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The liturgical season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and runs until Holy Thursday night. Lent has a two fold character. It serves as a time for the immediate preparation of the catechumens and candidates who will enter the church at the Easter Vigil when they celebrate the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist). It also serves as a time for the rest of us to prepare ourselves, by penance, alms-giving and prayer to celebrate the Paschal Mystery and the renewal of our own baptismal promises at Easter. This double character actually speaks of two ways to describe the same journey. All of us, whether new catechumen or long time believer, are constantly being called to more complete conversion. God always calls us to approach Him more closely. During this time, the church invites us to spend time with Jesus, John the Baptist and the ancient prophets of Israel in the wilderness, listening to this call from God and reflecting on the mystery of redemption through the cross and resurrection of Jesus and on what it means for us today.

This weekend we celebrate the First Sunday of Lent. The readings this week call upon us to consider our statements of faith and how they help us to cope with the hardships and temptations that enter into all of our lives. Confessions of faith figure prominently in all the readings this week. Jesus uses them in His encounter with the devil in the gospel and the first reading provides a description of a confession of faith expressed in an action. The second reading provides an ancient baptismal confession to consider. This is a good time to reflect on my own beliefs and on how faithfully I uphold them in the way I live as well as on how they help us to cope with and respond to life.

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First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:4-10

4 The priest shall then receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the LORD, your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as an alien. But there he became a nation great, strong and numerous. 6 When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us, imposing hard labor upon us, 7 we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and he heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression. 8 He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders; 9 and bringing us into this country, he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. 10 Therefore, I have now brought you the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, O LORD, have given me.' And having set them before the LORD, your God, you shall bow down in his presence.

NOTES on First Reading:

* 26:5-7 This recitation follows a pattern common in the Deuteronomic Writer: oppression, cry for help, Divine action in response to prayer.

* 26:5 Aramean is used either in reference to the origin of the patriarchs from Aram Naharaim (See Genesis 24:10; 25:20; 28:5; 31:20,24), or possibly in the sense of "nomad" as it was sometimes used. See Jer 3:2.

* 26:10 The offering is in gratitude and recognition that God is the source of the good that has come their way.

Second Reading: Romans 10: 8-13

8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11 For the scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him. 13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 10:8 We are not asked to bring about an incarnation or a resurrection, only to believe and accept what has been brought about by God already. Paul adds an allusion to Ps 107:26 in his explanation of Deut 30:11-14 and substitutes "Christ" for the "word" of the Torah.

* 10:9 One must say the basic Christian confession of faith and mean it. Paul then states the basic belief of the early Palestinian Christian church: "Jesus is Lord." ( See 1 Cor12:3; Phil 2:11) Inward faith is required but there must none-the-less be some outward expression of the faith. This outward expression was frequently dangerous in the early days of the church.

*10:10 The relation between human uprightness and salvation to faith and the profession of it is expressed rhetorically. These are at their core different aspects of the one basic act of personal adherence to Christ and its effect. It is a mistake to overstress the difference between justification and salvation in Paul's thought.

* 10:11-13 These verses are based on Isa 28:16 which Paul has already used in this letter. Paul adds the word for "all" (pas) emphasizing universality of the application. Verses 12-13 carry out in more specific terms the universality expressed in v 11. Expressions from 1 Sam 12:17-18 and 2 Sam 22:7 as well as Joel 3:5 are used to point to Jesus in the role of the "Lord".

Gospel Reading: Luke 4: 1-13

1 Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert 2 for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" 5 Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. 6 The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. 7 All this will be yours, if you worship me." 8 Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.'" 9 Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,' 11 and: 'With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" 12 Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'" 13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

NOTES on Gospel:

* 4:1 Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit as a result of the descent of the Spirit upon him at his baptism (Luke 3:21-22). He was then equipped to overcome the devil. Just as the Spirit is prominent at this early stage of Jesus' ministry (Luke 4:1,14,18), so too it will be at the beginning of the period of the church in Acts (Acts 1:4; 2:4,17).

* 4:2 The mention of forty days recalls the forty years of the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites during the Exodus (Deut 8:2). Jesus goes into the desert and faces the temptations but unlike Adam and Israel He is faithful to God's plan. In the scriptures, forty is usually a symbolic number meaning a sufficient amount. Jesus was there as long as necessary. The fast of Jesus is not a penitential fast but a sign that He is filled with the Spirit and completely concerned with God rather than His own needs.

* 4:4 Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3.

* 4:8 Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:13.

* 4:9 Luke's gospel changes the order of the temptations so that they conclude on the parapet of the temple in Jerusalem which is the city of destiny in Luke-Acts. It is in Jerusalem that Jesus will ultimately end His journey (Luke 9:51; 13:33).

* 4:12 Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16.

* 4:13 Satan did not give up he simply waited for a time. In Luke's gospel the devil's opportune time occurs before the passion and death of Jesus (Luke 22:3,31-32,53).

 

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Scripture Study for:

09/12/10

09/19/10

09/26/10

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Scripture text: New American Bible with revised New Testament copyright © 1986,1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Commentary Sources:
  Vince Del Greco
  The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990) (Eds. Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy)