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First Sunday of Lent
First Reading: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7Background/ContextToday’s reading is the second story of creation in the Book of Genesis. Neither of these creation accounts should be taken literally. God guided the writers of these accounts so that peoples of all ages can understand what God is trying to tell them through these stories – the creation of man and man’s disobedience. MeaningMan was given the gift of love and the fullness of life when God created man in His image and surrounded him with all the things that he needed. God planned to take man into heaven with Him and the beautiful garden of Eden was only the beginning of His gifts. All that Adam and Eve had to do was to trust God to provide them with everything that is good for them. They should not take it upon themselves to know what is good and bad for them. The warning of death was not a warning of punishment but a fatherly warning: trust in My plans of love for you because you cannot live without Me. For apart from God, man will surely die. Yet Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, in effect telling God that although God created them and made them happy, God is withholding something good from them and that they will find it themselves since they are wise and powerful, too. Their feeling of nakedness after their disobedience was actually a feeling of powerlessness. Their shame was not because of their nakedness but because of their foolishness and ungratefulness. We blame Adam and Eve for our inheritance of sin, but we forget that we, too, repeat this disobedience over and over in our lives. We search for own happiness apart from God and even against His will. But instead of the endless happiness that the devil promised, our sins only resulted in suffering and misery for us and our fellow men. How to ProclaimIt should be read like a story. Emphasize the serpent's words in your proclamation. Make it sound cunningly attractive to become like Gods. In any case, tell the story as though you were an observer at the time of creation, one who has never heard of the story. Let the assembly share your amazement when you say," and so man became a living being," because you have seen nothing like this. The garden, as you describe it, should delight your listeners, and that they should almost taste the different foods that you are describing. When you describe the serpent, make him seem attractive but sound a little suspicious. The woman, in turn, should sound naive. Now the climax sounds deceptively simple but there is a great theological and psychological implication in , Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; Suddenly everything has changed for humankind. Make it sound momentous and tragic. Word Watch Genesis – DZHEHN-uh-sihs
Responsorial Psalm: BE MERCIFUL, O LORD, FOR WE HAVE SINNED!Like the Psalmist, let us ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness as we acknowledge and repent of our sins, the only way to restore our relationship with God, our Father.
Second Reading:Romans 5:12,17-19Message/Meaning of the ReadingDeath is the natural consequence of man’s sin since walking away from God meant walking away from the source of all life. We question God for allowing so much suffering and injustice, forgetting that WE brought these evils upon ourselves. Suffering and injustice are merely the result of our sins! But God will not let anything get in the way of His love for us. God sent His own Son to restore the life that we lost. With Adam’s disobedience we got death, but with Christ’s obedience, the superabundance of God’s grace took over. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, forgiveness was made available to all. Grace far outweighed the first sin! How to ProclaimContrast marks today's readings. Let's look at the challenging passages sentence by sentence and identifiy the contrasting elements. 1. The one man through whom sin and death entered the world is Adam. In turn, Christ will be described as the new Adam, founder of a renewed humanity. 2. Sin remained in the world, but there was no law to define or hold anyone accountable to it 3. The law, meaning the covenant of God struck with the Israelites was a good thing as it civilized the people. But no one could follow it completely so they were convicted of their sins by the law. 4. What is this gift that is unlike the transgression of Adam ? It is God's gracious gift of redemption given in Jesus. 5. How is this gift different from what prevailed after Adam's sin? One sin brought so many condemnations, but one deed brought many acquittals. 6. As the disobedience of Adam brought death, we now com to reign in love with Christ chesk As if to make sure that we understand these subtleties, Paul repeats himself in the last few sentences Word Watch Romans – ROH-muhns Adam – A-dəm Acquittal –ə-KWI-təl
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11Background/Context of the ReadingAfter his baptism and before he started preaching, Jesus went to the wilderness to prepare for his mission by praying and fasting for 40 days. The wilderness, or desert, is a place of solitude, fear and emptiness. Here, Jesus is shown to be totally human but able to resist sin and defeat Satan. Matthew presents Jesus as the faithful and obedient Son of God.
Message/Meaning of the ReadingIn the wilderness, Jesus was tempted to go against the plans of his Father, to save the world in a way different from the difficult path God planned The first temptation was to turn the stones to bread - to make food for himself instead of trusting God’s provisions. It is also a temptation to show the world that He is the Messiah by his power to provide for man’s material needs. Jesus’ second temptation was to throw himself from the parapet of the Temple and appear before the people in all power and glory so that they will right away hail him as the Messiah. His third temptation was to take yet another shortcut – to establish his Kingdom through power, fame and wealth. Not once did Jesus yield to these temptations of power, pride and glory. Satan was indeed crafty, suggesting that Jesus take the quick and painless path to fulfilling his Father’s mission. This was not the only time Jesus was tempted. But Jesus was faithful and obeyed his Father’s will to the end: save mankind by suffering and dying on the cross. As Paul explained in his letter to the Romans, because of Jesus’ obedience, we were reconciled to the Father. Forgiveness was made available to all - there is no sin that cannot be forgiven. During this season of Lent, let us pray that we may realize our foolishness and recognize the subtle ways the father of lies lure us to depart from God’s will. Let us pray that God will guide us back to Him, forgive our sins, and give us the strength to resist temptation. ReflectionsHow do I improve the quality of my prayer life? How do I resist temptations ? |
