1st Sunday in Lent (February 18, 2024)
Gen 9.8-15; 1 Pet 3.18-22; Mk 1.12-15
Oscar Wilde was mistaken when he said that the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. For in today’s Gospel we see that St. Paul’s words are true: “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.”
Jesus faced the same ordeal that Adam and Israel endured in the Old Testament. He was tempted by Satan among the wild beasts, as the first Adam was tempted amid the beasts in paradise, and He likewise retraced the steps of Israel, being led into the wilderness by the Spirit, and tested for forty days as the Israelites marched in the desert for 40 years of testing.
Yet, in the end, Jesus succeeds where Adam and Israel failed by resisting the devil and proving his filial love for the Father. We ought not to be surprised that we too are assailed by the tempter, especially in our increasingly degenerate culture that promotes pornography, consequence-free sex, individualism, and materialism.
Victory is assured if, like Jesus, we commit ourselves to fasting, waiting upon the Lord with patience, and having no desire for things beyond our need.
Pro-Life Intercession
That as God made a covenant with all living things, so we His people may grow in our respect for life, and actively protect it, we pray to the Lord ...