“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

If today’s readings make us feel a bit uneasy and uncomfortable, this is a good thing! I say ‘good’ because it means that the readings touched on some fundamental truths about us and about our world. The world we live in is not perfect because of sin. Original Sin.

Yes, we all are tempted and sin but there is good news for us. We have a savior, Jesus Christ! He showed us how to be truly human. He showed us how to resist temptation. The temptation of Jesus was not some kind of game – as a man, He was really tempted by Satan. He shows us that in order to resist temptation we must surrender ourselves to the Father. “Lord, nothing will happen today that you and I together cannot handle”, prayed St. John Henry Newman.

All three temptations from today’s Gospel are a variation of the same great temptation “not to love God with your all heart, mind, soul and might”. The basic temptation is our decision not to love God with an undivided heart, at the risk of life, at the cost of wealth.

The real temptation is to have it our way.

This Lent, be aware. Be more aware of the temptations that separate us from God and one another. Jesus tempted in the desert decided that God is in charge of his life and that he will do the will of God.

May God have it his way in our lives too.

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Lent Is The Serious Time of The Year

The three distinguishing marks of Lent are: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.

Often we ourselves may say: “Oh no, it’s Lent again. Give up something I like, when I don’t want to give up anything.” Many of us who grew up with brothers and sisters had to learn to give up something when we had to share our toys or clothes with younger siblings. We had to learn to share and practice self-denial. Self-denial hurts. Sacrifice hurts. However, we are called to become Saints.

When we read about the lives of the Saints, we often find that the Saints did daily what we might do only during the Season of Lent. When the Saints realized that to find joy and peace in their lives, they needed to become disciples of Jesus in a radical way. Through God’s grace, they discovered that God truly loved them, that Jesus became Incarnate for them, and suffered His Passion and Death for them, and He rose on the third day. They in turn fell in Love with Him, and there was no turning back. We read that the saints lived lives of prayer and self-denial, practiced the virtue of charity, often giving away their wealth to benefit the poor. They developed habits of heroic virtue and in imitation of Jesus, went off to a deserted place to pray, or spent time in prayer each day.

As we begin Lent, We have had to let Fr. Williams Abba go and we welcome Fr. Joseph Karikunnel, CST. Fr. Kilian, Fr. Joseph, Deacons and our great Parish Staff, Disciples and Volunteers.

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