First Sunday of Lent. Year A - Sunday, February 26, 2023 (EPISODE: 408)

First Sunday of Lent. Year A - Sunday, February 26, 2023
(EPISODE: 408)

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Readings for Sunday, 26 February 2023
FIRST READING: Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14+17. "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned."
SECOND READING: Rom 5:12-19
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Matt 4:4b). Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless Glory. No one lives on bread alone. But on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
GOSPEL: Matt 4:1-11 – Temptation

Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed.
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for First Sunday of Lent. Year A - Sunday, February 26, 2023 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-the-first-sunday-of-lent-year-a-episode-408/s-h4zfAXdm2KB
(EPISODE:408 )
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Our Lenten journey has well and truly begun. It is a beautiful time of extra prayer, reflection and penance - to re-focus our sights on Christ and his gospel. This weekend we hear of the temptation of Our Lord in the desert.

I had always seen this time as a preparation for Christ's public ministry - and in a sense, that is perfectly true. But it's more than that. It turns out that this is his first and definitive battle (and victory) in God's war against the derailing effects of temptation (to ignore the Father's will in a distorted and self-justified attempt to follow our own will). This has wracked the human condition since the beginning. In the desert, Christ strikes the first blow against humanity's alienation from God. This is faith, hope and love.

Our Lord wastes no time going straight to work of achieving his Heavenly Father's mission. Jesus is God-made-human, the new Adam. And he quickly sets about reversing the failures to the temptation that has been around since the beginnings of humanity and which we still face today.

Although Jesus is God, he is also completely human like us, so in his humanity, he faces temptation and defeats it.

We can see these forty days in the desert as a massive battle between for forces of God's Kingdom and the forces of evil. Our Lord shows us how to take on temptation and not succumb to its distortion of the truth.

Our Lord uses prayer, fasting and intense focus on the will of the Father to cut through the lies of the evil one.

We also notice that Satan turns up to assail him near the end of his forty days. Our Lord would have been tired, extremely hungry and at his physical and emotional weakest. and this is when Satan begins his cowardly attacks. It's good to remember that we are often attacked by temptation when we are at our lowest and most vulnerable. The powers and values that oppose the kingdom of heaven do not fight fair, but we must be prepared.

What is also fascinating is that God turns even an evil temptation by the enemy to strengthen and reinforce the steely resolve of his faithful ones. Jesus passed through the trial with flying colours. Where Adam and his ancestors failed, Jesus succeeded and schooled us on how to deal with temptation ourselves.

We learn that temptation is deceitful. it often comes in the form of taking a good thing and luring us to use a good motive or a good thing for a bad or excessive reason.

1 Corinthians 10:13 New International Version (NIV). God never lets us face more than we can handle and gives us help to escape its clutches.

There are two areas of temptation:
 temptations to people in leadership positions
and
personal temptation.

First, Satan appeals to Our Lord as a leader. The temptation to show, to prove and to be 'relevant' to an audience. Tempted to be famous and spectacular. The temptation to use "power" over others.

And see how Jesus counters it:
- "temptation to be relevant" and prove oneself is countered by prayer and discernment of The Father's will.
- The temptation to be spectacular - to convince. v. obedience and humility.
- The temptation to power v. vulnerability. Trust in God's providence and grace is sufficient. Temptations in our personal needs and actions to meet our physical needs. Not trusting that we receive our actual needs without recourse to extreme or controlling behaviour.

- Temptation to keep Confirming/testing God's love and care. Both extremes - doubting it or presuming on it. Especially when God shows us constantly – this love and care in so many ways, our Lord knew his Father's confident trust and his clear commissioning of him to his ministry! To test that or to ask for more confirmation would have been a mere self-indulgence. And Our Lord knew that!  
 
- Pride and power. The Devil wants to trick us into thinking that God has abandoned us and that we are left to handle temptation on our own.

But, Our Lord shows us that the real question we need to focus upon is: "Is this what God the Father wants for me? Can I do this thing and truly love God and delight in God…." ?? Is this choice putting God as the source and destination of my delight and goals?

It's very telling that after this fierce tussle in the wilderness - Christ commands satan to be off, and he goes. Jesus has succeeded in fending off the prideful and misleading lies of the tempter, and afterwards, we are told Angels come to tend to him and give him what he needs.

There is more than a sense that his army came to support him in this first of many victories and give him what he needs, which he KNEW would be provided by his Father and not from rash acts of wilfulness, force or pride.

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To listen to the Sunday Mass each week (including homily) from Surfers Paradise Catholic Parish, please visit this link: Liturgy for you at Home (by SPCP) - https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks
 Also found at - https://tinyurl.com/FHLpwk
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References:

Fr Paul W. Kelly; from Wilkins, M. (2004). Matthew: NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan. E-edition. November 2014. Around p 153-164.

Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed. Stock Photo ID: 148333646 - VIENNA - JULY 27: Fresco of Temptation of Jesus scene in side nave of Altlerchenfelder church from 19. cent. on July 27, 2013, in Vienna. Important information: Editorial Use Only. Photo Contributor: -Renata Sedmakova

First Sunday of Lent. Year A (Sunday, February 26, 2023) (EPISODE: 408)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or/ The Lord be with You)
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{{May Our Lord's Fidelity strengthen you.}} welcome everyone; we gather - To offer up praise, prayers and intercessions to God. On this First Sunday of Lent. Year A

Coming together as God's family, let us call to mind our sins.
Lord Jesus, you healed the sick: Lord, have mercy//Lord Jesus, you forgave sinners: Christ, have mercy//Lord Jesus, you give us yourself to heal us and bring us strength: Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
2. When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.
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Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14+17. "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned."

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Matt 4:4b). Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless Glory. No one lives on bread alone. But on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
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PREFACE: Temptation of the Lord
Euch Prayer II
Communion side. pwk:
(theme variation: 2 )

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{Bless you all, and May God's grace guide you each and every day.}

Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
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Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:

"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly

Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)

Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)

"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.

Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'. E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993). (Sydney, Australia).

"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.

Lenten Hymn: "Have Mercy" Inspired by Psalm 50(51). Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2020.

Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: - Shure Motiv MV5 Digital Condenser.

Editing equipment: NCH Software - MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software

NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 12.44

Sound Processing: iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor

[ Production - KER - 2023]

May God bless and keep you.
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