First Sunday of Lent
Dear Friends,
“It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” Lk 4:8
As we begin our Lenten journey, the Gospel of Luke presents Jesus’ time in the desert, where He fasted for forty days and faced temptations. The first temptation, where the devil urges Him to turn stones into bread, is deeply connected to the experience of Israel in the wilderness during the Exodus. Both Jesus and the Israelites underwent a period of testing, but while Israel struggled in trust, Jesus remained faithful.
In Exodus, after being freed from slavery and crossing the red sea, the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. This was a time of formation. God was preparing their hearts to believe in Him. During that path, they soon grew hungry and grumbled against God, doubting His providence. They longed for the food of Egypt. In response, God provided manna, teaching them that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Dt 8:3). The same words Jesus uses to fend off the temptation of the devil.
But, why the desert? Why hunger? Why does God allow his people to suffer? God could have given them manna earlier avoiding them from going hungry. This is what we desire: NOT TO SUFFER. Wouldn’t it be a dream not to have any suffering? This is our deep desire for Heaven. But while we live in this world with all its sin, we are going to suffer. But as Jesus shows with His own example, suffering can be redemptive if we offer it to God!
That is why during lent we allow ourselves to go hungry. We cut back. This helps us focus on what is truly important. As St. Francis de Sales would say: "We must not seek the consolations of God, but the God of consolations." SO many times we look for material goods, trying to avoid suffering and in doing so we sometimes forget the source of all that is good: God Himself.
The key is always Loving God above all things as He expressed in the second temptation: “It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” Lk 4:8
Have a blessed lent and mass!
Fr. Carlos
