Saturday, February 29, 2020

Jesus' Temptation

In this week’s Gospel, we see Jesus, soon after being baptized by John the Baptist, being led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to fast, pray and be tempted by the Devil.  It is at the end of the forty days that Jesus, no doubt famished, lonely and longing for an end to this trial, is approached by the Devil and presented with what Steve refers to as the “Provisions, Pride and Power” temptations:  Bread to abate his fast, an opportunity to answer the Devil’s “show me what you got” challenge, and a trade of the world’s kingdoms for Jesus’ worship. Yet with each successive temptation, we see Jesus rebuff the Devil and remain steadfast in the face of false promises.  
As Lent begins, God calls us to examine the desert areas in our lives that are spiritually dry, areas that we’ve allowed to become obstacles to receiving and sharing His abiding love for us.  In this season, we focus on our need for repentance and self-sacrifice, practices that require us to confront aspects our lives of which we are less than proud. As husband, and wife, it is during this season that we both find a need to live more fully the lives of sacrifice to which God calls us in the sacrament of marriage.  Too often, in matters large and small, we fail to express as we should the love to which we are called as spouses. Through pride and stubbornness, we allow these failures to become obstacles to living our marital vocation.  
As individuals, and as a married couple, we hear the call on Ash Wednesday to “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”  Hearing these words, we both realize that we have been too lax in sacrificing of ourselves for each other, too quick to criticize each other for shortcomings actual and perceived, and too slow to forgive.  As we progress in our journey to become the best versions of ourselves, we are recommitting ourselves, first, to regular daily prayer both together and on our own. We will seek God’s forgiveness and healing through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We will be taking extra time to prepare for Mass each Sunday, and when we’re able to attend Mass during the week, by reflecting on the Mass readings. And through all of this, we will reflect on, and express our gratitude for, how richly God is feeding us spiritually through the priests, staff and fellow parishioners at Holy Family.  We pray that by making these changes, we may be better prepared to celebrate Jesus’ glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday.  


Reflection by Steven and Susan Gandt

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Jesus' Temptation

In this week’s Gospel, we see Jesus, soon after being baptized by John the Baptist, being led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to fast, p...