1ST SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR A)

1st Reading           Genesis 2:7-9,3:1-7

Psalm                      51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 (R. cf. 3a)

R:// "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned"

2nd Reading        Romans 5:12-19

Gospel                   Matthew 4:1-11

DO NOT TRADE BREAD FOR YOUR SOUL

Friends, Peace and Goodness! We usher in the gracious and new season of Lent. Lent is a 40-day journey in preparation for the celebration of the Church's greatest day of Easter. We ask the Lord to be gracious to us as we embark on this journey.

The first reading is from Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7 and the Gospel is from Matthew 4:1-11. Let us start with the Gospel and notice some interesting reflective details. 

The Gospel is the temptation narrative as recorded by the author of the Gospel according to Matthew. The first thing we should notice is the locus or the setting of the narrative. The setting is the desert or the wilderness (erēmos). The duration in the desert was 40 days and 40 nights spent in fasting. Today, that will be about 5 weeks and 5 days. Jesus could have been tempted anywhere. Therefore, why the desert and why 40? Notice that the previous passage was about Jesus' baptism in the Jordan. Remember that Israel passed through the Jordan and, in doing so, were ushered into the Promised Land. What it means is that the Jordan is the gateway out of and into the Promised Land. Out of the Promised Land through the Jordan, one enters the desert. The interesting detail here is that the crossing of the Jordan by the Israelites is also an image of Baptism. Jesus also got baptised in the same Jordan River and reverses the journey of the Israelites and goes back into the desert, into their past to encounter their setbacks and make right the wrongs. Where they were unfaithful, Jesus will show how to be faithful. Lent is a journey of learning from Jesus how to be faithful. 

Secondly, Israel stayed in the desert for 40 years. Jesus, who teaches us how to be faithful, stayed in the desert for 40 days and nights. That draws on the number 40. The number 4 is the number of this earth and its challenges. It is the reason why the earth has 4 major cardinal points — East, West, North, and South. 4 represents the trials and struggles of a person who goes through life. 40, therefore, represents this understanding. The journey in the desert for 40 years is a summary of life's journey. Jesus repeats that summary in 40 days. He was reliving Israel's history. Lent is also allowing Jesus to relive your history and show you the path of 'righting' the wrongs of your life. 

40 days of Lent will be a moment of learning from Jesus how to be faithful as we journey through life. However, what exactly went into Israel's past in the desert? The Gospel showed three of them — Food, Test of Presence, and Idolatry. The first, Food, started right when they crossed the Red Sea and they started complaining (Exodus 16). They compared the providence of God to Egyptian food. They wanted to conclude that God cannot provide for them. Jesus was tempted that way by the devil when he saw that Jesus was fasting, going through a struggle of life, when there was not enough. The question is: When what we need is not available, what do we do? Would we complain and compare tables or continue to look up to God for his providence? That is a real test. 

The second test was a test of Presence. The devil told Jesus that he would be protected by Angels when he threw himself down. This is to test the reliance on God's protective presence and power. In fact, Israel failed in that way in the desert. In Exodus 17 at Massah and Meribah, the Israelites, in their quest for water, questioned, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

The third test was Idolatry. This is a test of fidelity. Remember that in Exodus 32, while Moses was on Mount Sinai, Israel made a golden calf and worshipped it. While in the desert, Jesus refused to bow to the devil. 

Notice that Jesus, in all three temptations, did not only refuse to heed to the temptations, but he backed his refusal with the Word of God, the Torah. It is not simply refusing a temptation, but what adds up is your argument or point for refusal. You can refuse, and yet your argument will be something different. What are you standing on to overcome temptations? Largely, the encounter with the evil one was a contest of fidelity to God's command — the Word. The first thing we need to start doing is not to focus on developing new strategies to overcome struggles and tempting moments in life. All strategies and arguments are in God's Word. What is necessary is to hold on to it. 

Let us conclude by saying something brief about the first reading from Genesis 2:7-9,3:1-7. The author tells us about how God emdowed mankind with certain privileges and the fall of man. Notice that the fall of man started with Food. That connects to the fact that the first complaint of the Israelites in the desert against God was about Food, and the fact that Jesus' first temptation was about Food. However, let us look at the privileges God gave to man.

The first is that God FORMED man. The Hebrew word for FORM is "yāṣar". That word is used in the sense of a potter shaping a pot. In Jeremiah 18:1-6, the potter is said to be doing the same thing. In fact, the Hebrew word used in Jeremiah is "Yotzer", and it has the same root as "Yāṣar". The first privilege man enjoys is that he was intentionally and carefully created by God in the manner that a potter made a pot. God knew what he was forming. In fact, he formed man like himself. That is a privilege. 

The second privilege is that God breathed the breath of life into man and man became a living soul. It is not only God's image that he received, but also God's life.

The third privilege is that man was placed in the Garden of Eden. "Eden" is a Persian word for "paradise". "Paradise" was a walled garden of a king. The king walks through it occasionally. Mankind was placed in that garden. Man did not only enjoy the privilege of the delights of a King, but also enjoyed protection, security, and was assured of food. These are the privileges.

The problem was that the evil one, in the image of a serpent, found its way into the garden. How it entered, we are not told. However, what remains for us to know is that everyday, even in the most delightful and privileged moments of life on earth, we are faced with evil and we can heed to it. The interaction was about Food. So, "security and food" are attacked. When your wall is broken into and your source of sustenance is under attack, it is possible that you can be robbed of any other thing. When what satisfies your passions and desires come under attack and you heed to them, any evil can proceed. Food satisfies your bodily desires. Be careful about your passions and desires. It is a doorway to your life. Whatever you long for shapes you.

Peace and Goodness 🙏