First Sunday of Lent - Cycle A

Celebrant: As Christians, we place our trust in God alone. Mindful of His care for us, we now pray with confidence.

Deacon/Lector:

That the Gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ may reach every person on earth, we pray to the Lord...

That world leaders may never be deceived by the empty promises of power and earthly glory, but rather may keep their hearts focused on God, we pray to the Lord...

That all may reject the temptation to "be like gods" who have mastery over human life, and instead may accept and reverence life as a supreme gift of the Creator, we pray to the Lord...

That this Lenten season may bring grace to our friends and relatives who no longer practice their faith, and that they may return, we pray to the Lord...

For the poor and homeless, the unemployed and forgotten, and all the oppressed, we pray to the Lord...

For the sick and dying, and for all who have been called from this life, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

Father,
Your Son Jesus showed us
how to reject temptation.
Fill us with grace to be faithful to You
In this Lenten season and throughout life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

“You Shall Be Like Gods”

This original temptation, outlined in the first reading, was a promise that what was right and what was wrong would be up to us; that we could write our own moral law. That’s what the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” meant, and why Adam and Eve couldn’t eat from it. We are all called to know good from evil, but not to decide it. To think we decide it is the error of the “pro-choice” mindset. “It’s all up to me and my choice, even if it means killing a baby.” In the culture of life, on the other hand, we live in the freedom of the children of God, and pattern our lives on the obedience of Jesus that leads to life eternal.

Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Rom 5:12-19 or 5:12, 17-19
Mt 4:1-11

Watch a video with homily hints

Today’s readings, in the powerful context of the beginning of Lent, reinforce the fact that God is Lord of our choices, and that freedom is found in obedience. This strikes at the heart of the culture of death, which puts choice above life and holds that a choice is validated not so much by what is chosen as by the fact that it is being chosen.

This original temptation, outlined in the first reading, was a promise that what was right and what was wrong would be up to us; that we could write our own moral law. That’s what the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” meant, and why Adam and Eve couldn’t eat from it. We are all called to know good from evil, but not to decide it. To think we decide it is the error of the “pro-choice” mindset. “It’s all up to me and my choice, even if it means killing a baby.”

The obedience of Jesus Christ, exemplified in the Gospel passage and identified in the second reading as the source of our redemption, is the foundation for the culture of life and the pattern for each believer to live that culture. Obedience does not mean a slavish following of rules. It means a free embrace of what is true and good – free because one is no longer swayed to do what is wrong despite one’s best intentions.

In that sense, the Church, and the pro-life movement, are the true promoters and defenders of “freedom of choice,” because they provide the grace and the tools to do what is right. The majority of the efforts of the pro-life movement are directed to providing alternatives to abortion, concrete help to enable people to choose what is right.