loaves of bread. To this day, going into the desert is seen as venturing into a place of preparation; of learning to trust in God’s mercy.
Forty days and forty nights Forty is a very biblical number. It is associated with times of testing for the great figures of the Old Testament: Moses, Noah, Elijah, the Israelites. In Aramaic and Hebrew it meant more than a precise mathematical figure; it could also mean ‘a very long time’. The forty days of fasting preceding the temptations of Jesus have traditionally been associated with a cave on the ‘mountain of temptation’ (Jebel Quruntul in Palestinian Arabic) in the Judean desert, overlooking the town of Jericho.
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For more insight to the Temptations and a series of reflections see the Season of Lent page.
To aid our reflection on the Sunday readings each week we are reproducing, with permission content from St Bueno's outreach.
if you would like to know more about them or access their guided prayer resources, 'prego', you can contact them via their website
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit ,reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen
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Pope Francis, Jubilee Prayer