[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: February 17, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant, almighty God, through the yearly observances of holy Lent, that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and by worthy conduct pursue their effects. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

• Pease Porridge

ACTIVITIES

• The Kaleidoscope of Lent

PRAYERS

• Prayer for the First Week of Lent
• Lent Table Blessing 1
• Roman Ritual Blessing Before and After Meals: Lent (1st Plan)

Lent: February 17th

First Sunday of Lent

Old Calendar: First Sunday of Lent

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone." And the devil took him up. and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve."

Stational Church

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Sunday Readings
The first reading is from Deuteronomy 26: 4-10. In these verses we have the ritual prescribed by Moses for the feast of the harvest thanksgiving. The people once settled in the Promised Land are to show their gratitude to the good God who brought them out of the slavery of Egypt and gave them this good land to be their home.

The second reading is from St. Paul to the Romans 10: 8-13. He is discussing the sad fact that Israel (as a whole) rejected Christ as the promised Messiah and the Son of God.

The Gospel is from St. Luke 5:1-11. Christ's voluntary self-mortification of forty days' fast, with its accompanying temptations, was but part of the self-mortification, with its climax on the Cross, which He gladly underwent for our salvation. He did not need to fast in order to keep the inclinations of the body in subjection, He did not need to allow the insult of temptation. He could have said, "begone Satan" at the beginning as easily and as effectively as be said it at the end. But He willingly underwent this humiliation in order to set us an example and to prove to us the infinite love He bears us and the value, the priceless value, He sets on our eternal salvation. He became like us in all things (except sin) in order to make it possible for us to become like Him—the beloved of his Father—and co-heirs with Him in the kingdom of heaven.

With this example given us by Christ no Christian can or should expect to travel the road to heaven without meeting obstacles and temptations. Our weak human nature is of itself, even without any external tempter, a source of many temptations to us, especially of those three illustrated in the case of Christ. Our body desires all the pleasures and comforts that can be got out of life and resents any curtailment of these desires even on the part of our Creator and Benefactor. Our gifts of intelligence and free-will often tempt most of us to look for power, political or economic, over our fellowmen. We want to be better off than others in this world, when our purpose in life is to help ourselves and our fellowmen to the better life. Finally. so fully occupied are many in the mad rush after pleasure and power that they have no time to devote to the one thing that matters, the attainment of eternal life.

Yet, through some foolish logic of our own, we expect God to do for us what we refuse to do for ourselves. We are tempting God by presuming he will save us if we have deliberately chosen the road to perdition.

There are few, if any, amongst us who can honestly say: "I am free from such inclinations or temptations." The vast majority of us can and should beat our breasts and say with the publican: "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." And merciful he will be if we turn to him with true humility. He may not remove all our temptations, all our wrong inclinations, but he will give us the grace to overcome them if we sincerely seek his aid.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

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The Station today is at St. John Lateran. The Lateran is comprised of the Basilica, the Pontifical Palace and the Baptistry. The church is dedicated to the Christ the Savior. In the fifth century the titles of St. John Baptist and St. John the Evangelist were added. The Papal altar contains the wooden altar on which St. Peter is said to have celebrated Mass. This basilica is the mother of all churches and is the only church which has the title of Archbasilica.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Deuteronomy 26:4-10

1st Sunday of Lent

The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm. (Deuteronomy 26:8)

When we read the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, we may put brackets around it in our minds, thinking it’s not all that relevant to our own lives. After all, we’re not God’s divine Son. Sure, we may hunger for food, power, and recognition, but we aren’t about to turn stones to bread or throw ourselves off the roof to see if angels will catch us.

But God’s people have always had to face one fundamental temptation: forgetting the Lord and all the ways he has blessed us. The trouble is, when we forget our past, we tend to think that we’re alone in the present, that God isn’t with us to help us and guide us.

Because Jesus never forgot his people’s history, he was able to resist the devil’s temptation. He knew that the God who fed Israel in the desert would not let his Son starve. No, his Father would take care of him in exactly the right way at exactly the right time.

In today’s first reading, Moses exhorts the people to remember their history and to offer God their “first fruits” in gratitude. Each year at the beginning of the harvest, they were to recount their story and insert themselves personally into that story: God made us his own people, he delivered us from slavery, he fed us in the desert, he enabled us to defeat our enemies and settle in the Promised Land.

This is the kind of remembering that we do every time we celebrate the Eucharist. We remember Jesus’ love for us. We remember his teachings, his miracles, and his compassion. We remember his death and resurrection. We remember our own redemption. And as we remember, these events come alive again. We find new grace to resist temptation and continue our journey in faith. So remember the Lord today at Mass. Remember your heritage as an honored, beloved child of God.

“Father, may I never forget your many blessings. Come, Lord, and fill my heart with praise and gratitude.”

Psalm 91:1-2, 10-15; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

1. In the first reading, Moses reminds the people of all that God has done for them by setting them free from slavery to the Egyptians. He also instructs the people (and the priests) to express their gratefulness and thanks to God by offering him their “first fruits.” Each of us has been set free from slavery to sin, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What are some “first fruits” you can offer to God out of gratefulness to Him for this wonderful work. What are some gift(s) God has given you that he may be asking you to use for him now?

2. The Responsorial Psalm calls God our “refuge and fortress,” that is, the source of our comfort and strength. Where do you turn for comfort and strength? In light of the many promises of the Lord in this Psalm, how can you overcome the obstacles that keep you from seeking your comfort and strength from the Lord?

3. In the second reading, what does St. Paul say is required to be “saved”? In what ways do you agree or disagree with this?

4. The second reading also says that in Christ all distinctions between people, whether Jew or Greek, have been abolished. Considering that we will all be together in heaven one day, what are the prejudices in your life God might be asking you to eliminate?

5. In the Gospel reading, how would you summarize the temptations of the devil towards Jesus in the desert? How would you relate them to the ways the devil tries to tempt you? In the Gospel, Jesus quotes the truths of Scripture, the Word of God, to respond to the lies and temptations of the devil. How often do you read Scripture on your own now? How often do you use Scriptures (the Sword of the Spirit) as a weapon against the devil’s temptations? What are some steps you can take during Lent that will allow you to read and meditate on Scripture more regularly?

6. The meditation reminds us that “God’s people have always had to face one fundamental temptation: forgetting the Lord and all the ways he has blessed us. The trouble is, when we forget our past, we tend to think that we’re alone in the present, that God isn’t with us to help us and guide us.” Take some time to read and reflect on the words of the last paragraph in the meditation. What steps can you take during Lent to better remember at Mass what the Lord has done for you, and to allow these truths to come alive in a greater way in your life?.

7. Take some time now to pray and ask for the grace to always remember how the Lord has blessed your life, no matter what difficulties you have faced, or may have to face. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as a starting point.