Reflection for the First Sunday in Lent: Sin never shows itself in
pure form—as raw evil. If it did, its ugliness would repulse us. Rather, it
masks itself and hides under the guise of something good or attractive. This is
how temptation works. The snake did not say, "Eat that fruit and you will
be ashamed of yourselves and alienated from God." Rather it says,
"You will be like gods." Now that's attractive! Satan came to the
Lord Jesus in the same way, with apparent goods. You are hungry, make these
stones bread; you are the Son of God, prove your trust in him; you could run
the world. Jesus was tested in the same way that Israel was tested in the
desert (see Deut 6-8). What distinguishes Jesus' response to the tempter
from Adam and Eve's, or even ancient Israel's, is that he doesn't get lost in
the apparent good, and he confronts seeming truth with real truth.
Jesus was tempted like us and
he overcame sin not by his own human effort but by the grace and strength which
his Father gave to him. He had to renounce his will for the will of his Father.
He succeeded because he wanted to please his Father and he trusted that his
Father would give him the strength to overcome the obstacles that stood in the
way. Luke says that Jesus was "full of the Holy Spirit" (Luke 4:1).
When tempted by the devil Jesus did not try to fight his adversary on his own
human strength. He relied on the power which the Spirit gave him. Jesus came to
overthrow the evil one who held us captive to sin and fear of death (Hebrews
2:14). His obedience to his Father's will and his willingness to embrace the
cross reversed the curse of Adam's disobedience. His victory over sin and death
won for us not only pardon for our sins but adoption as sons and daughters of
God. Bread is not a substitute for God; you must not test God; you cannot trade
obedience for power. To truly enter into the spirit of Lent is to grow in
freedom, in discriminating wisdom, and in truth. It allows us to see through
the cheap attractiveness of temptation and become inclined to the deeper truths
that underlie our hearts' deepest, truest desires.
Meditation: What in my life attracts or tempts me to substitute
truth for comfort, the status quo for conversion, apparent goods for the only
true good in my life?
Prayer: Lord, it is so easy to be deceived. Give us wisdom to
discern truth, and the courage to live that truth in our lives.
Additional Mass and Stations of the Cross: Each Friday evening
at 7 PM we will celebrate the Eucharist followed by the Stations of the Cross
at 7:30 PM. This year we will pray the Stations of the Cross entitled:
Everyone’s Way of the Cross. Copies will be available for you at the
stations. Please join us to celebrate
the Eucharist and the Stations each Friday evening.
Confirmation –
Grade 7 – 2017
REGISTRATION - Monday March 27th @7:30 in the
hall. Please make sure that you have your child’s baptismal
certificate at this meeting. This is required at the registration meeting.
PANCAKE WEEKEND – Many thanks to the Knights of Columbus and our ‘dream
team’ ladies for all their hard work in making our pancake weekend such a
success. I hope you had a great meal and some quality time with fellow
parishioners. Thank-you to all those who were able to attend.
Our parish Sharelife campaign
begins this weekend. Many thanks to our Chairs, David Bain and Irene
Skinner-Bain and to all the people who signed up for the committee. We begin
our campaign today with one of the 5 Sharelife videos.
Wishing you all a prayerful Lenten Season! Fr. Phil 