First Sunday of Lent Year A

Gospel Reading: Matthew 4: 1 - 11

1 Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry, and

3 the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.'

4 But he replied, 'Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

5 The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple .

6 'If you are the Son of God' he said 'throw yourself down; for scripture says: He will put you in his angels' charge, and they will support you on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.'

7 Jesus said to him: 'Scripture also says: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.'

8 Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour.

9 ' I will give you all these' he said, 'if you fall at my feet and worship me.' 10 Then Jesus replied, ' Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.'

11 The devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.

Gospel Meditation

Like all who see their lives as a grateful response to God's call, Jesus must make the basic choice to trust God, whatever the circumstances he finds himself in. In this story, under very great pressure, Jesus makes his choice. Who does he remind you of at this moment of decision?

The story is told as a journey in three stages:

•  verse 1: identify the wilderness into which you - or someone you know, or your community - have been led by the Spirit. Note that it is the Spirit - God's love - who leads him there. What does that say about true love? Deuteronomy 8: 1 - 5 will help you to answer this question. Ask yourself also, do we sometimes go into the wilderness but not led there by the Spirit? What happens then?

•  verses 3-10: The three temptations are three aspects of the one temptation not to trust God, or, stated in positive terms, to follow the way of achievement rather than that of trust. Repeat Jesus' three responses to yourself many times until you can identify with them. From that perspective you will understand the temptations. Thank God for the great people who continue to respond like Jesus. How is Satan tempting them? How is Satan tempting the church?

•  Verse 11: This is the moment when an individual (or a community) who has remained faithful through a long temptation experiences the love and care of God for that person (or cause0 to whom he or she has been faithful. Who are the angels God sends to look after his faithful ones?

Prayer

"Walk the dark ways of faith and you will attain the vision of God"
St. Augustine

Lord, it is risky to let ourselves be led by the Spirit.

So often he leads us into the wilderness

To be tempted by the devil.

We make an act of trust in you today,

Letting ourselves be guided by you,

Confident that the devil will eventually leave us

And angels will appear to look after us.

Lord, sometimes we go into the wilderness

because we are hurt or angry or resentful of others.

Teach us that we are only safe in the wilderness

if the Spirit leads us there.

"Understanding can follow only where experience leads." St. Bernard

We pray for parents and all those who guide others;

Help them to belike you:

•  not to be over-protective

•  to let their sons and daughters be led by the Spirit into the wilderness, because it is only there that they will experience angels appearing and looking after them

" In prison you learn the value of self-discipline, you stand outside of yourself and see your weaknesses." Nelson Mandela

Lord we think of all those who are in the wilderness

at this moment,

those who have been there forty days and forty nights

without eating, and are very hungry -

hungry for love, for security, for recognition, for ordinary food.

The tempter has certainly come

and said to them that they can turn the stones before them into loaves.

We pray that they may reply in the words of scripture,

that we do not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from your mouth.

We pray for the youth of today.

They see the kingdoms of the world and their splendour;

But to be given all these

they must fall at the feet of the devil and worship him.

We pray that they may repeat the words of scripture

worshipping you, the Lord their God, and serving you alone.

"The heart of the Christian message is that the most salvific moment in the history of the world was when one man was pinned to a cross, unable to do anything for anyone about anything." Thomas Cullinane, Benedictine monk.

Lord, our church community has been led

by the Spirit into the wilderness,

the wilderness of falling numbers,

of failure, of uncertainty, of criticism, of scandal.

We remember that the Spirit

always leads your people into the wilderness

to be tempted by the devil.

Help us to refuse the easy solutions,

•  to turn stone into bread

•  to throw ourselves from the parapet of the temple in order to prove that you will support us on your hands in case we hurt our feet against a stone,

•  to fall at the devil's feet and worship him.

We renew our trust in you, confident

•  that we can live on every word that comes from your mouth;

•  that we need not put you to the test;