First Sunday of Lent

Reflection written by Bishop David Walker

As we have heard many times the Season of Lent is a time of preparation. We prepare by prayer, good works and fasting. What are we preparing for? Only the celebration of the second greatest miracle that you and I will ever encounter, the resurrection of Jesus. The first greatest miracle was God taking on our humanity so we may call God, Abba, Father. As people of faith through the grace of God we celebrate what we profess. We profess that Jesus the living Word died, was buried, went into our graves took us by the hand and led us to eternal life. Now that is something to celebrate.

In the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses is making his farewell speech to his people in which he tells them to offer the first fruits of the harvest to the Lord our God and then to celebrate. Jesus is the first fruit of the harvest of the Lord. Through the Paschal Mystery we witness the offering of those first fruits to the Father and then we celebrate.

Any good celebration takes time and hard to work to prepare. To properly celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord we must prepare. How? By prayer, by fasting and by good works, that is how. In our Gospel we are reminded that Jesus prepared for his ministry by fasting in the desert. While he was in the desert when he was "famished" Jesus was tempted by the devil. When he was at his lowest, Jesus was tempted with power over nature, "turn these stones into bread", over people, "worship me and I will give you dominion over all nations" and over God, "jump and God will send angels to protect you." How did Jesus meet these temptations? He prayed, "One does not live on bread alone", "Worship the Lord your God and serve only God" and "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."

Life can be a struggle. When we are "famished" we are tempted. We are tempted by power over nature. Do we use more than we need? We are tempted by power over people. Do we impose our will on others? We are tempted by power over God. Do we tell God what we expect out of life, what God can do, indeed must do, for us? How do we meet those temptations? In the extract taken from Paul's Letter to the Romans, we "confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe" and God will save us.

As we prepare for the miracle that is Easter may we place ourselves, our lives, our successes, our failures before the Lord our God. We are the first fruits of the harvest of the Word who is on our lips and in our hearts. Let us place those first fruits before the Lord our God and let's celebrate.