1st Sunday of Lent-Cycle A-2017
FIRST READING Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being. Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
SECOND READING Romans 5:12-19
Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned — for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come. But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal. For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.
GOSPEL Matthew 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
My sisters and brothers in the Lord,
Lent! Once more we begin this time of year that we call “Lent.” It is a time of year when we reflect more on our sinfulness and the need for salvation and redemption. Today many people in our world no longer believe in God and no longer recognize that there is sin. People make mistakes but they don’t sin. The challenge of a world without God is no longer repentance but helping people not make mistakes.
Our Scriptures teach us clearly about sin. Sin is choosing that which separates us from God and from others. Sins can be serious or they can be minor. Our first reading today, from the Book of Genesis, gives us the story of how our ancestors saw sin come into the world. We call this first sin the original sin and that first sin is passed along to all of us so that we are born into a world already touched and marked by original sin. The teaching of this reading is clear: sin exists and touched our ancestors and touches all of us.
The second reading, from the Letter to the Romans, picks up this teaching and expands it a bit. The last bit of this second reading is what we need to hear, over and over: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.” We hear clearly that although we all suffer the consequences of sin, so also every one of us can share in salvation and redemption. Our ancestors all suffered under sin and had no way to salvation and redemption until the coming of Jesus Christ, who is our Lord.
The Gospel of Matthew that we hear today is about Christ in the desert. As Jesus begins His public life, the evil one, the devil, comes to try to seduce Him. Jesus has taken on our human life. Jesus had to fight temptation, just as we do. But Jesus never chooses sin and death. We do. But because Jesus chose life and the will of His Father, Jesus has broken the hold of sin and death on all of us and allowed us to become free from sin in Him.
Even at the beginning of Lent, we must keep our eyes focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is only the death and resurrection of our Lord which allows us to be saved. Our freedom from sin is a gift of Jesus to us. Jesus was willing to die for us so that we could have the power to live His life and also triumph over sin and death.
In Lent we try to strengthen our understanding of this mystery of salvation. We try to strengthen our bonds with Jesus the Lord. We practice penances of good works so that the love of Jesus overflows through us to others. Lent is a time to practice the hard discipline of love: love of God and love of others.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip