February 22, 2026 - First Sunday of Lent
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
The First Sunday of Lent always brings us back to the beginning. Before the disciplines of fasting and almsgiving take hold, before the journey toward the Cross intensifies, the Church invites us to look honestly at the human heart—its freedom, its fragility, and its deep need for grace.
The first reading (Gn 2:7–9; 3:1–7) tells the familiar and tragic story of humanity’s fall. Adam and Eve are placed in a garden overflowing with God’s generosity. They lack nothing. Yet the serpent’s temptation is subtle: it does not deny God’s existence but questions God’s goodness. “Did God really tell you…?” At its core, the first sin is not about eating forbidden fruit; it is about mistrust. Humanity chooses self-definition over relationship, autonomy over obedience. The immediate result is shame, fear, and alienation—from God, from one another, and even from themselves. Lent begins by naming this wound honestly, because healing can only begin where truth is spoken.
Saint Paul, (Rm 5:12–19) places Adam and Christ side by side. Where Adam’s disobedience brought sin and death into the world, Christ’s obedience opens the door to justification and life. Paul does not minimize the seriousness of sin, but he insists even more strongly on the superabundance of grace. This contrast is crucial for Lent. The season is not about proving our moral strength; it is about learning to rely again on grace. Sin may be powerful, but it is not ultimate. In Christ, God has decisively entered human weakness and transformed it from within.
The Gospel (Mt. 4. 1-11) shows Jesus entering the desert immediately after his baptism. Led by the Spirit, he faces temptation not in a garden of abundance but in a place of hunger, solitude, and testing. Each temptation echoes Israel’s failures—and Adam’s—but Jesus responds differently. He refuses to turn stones into bread, choosing trust over self-sufficiency. He rejects spectacle, choosing faith over manipulation. He refuses power gained by compromise, choosing worship of God alone. Where Adam grasped, Jesus surrendered. Where humanity failed to trust, Christ entrusted himself entirely to the Father. The desert becomes not a place of defeat but of decisive fidelity.
These readings remind us that Lent is not merely about personal improvement. It is about reclaiming our true identity in Christ. We live between garden and desert, between fall and redemption. Every temptation we face—toward control, comfort, or compromise—echoes these ancient stories. Yet Lent is ultimately hopeful. The same Spirit who led Jesus into the desert accompanies us now. The obedience of Christ is not just an example; it is a gift shared with us. As we begin this holy season, we are invited to trust again, to listen again, and to believe that grace is stronger than sin. The journey has begun. The outcome, in Christ, is already assured.
God bless everyone always!!!
Fr. Stan
