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Prepare your hear for Jesus this lent
Based on Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Rom 5:12-19; Mt 4:1-11
It’s Lent and the church calls us to concentrate on following Jesus and making room for God in our lives.
The readings for this Sunday give us a short history of temptation and sin. In the first reading from Genesis, Adam and Eve failed terribly when faced with temptation and sin and ended up exiled from the Garden of Eden.
In Romans, Paul’s words are a nice bridge between the first reading and the Gospel. He compares Adam’s response and Jesus’ response to temptation: Adam – disobedience/punishment and Jesus – obedience/salvation.
In the Gospel, Jesus faced temptation and triumphed in resisting the devil’s trickery. His victory in thedesert wilderness was just a foretaste of the victory Jesus would win for us on the cross.
The 40 days of Lent are to prepare our hearts for Jesus and the feast of Easter and Jesus’ Resurrection to preserve life in heaven for us. It is time for more prayer, changes in mind and heart, growth in learning about Jesus, fasting, abstinence, sacrifice and unselfishly sharing Jesus’ love with others.
Prayer: Pray the rosary and the Stations of the Cross. Say thank you to God for his many blessings. Pray for others. Go to confession.
Learning about Jesus: spend time each day reading the Bible to learn about Jesus’ teaching, his miracles, his apostles and the early church. Read about the lives of the saints and what they did to follow Jesus.
Sacrifice, sharing and silence: avoid television for one day each week, or even for a whole week and spend quality family time together. Limit your use of technology during Lent. Donate some of your allowance to help stock your parish food pantry. Donate gently used clothing to your parish clothing drive.
Make your own symbolic desert by putting some sand and small stones in a bowl and placing it in your prayer space at home. During Lent, spend more quiet time with Jesus in your “desert” prayer space.
