1St Sunday of Lent 2026 -

Brothers and sisters in Christ,
As we begin our Lenten journey on this First Sunday of Lent, Year A, the Church places before us two distinct places and two very different responses to temptation...

In the first reading from the Book of Genesis (NAB), we stand in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, surrounded by abundance. God has asked only one thing of them; placed one boundary, one act of trust. It is here the serpent whispers doubt into their hearts: “Did God really say…?” and when Eve repeats God's warning, the serpent interjects whispering the oldest lie in human history: "You certainly will not die. God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods." Temptation begins not with fruit, but with distrust. The evil one plants suspicion about God’s goodness and they looked away from God’s generosity and turned toward what they lacked. They grasped for something forbidden, believing the lie that God was holding something back. In that moment of desire and distrust, sin entered the world, and humanity’s friendship with God was wounded.

Now fast forward to the Gospel of Matthew. We find ourselves not in a lush garden, but in a barren desert. Jesus has been fasting for forty days and forty nights. He is hungry: genuinely, physically, humanly hungry and it is here  the same ancient tempter comes, now more sophisticated, more audacious, even quoting Scripture to make his case.  Three times the devil comes. Three times he targets something real — hunger, security, power. And three times, Jesus does something Adam and Eve failed to do. He stands firm. He answers with the Word of God. "It is written… It is also written… Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve."

And what does this mean for us, today, as we begin Lent?
First, Lent is our desert. The Church gives us forty days for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, not as punishment, but as training. We have to learn to respond like Christ instead of reacting like Adam. Every temptation we face follows the same pattern: A whisper of doubt, an appeal to appetite or pride, ​an invitation to take control instead of trusting God. Perhaps for us it is: “You deserve this” or “Just this once won’t matter” or “I know God really wants me to be happy”. But where Adam and Eve listened to the wrong voice, Jesus teaches us to listen to the Father.  

Secondly I want you to take note of something: Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert. Do not think the desert is a sign that God has abandoned us. Sometimes it is exactly where God forms us. See Hosea 2:16-25. Some of you may already be in a desert: struggling in marriage, with finances, with health, with faith. Lent reminds us that temptation and trial are not signs of failure. They are opportunities for fidelity.  

The difference between Eden and the desert is obedience: Adam reached for what was not given, Jesus received what the Father willed. So how do we begin this Lent differently?

1. We fast (give up something) — not just from food, but from self-reliance.
2. We pray (take up something) — so we know God’s voice when the tempter whispers.
3. We give (share something) — breaking the grip of selfishness.

Brothers and sisters, temptation is not sin: giving in is. Jesus shows us that with God’s grace, resistance is possible, so Lent is not about proving our strength. It is about depending on Christ’s victory. The One who stood firm in the desert now stands with us in ours. If we walk with Christ through the desert of Lent, we will walk with Him into the joy of Easter.

May this Lent make us less like the first Adam, and more like Christ, the new Adam, who restores what was lost.

Peace,

Deacon Michel