My dear brothers and sisters, just a few days ago, we walked down these aisles to receive ashes on our foreheads. We heard the sobering word...
My dear brothers and sisters, just a few days ago, we walked down these aisles to receive ashes on our foreheads. We heard the sobering words, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel." But now, the ashes have washed away. The weekend is here. We are back to the daily grind—the endless traffic on our commutes, the mounting deadlines at work, the group chats that never sleep, and the quiet, hidden struggles we carry inside our homes. Reality has set back in.
And as reality sets in, so does the central theme of our readings today. As we begin this First Sunday of Lent, the Church offers us a roadmap for the next forty days, and really, for our entire lives. We can summarize this roadmap with three simple words: Temptation, Trust, and Triumph.
Let’s start with the first "T": Temptation.
In our first reading from Genesis, we see the very first temptation. Notice how the serpent works. He doesn't show up looking like a terrifying monster. If he did, Eve would have run away! Instead, the serpent is subtle. He twists the truth just a little bit. He looks at the forbidden fruit and makes it seem absolutely necessary for happiness. The scripture says the fruit was "pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom." The devil makes the bad look good, and the good look boring.
Isn't that exactly how temptation works in our lives today? Temptation rarely comes as a dramatic invitation to commit a massive crime. It comes in the quiet, everyday moments.
Imagine a father coming home after spending two exhausting hours navigating the evening traffic. He walks through the door, drained. His young kids run up to him, noisy and asking for help with their homework. The temptation right there isn't to do something evil; the temptation is simply to choose selfishness over love. It’s the whisper that says, "You’re tired. You deserve to check out. Just hand them a tablet, go to your room, and scroll on your phone. They'll be fine." Or consider the workplace. Temptation is the whisper that says, "Everyone else is cutting corners on this project, why shouldn't you? Everyone else is participating in the office gossip, just join in so you fit in." Even Jesus, as we see in today’s Gospel from Matthew, faced temptation. And notice when the devil attacked Him. It was after forty days in the desert. Jesus was hungry. He was physically exhausted. The devil attacked when He was most vulnerable, offering Him quick fixes: bread for His hunger, a spectacular display of power, and all the kingdoms of the world without the pain of the cross.
Brothers and sisters, the devil knows exactly when we are hungry, tired, lonely, or frustrated. He knows exactly which "shortcuts" to offer us. Temptation is a reality we all face. It is part of the human condition inherited from Adam.
But we do not stop at temptation. If we stopped there, Lent would just be a season of guilt. Instead, we move to our second "T": Trust.
When we inevitably fall—when we lose our patience with our children, when we compromise our integrity at work, when we give in to the sins we promised we'd stop—we often feel shame. We want to hide, just like Adam and Eve hid behind the trees in the garden.
But look at our Responsorial Psalm today. Psalm 51 is the antidote to hiding. It is the cry of King David after he committed a terrible sin. He didn't hide. He stepped into the light and prayed, "Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness... A clean heart create for me, O God."
This is what Lent is about. It’s not about proving to God how strong we are; it’s about trusting in His mercy because we know how weak we are.
Think of a young child who accidentally breaks their mother's favorite vase. The child's first instinct is usually to sweep the pieces under the rug out of fear. But when the mother comes into the room, sees the tears, and opens her arms, the child runs to her, trusting in her love more than fearing her anger.
God is inviting us this Lent to sweep nothing under the rug. St. Paul tells us in the letter to the Romans that while the "first Adam" brought sin into the world, the "New Adam," Jesus Christ, brought an overflowing grace. We cannot overcome our sins through sheer willpower or self-help books. We can only overcome them by bringing our broken pieces to the confessional, trusting completely in the abundant, forgiving grace of Jesus Christ.
And this leads us to our final "T": Triumph.
Jesus’ victory in the desert is not just a nice story about how strong He is; it is the blueprint for our victory. How did Jesus triumph over the devil? He didn't use His divine superpowers to zap the devil away. He used something available to every single one of us: the Word of God and a steadfast relationship with the Father. To every lie the devil told, Jesus responded with truth from Scripture.
Through our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we are training our spiritual muscles to share in Christ's triumph.
When we fast—whether from food, from social media, or from complaining—we are telling our bodies that our desires do not control us.
When we pray, we are anchoring ourselves in the Word of God so we can recognize the devil’s lies.
When we give alms and help the poor around us, we defeat the temptation of selfishness.
We are not fighting for victory this Lent; we are fighting from victory. Christ has already won the battle.
As we look ahead at these next forty days, let us be honest about the Temptations that entangle us. Let us not hide in shame, but rather place our absolute Trust in the mercy of God. And as we practice our Lenten disciplines, let us walk confidently toward the Triumph of Easter Sunday, knowing that the grace of Jesus Christ is far more powerful than any weakness we carry.
May God bless our Lenten journey. Amen.
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