Week 1 Lent

Dear Lord,

I know you receive what is in my heart.

Let me be inspired by your words and by the actions of your son, Jesus.

Guide me to make sacrifices this Lent in the spirit of self-denial and with greater attention to you and to those around me.

Help me to believe that you will grant me this because of the sacrifice Jesus made for me.

FIRST WEEK OF LENT YEAR C GOSPEL READING

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the Spirit through the wilderness where he was tempted.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time, he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone.

 ’Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.' 

Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God’, he said to him ‘throw yourself down from here, for scripture says: He will put his angels in charge of you to guard you, and again: They will hold you up on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. 

REFLECTION

In the desert, Jesus could see the stars and thank the Father for them. We are called out of the world in this season of Lent, so that we can give thanks too. In time, Jesus was called out of the dry desert to a busy life. So too are we called to love and serve God in a busy life. Let us live with hearts full of thanksgiving.

1. Give Thanks. I thank God for this day, for my life, for all I am and have, and for His Word.

2. Pray for Light. I ask the Father to let me see my day as the Holy Spirit sees it, and to show me what I need to see.

3. Find God. I look at my day in the light of the Spirit. I look back over the morning, the afternoon, and the evening.

4. Anything Wrong? Do I trust that God is with me when I fail? Where I was ungrateful, I repent and offer thanks.

5. What Now? I look forward in hope. 

What have I to do now? What have I to avoid? 

Who talked with me or worked with me? 

Did I get done what I meant to do or leave things out?

Prayer 

I seem to give little, Lord Jesus, to anyone I know in need. Is it enough to contribute to causes that help the suffering, or do I have to help with my own hands? Show me others to help. I will thank You for it—and ask for the courage to tackle what You lead me to.

Amen.