列印 Every year on this first Sunday of Lent we hear a Gospel account of Jesus' forty-day desert experience,
when Christ was tempted by the devil. This first Sunday of Lent “Christ in the Desert Sunday,”
Lent is the time to review our lives, reflect upon our thoughts, words and deeds.
Is reminder of what life is all about: not health, wealth and beauty, but liberation from slavery to sin.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Genesis 9:8-15
God spoke to
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Matthew not only physically “got up” from sitting in the tax collector’s booth,
when he responded to Jesus’s invitation.This is quite the conversion .
Tax-collectors were the most despised of people.he would call a publican to be his disciple and follower,
It was a wonder of Christ's grace.
Instead of blaming others for their shortcomings and weaknesses,
We are challenged to lead them to the way, the truth and the life.
The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Isaiah 58:9b-14
Then you will call and
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The Pharisees’ demand for a sign was a true sign of their lack of faith in him. Jesus giving a deep sigh.
When he sees in us shallowness of faith and rebellious resistance to truth,
a resistance that prevents the Spirit from entering our hearts.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
James 1:1-11
James, a servant of God,
列印 The disciples of John are a bit clueless as to why they ‘Have to’ fast and the disciples of Jesus do not.
If Jesus is with you, how can you feel sad and gloomy? With Him, the world shimmers with joy,
faith becomes strong, hope revives and love is renewed. That is why His disciples could not fast.
Day of abstinence from meat (age 14 and up).
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Isaiah 58:1-9a
Cry out aloud for all you
列印 Jesus first reveals himself to the disciples and to some chosen individuals before he publicly decares himself to be the One.
When the leper’s audacity brings healing, the prohibition not to tell anyone of what happened.
As soon as he leaves, he sings the praises of Jesus so much so, They have to share and proclaim it to others.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
1st Reading: Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron,
列印 Jesus now openly talks of His future fate. It is tragic but glorious at the same time.
He will suffer rejection and death, but He will rise again from the dead after three days.
The decision for us to take is to whether we are willing to suffer with Jesus or not. This is the trail of the Lenten Season.
Like Jesus, to offer our lives for the benefit of others in love, in caring, in solidarity, in compassion and in justice.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
See, I set before you
列印 All Christians are called to be missionaries in the sense of sharing God's unconditional love with others.
our small contribution can do so much when joined to his power of love.
God brought Israel out of Egypt? In the wilderness, without food, what did God do?
Every day he dropped Manna, God worked miracle every day.
St. Scholastica, virgin
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34
Jeroboam thought,
列印 “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Ash Wednesday as a day "focused on prayer, fasting, and repentance."
Our need for repentance and our need for the love and forgiveness shown to us in Jesus Christ.
By self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting, by practicing works of love.
ASH WEDNESDAY Begin Lenten preparation for the Easter Triduum.
Day of fast (ages 18-59) and abstinence from meat (age 14 and up).
列印 Jesus always gives strength of mind, body or soul when we place ourselves in God's loving presence.
All power in heaven and on earth was entrusted to his hands.
He was doing the will of the Father, and accomplishing the work with which he had been commissioned.
"The Father," he said, "worketh hitherto, and I work;"
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19
Once, when Jeroboam
列印 Jesus seems to be pretty frustrated with the “dumbness” of the disciples.
Disciples Having lived with him day and night, They did not really know him.
The teachings and miracles of Jesus did not sink yet in their minds. Thus they always misunderstood Jesus.
Yet He did not give up on them. Patiently He accompanied them to the truth.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
James 1:12-18
Happy are those
列印 With all his wisdom and experience in life, Solomon fell away from God due to his pride,
Whereas humility lifted up the woman and her daughter and drew God’s favor and healing instantaneously.
her daughter has an unclean spirit. She knows that in every way, according to the standards of the day,
she is unclean, and therefore disqualified to approach any devout Jew,
Jesus admired the woman's persistence in looking for a blessing for her daughter. reached out to this Gentile lady.
St. Jerome Emiliani, priest St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
1 Kings 11:4-13
In Solomon's old age,
