First Sunday of Lent 26 February 2012

“To make progress in the knowledge of Christ » This is very much the program of Lent, and for that to happen it is necessary to conform to a certain conversion of heart and at the outset to ask God for grace. The opening prayer invites us to this. And the Gospel situates this conversion in a profound and personal relationship with the Father, “who sees in secret.”

The second reading reveals all the meaning of our baptism, to live fully. It gives us the force to affront temptation as Jesus did in the desert. Baptized, we are called to walk behind Jesus on the road of Easter. In calling us to conversion, it is this that Jesus reveals.

My dearly beloved, now has come the time of Lent; in observing it faithfully we repair our past cowardice, we erase our negligence… At this hour which implies a service of the Lord which is a more attentive, behold we are engaged in a battle: prepare ourselves to care for our salvation. Listening to our Fathers

Because it is necessary to realize that the more we apply ourselves to care for our salvation, the more violent the attacks of the enemy will be. But He who is within us is stronger than our enemy; having faith in His power, and He will be strong. See how He has permitted Satan to tempt him because He was wishing not only to strengthen us with his help, but also to instruct us by his example. Saint Leo the Great (5th century) Sermon 39

G od wishes to make a covenant with humanity. The covenant with Noah included the cosmos. That which He make with Abraham will have dimensions, more and more universal until Christ comes.

Then, it will concern all people and his Easter will be the sign of it. But there will be many trials to endure. Today, we see Him “pushed by the Spirit into the desert:” forty days in the presence of God, but also with Satan who tempts Him…

The desert… It is the image of our life on earth. As before with the Hebrew in the desert, we encounter obstacles, we resent privation, we offer some resistance to God… But thanks to the presence of Jesus who is there to sustain us and guide us.

The desert is a call to rid ourselves of possessions, to return to the essentials, far from all that is superfluous to which we can become slaves – our possessions come to possess us.

Give us the grace to follow you Lord, to make us liberated from all that hinders that following. The desert is the place where, far from all, the heart is more free, more available to listen to God, to welcome His love and to respond to it: “I will lead my people to the desert and, there I will speak to her heart.” (Hosea 2:16)

During this time of grace of Lent, change our heart, Lord Jesus ! Fill it with your love for the Father and for all men, our brothers. Your ways, Lord, are love and truth for those who keep your covenant. (Psalm 24)