First Sunday of Lent
February 21, 2010
Sr. Phyllis Jaszkowiak
Reflections on the Word
Deut. 26:4-10; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-3

Many people are searching for jobs in our present economy. If you have ever applied for a job you know how challenging this can be. The applicant has to do some soul searching to see how she or he might fit the position and is often put through a battery of tests and interviews before being hired. This can leave one very vulnerable. This morning we find Jesus in a similar situation just before embarking on his public ministry.

Jesus, led by the Spirit, went into the desert for 40 days to contemplate what kind of a leader he would become. During these 40 days he confronted the demons within himself and the demons without. Three of these demons are named in this gospel – power, possessions, and prestige.

We all like to have power, to be in control of things, to be able to have the outcome be just as we would wish it. That is the demon Jesus faced when tempted to change the stones into bread. Why if he could do that, just think of the good he could do for folks, giving them their every need or want. But Jesus resists that temptation to control, and instead opts for freedom.

We all like to possess the best things in life, to have all the latest gadgets, the best technology can give us. And we like to be able to change these things when the newest version of something comes out. Jesus faces this demon of equating what we have with who we are, when he is offered all the kingdoms of the world. Again Jesus resists this temptation of possessions, and opts for accepting himself as who he is in himself.

We all like to be thought well of, to have others praise us. Jesus faces this demon of looking good when he is offered the chance to jump off the temple in full view of everyone and be carried away to safety by angels. Wouldn’t that be a sight everyone would ooh and aah over. Jesus resists this temptation of prestige, and opts for doing things as nature and God have set up.

Our theme for this Lent is “Our journey of unity through the Holy Spirit with an emphasis on ‘Our Baptismal call to unity and peace’”. Fr. in his homily on Ash Wednesday defined peace as the harmony, the completeness, the goodness and unity of creation as God created it. That’s the peace Jesus received in the desert.


After his baptism in the Jordan and his 40 days in the desert, Jesus could resist each of the temptations, become stronger in himself, and more able to meet the challenges of his ministry because he received the peace and non-violence of God. We, by our baptism, are all called to this same peace and non-violence.

When I was a novice, one of the things I did was to schedule the Sisters to read at Mass. About 3 months before she died, at age 96, Sr. Rita of Jesus came to me and said she wanted to read this certain day, and that it would be the last time she would read. The reading for that day was from Paul to the Philippians. Sister proclaimed this reading and I have never forgotten it.

Sister had her PhD in English and French, was an accomplished drama teacher, and was loved by her students. She had received many awards in her lifetime and was at the top of her profession. That day she proclaimed, “For Christ I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him.” That day Sister Rita of Jesus taught me what Christ learned in the desert. It is only through coming to know God and ourselves that we truly can be successful. It has taken a lifetime to understand this and to come a bit closer to this way of being and acting.

Because Sister had no need to control, or to puff up herself, or to put faith in things, she could be a great teacher. It is the authenticity of her life that attracted the students and helped them to learn. Because Jesus, too, had no need to control, or puff himself up, or own things, people were attracted to him. He treated them with respect, with love, with compassion. He acted in peace because he possessed inner peace.

Even when he disagreed with people, or argued with them, he did so in a manner that was always respectful. When they hurled things at him, or accused him of doing wrong, he could stand his ground and at the same time listen to what they had to say. He never put anyone down; although he sometimes told them they were wrong.

The forty days in the desert taught Jesus these lessons. In quiet, in solitude and in prayer he grew in self-knowledge and could then be about his baptismal ministry. As we learn these lessons, we too, can be about our baptismal ministry, a ministry of peace, love and compassion for everyone, a ministry of standing in the truth, proclaiming that truth and at the same time listening to the truth of others. It is in the listening and the speaking that our unity can come about. And the way of listening and speaking is the way of peace and non-violence.

Lent is a blessed time to explore this way of peace and non-violence. For now, let us go into the desert, together as a parish, to really “do” Lent this year. If we do hang in there for the whole 40 days, we will rise with Christ at Easter, individually and together as a parish. In this desert of Lent we will be tempted. And just as Jesus resisted the temptations he faced, we too can resist the temptations we will face. And through this resistance we can opt for a better way of living and acting, and will be able to respond to our baptismal call to unity and peace.

Let us “do” Lent well this year, and rise with Christ at Easter.