Sunday, 1st Sunday of Lent

Readings: Dt. 26:4-10; Rm. 10:8-13; Lk. 4:1-13

From the Gospel: “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, One does not live on bread alone’” (Lk. 4:3-4).  

	Mk 5,25
	© CMM-Mariannhill magnify

Thought for the day: We all have a hunger for lasting happiness. The temptation is to try to satisfy it immediately and in a way satisfying to the senses. We succumb to this temptation all too easily and don’t even notice that the hunger for happiness is a longing for God. Because many try to satisfy this hunger with created things, it becomes necessary to squeeze more and more pleasure from nature. This attempt is doomed to failure because the longing for happiness, which is natural to our hearts, can only be satisfied by God. What Jesus said to the Tempter holds for all of us, “Man does not live on bread alone.”

Therefore it is necessary to change our way of thinking. Again and again we must listen to the call to a simple life style. The Church never tires of showing us this every year in Lent. We have to jettison ballast so that our eyes will open to the right order and value of things. Frugality is called for. Only in this way can we arrive at a right treatment of creation and a life style that we need not be ashamed of before God.

Friedrich Cardinal Wetter