Matthew 4:1-11: First Sunday of Lent A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. – C.S. Lewis,…
Time-Tested Bait – Willy Samson, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent Today is the first Sunday of Lent. We continue our 40 days of prayerful reflection and consideration of our struggles against the power of evil in our daily life. Like Jesus, we have our own bouts with evil and his temptations. With contrite heart, we do have our failures against…
The Devil Leaves No Stone Unturned – Johnny Go, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent In the desert our Lord Jesus undergoes three temptations. One of them seems out of place. One doesn’t seem to belong with the other two. Can you tell which one? Let’s review the three temptation. In the first temptation, our Lord is tempted to sate his hunger–a hunger that…
Thou Shalt Not – Rudolf Horst, SVD
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent A pilgrimage to the Holy Land brings us always to Jericho. The busses stop at the foot of a high mountain with a Greek Orthodox Monastery halfway up carved in the rock. But the people leaving the busses usually don’t look up to the monastery and the mountain but…
Anti-Power – Jett Villarin, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent The temptations in the desert reveal to us three very big powers at play in our lives and in the world today. As with many things diabolical, their pull to the dark side is quite subtle and surreptitious. On the surface, the promises offered by these temptations are not…
More! – Arnel Aquino, SJ
Matthew 4:1-11, First Sunday of Lent Many, many Roman-Catholics still take it for granted that the Adam and Eve story literally happened as it is narrated in Genesis. But if that were the case, we would run into many problems. First, if the whole human race issued from only two parents, then we would have…
The Length of Lent – Remmon Barbaza, PhD
With their foreheads marked with an ash cross, many Filipinos entered into the season of Lent. It is a long season. Indeed, we are told that the word “Lent” has its roots in “long,” with the Old English “lencten” meaning spring. We can make a guess and say that perhaps it has to do with…
Do Good for Lent
This daily calendar of good deeds to do for Lent may help you to celebrate the Lenten season more appropriately. Instead of just giving up something, let’s do something instead. From I am a Catholic by Heart FB page
My Private Room – Willy Samson, SJ
Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18, Ash Wednesday A confused disciple went to his master and begged for enlightenment. And the master said, “Go and sit in your room, and your room will teach you everything.” Today we officially begin the Season of Lent. For most of us, Lent is a time TO REMEMBER how Jesus, the Son…
Why do we sacrifice for Lent – Arnel Aquino, SJ
This is a bonus Lenten Special. Just want to share what my SD sent me on understanding why we sacrifice during Lent : My personal thoughts on taking on some measure of asceticism during Lent, Deb, is that all throughout the year, we protect ourselves from being vulnerable. And rightly so because we don’t wish…
Stop Worrying (for Lent and beyond) – Mark Aloysius, SJ
Matthew 6:24-34, Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time I. In just a few days time, we will enter the season of Lent. I’m sure that some of you, if not many, have given thought to what it is you will fast from this Lent. Perhaps some of you will give up some kind of food, kick…
What are your priorities? – Francis Alvarez, SJ
Matthew 6:24-34, Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time “Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them… Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all…
One Lost Sheep 