Texts taken from the Missal “On Your Word” March-April 2025
1st Sunday of Lent (C)
1st week, psalter
FIRST READING
From the Book of Deuteronomy (Dt 26:4-10)
Moses spoke to the people and said: “The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God, and you shall declare before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean; he went down to Egypt, lived there as a foreigner with few people, and there became a great, strong, and numerous nation. The Egyptians mistreated us, humiliated us, and imposed harsh slavery on us. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice, saw our humiliation, our misery, and our oppression; the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, spreading terror and working signs and wonders. He led us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Now, behold, I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.’ You shall set them down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.” – The word of God.
Commentary on the first reading
The first reading, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, presents the thanksgiving of the people who, having reached the promised land, praise God for what he has done for them: “My father was a wandering Aramean; he went down to Egypt, lived there as a foreigner… The Egyptians mistreated us… they imposed harsh slavery on us. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice… he brought us out of Egypt… He led us to this place and gave us this land.” The promised land, the text suggests, is therefore the destination of a journey that has involved dreams, slavery, the desert, trials, and difficulties. Yet one thing has never failed: the certainty that, even if the people have not been faithful, God has been faithful and has never abandoned his people. This certainty, founded on experience, has led and continues to lead the people to trust in the Lord and to say, in the words of the psalm: “Stay with us, Lord, in the hour of trial.” Lent is our journey toward the promised land, a more intense life with God.
SECOND READING
From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 10:8-13)
Brothers and sisters, what does [Mosè] say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith that we proclaim. For if you proclaim with your mouth: “Jesus is Lord!”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and so is justified, and with the mouth one makes the profession of faith and so is saved. Indeed, Scripture says: “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord is Lord of all, rich in mercy toward all who call on him. For: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the second reading
The desert of life, Saint Paul reminds us, calls us to cross it with the guidance and strength of the Word of God, which is not far from us: “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart… If you proclaim: ‘Jesus is Lord!’ and believe in your heart… you will be saved.” The exodus, from a life of slavery to a life of freedom, cannot be lived alone, nor can it be faced by relying solely on our own strength: Saint Paul reminds us that only a heart in love with God and trusting in him can win the difficult battle. During this season, the Church points us to prayer, fasting, and charity as “weapons” for facing the struggle of faith: “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame… Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Just as Moses led the people through the desert and encouraged them to trust in the Lord, so too let us allow ourselves to be guided by the living flame of the Gospel through this season, in order to arrive at a truer, more beautiful life. At the promised land.
GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to Luke (X Lk 4:1-13)
At that time, Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, departed from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. Then the devil said to him: “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him: “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” The devil led him up and showed him, in an instant, all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him: “I will give you all this authority and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him: “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve.’” Then he led him to Jerusalem, set him on the highest point of the temple, and said to him: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you’; and also: ‘They will carry you in their hands, so that your foot may not strike against a stone.’” Jesus answered him: “It has been said: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” After he had exhausted every temptation, the devil departed from him until the appointed time. – The Word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel
If on Wednesday we were reminded that the journey of life is marked by our natural human frailty, today, at the first stage of our Lenten journey, we are confronted with the struggles that await us and that Jesus has already won for us. Life does not allow us to remain neutral: Jesus defeated the devil by knowing how to say “no,” and so today he teaches us to do the same, so that we can train ourselves to say more decisive “yeses.” “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread… I will give you… authority… Throw yourself down… the angels will protect you.” Jesus replies: “Man shall not live on bread alone”; “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve”; “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” In the devil’s words we find condensed the three temptations that pass through the heart of people in every age: the temptation of bread, that is, of everything connected with “passion”; the temptation of glory, and therefore of power; and the temptation to appear, and therefore to focus on one’s own image. Jesus faced them and overcame them with the power of the Word of God. Like him, so must we.
