Sunday - February 21, 2021
O Jesus, if I but considered attentively your immense solicitude for me, how greatly should I not excel in every virtue? Pardon me, O Jesus, so much carelessness, pardon such great ignorance. My God, Jesus my Love, Uncreated Goodness, what would have become of me if you had not drawn me to yourself? Open your heart to me, open to me your sacramental breast; I open mine to you.
-- St Gemma Galgani
TODAY'S READINGS
February 21, 2021
First Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 223
God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.”
God added:
“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth,
and the bow appears in the clouds,
I will recall the covenant I have made
between me and you and all living beings,
so that the waters shall never again become a flood
to destroy all mortal beings.”
Responsorial Psalm
R. (cf. 10) Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Good and upright is the LORD,
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and he teaches the humble his way.
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Reading 2
Beloved:
Christ suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.
In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,
who had once been disobedient
while God patiently waited in the days of Noah
during the building of the ark,
in which a few persons, eight in all,
were saved through water.
This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.
It is not a removal of dirt from the body
but an appeal to God for a clear conscience,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God,
with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
Verse before the Gospel
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Gospel
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
This Sunday's Gospel reading shows us the first thing that Jesus did after his baptismal anointing in the Jordan River: He wrestled with temptation.
His baptism had marked the moment of his complete surrender to the Father's will. As he arose from the water, he left behind his old life and began a new life of ministry.
The Father responded by telling him that he was very pleased, and the Holy Spirit filled his humanness. Jesus as God already had the Holy Spirit (one-hundred percent, he and the Spirit were the same God), but Jesus the Son, who was also fully human, now came fully alive in the Spirit. We can imagine how this experience in the Jordan River gave him the feeling of an elated spiritual high. And the next thing that happens is an attack of the devil.
The same pattern repeats itself in our lives. As soon as we experience new growth in our faith, or a new purpose for our faith with a calling to do the Father's will in a wonderful new work of God's kingdom, we run smack into a situation that tests the strength and sincerity of our faith. However, if this didn't happen, how would we know that our faith is strong enough for our daily needs? How would we find out that we've spiritually matured? How would we know that we are ready to make a significant difference for the kingdom of God?
Sometimes without consciously thinking it, we decide that new growth isn't worth the aftermath. If we're going to be tested, and if we fear that we might lose our battle against evil, wouldn't it be better not to grow, not to partner with Christ in serving God's kingdom, not to aim for spiritual highs?
Well, that's another temptation!
Lent is the perfect time to examine the temptations that we face every day and turn them into new growth that will strengthen our faith.
Every time we face a sin and seek God's forgiveness, we become stronger. And if we take it a step farther by walking into the confessional with it, we also receive powerful graces directly from Jesus, through the priest, that will render temptations much more powerless.
And this makes us more useful to God in the mission of conquering evil in the world and helping his kingdom spread into the lives of the people around us.
Think of temptations as blessings in disguise: Use them as opportunities to purify your life, become more like Jesus, and grow powerful in the faith.
How well do you recognize temptation? How quickly do you rely on the faith that God has given you to say no to the devil's tricks? What temptation are you saying yes to right now? Are you willing to give it up as your Lenten sacrifice?
Today's Prayer
Strength I ask You today, Lord, to face all those temptations that are too difficult for me to resist. Only You can defeat them in me, I only say 'yes' to Your will. Amen.
------------------------------
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
No comments:
Post a Comment