First Sunday of Lent 2025

Today, let’s take a moment to reflect on how Jesus was tempted in the desert — not to show us how superior He is in strength and self-discipline — but to comfort us with His presence as we face temptation. We read this story of Jesus’ temptations on the first Sunday of Lent, and we will hear on Good Friday that, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Lent is bookended with reminders that Jesus is no stranger to our struggles.

The devil is an ancient enemy whose tricks are old and tired. In today’s Gospel, we see common temptations mirrored in his taunts: the inclination to rely on ourselves and do it on our own, the desire for control and influence, and the constant, creeping doubt about whether or not God can be trusted to fulfill His promises.

None of it is easy to resist. None of it is new — even Jesus faced the same. And none of it is unique to us. We are not alone in being tempted to place our trust in anything and anyone outside of the good, good Father who loves us.

Let us move forward together with confidence as we embrace this season of prayer and repentance. May it be a new experience of allowing sin to become unattractive and dead in our eyes so our hearts can become more fully alive.

“The parables of Jesus reveal a God who is consistently overgenerous with His forgiveness and grace. He portrays God as the lender magnanimously canceling a debt, as the shepherd seeking a strayed sheep, as the judge hearing the prayer of the tax collector. In Jesus’ stories, divine forgiveness does not depend on our repentance or on our ability to love our enemies or on our doing heroic, virtuous deeds. God’s forgiveness depends only on the love out of which He fashioned the human race.” — Brennan Manning, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus

— Mary Chapman, Marketing Coordinator