Posted on marzo 6, 2026 View all Gospel Reflection
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” (Ash Weds. Liturgy)
As we embark upon the season of Lent, it is a great journey that marks the path towards salvation. It is very fitting that our first reading starts with the account in Genesis of the creation of man and woman. From these humble beginnings as dust, God formed us into His image and likeness. He breathed life into us and set all of creation before us. But he said that we should not touch the tree in the middle of the garden.
God gave them the freedom to choose to obey and to love. Without freedom, love is impossible. But with this freedom comes the responsibility to act correctly. Unfortunately, through the pride and envy of the serpent, whom God had cast out of heaven due to his disobedience, Eve was tempted.
In Lent we have the opportunity to reflect on temptation. Temptation only happens with things that are attractive. No one is tempted to eat pizza if they hate pizza (not that such a person would ever exist!). In today’s Gospel we see the devil tempting Jesus after his fast of forty days and forty nights. He tempted Jesus with things that are reasonable. He tempted him with food, with glory and with dominion over the earth. All of these Jesus was entitled to receive. But all according to the right time and place. It was not at the cost of bowing down before the devil.
“The Lord you God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:10) Lent is an opportunity to take stock of those things that occupy our time and attention. Fasting and abstinence are opportunities to give up something and then in turn put in its place something better. So, for example if we give up social media, we should not replace that with TV shows or Netflix. It is better to put in its place something like prayer, conversation with others in your household, helping others in your home or community (even if it not your responsibility).
These actions all lead us to follow the footsteps of Christ. As we allow ourselves to be united with Christ in his sacrificial path towards the cross, we unite ourselves to him in his glory on Easter Day.
As St. Paul reminds us, Jesus came to restore us back into union with God. That union which was broken by the original sin of Adam and Eve, is now restored by the obedience of Jesus Christ and his death and sacrifice on the Cross. For “the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ” is what “makes just” our relationship with God. It is more than just forgiveness. It is an ontological change of our relationship with God. The sacrifices and practices of Lent, assist us to nurture this change and help us to more fully embrace it in the same way that Jesus Christ embraced the wood of the cross for our eternal salvation.
May this Lent begin a renewed journey towards our personal salvation in the same way that it recalls for us the journey of Christ for the salvation of the entire world.
