The First Sunday of Lent: The Gospel tells of Jesus in the desert and the temptations that he has to deal with. At the conclusion of the third temptation, Matthew’s Gospel says: “The Lord your God shall you worship; Him alone shall you serve.” There are so many temptations that pull us away from God. As temptations, at first they may seem to be something to pursue, but we quickly (and at times not so quickly) learn that we have wasted our time and are headed in the wrong direction. The beginning of Lent asks us to look at our own temptations and recognize how strong and deceptive they are. Lent gives us time to deal with them so that we can control them rather than they control us.
I hope that the Lenten booklets that were distributed at Mass last Sunday will be daily source of inspiration as you travel through this season. If you would like something else to accompany you throughout this season, there are more Lenten books on the Book Tables in the lobby of the Parish House.
Best wishes and blessings to our Catechumens who will become our Elect at the Cathedral this Sunday afternoon. Cardinal Dolan will preside at the Liturgy when all of the catechumens in the Archdiocese of New York will move ahead in their journey to the Easter sacraments. Our prayers are with you.
-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M.