A New Presentation for Sunday's Liturgy

Temptation : Gratitude
(February 29, 2004 - 1st Sunday of Lent)

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This presentation is originally prepared in Spanish by Fr. Cristo Rey García Paredes, cmf. The original version,along with other very useful materials for pastoral agents and Christians in general can be found at: http://ciudadredonda.org

February 29, 2004 - First Sunday of Lent (C)

A. Jesus Went Through Our Temptations
B. With Jesus in the Desert

Readings:
Dt 26:4-10; Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13

Commentaries / Gospel Reflections from:
Sunday's Into Silence • Diario Biblico • Daily Gospel

Greeting (See Second Reading)

May the word of God be near you,
on your lips and in your heart.
May your lips confess here
that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
May his grace be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

A. Jesus Went Through Our Temptations

People of God, you who are tempted to let consumers' goods make you their slave and prisoner, Jesus refused to be fascinated by them and he wants us to hunger for people, for prayer and for God. People of God, you who are tempted to impress people and to control them, Jesus came to bring the power of love and he tells you to serve God in people. People of God, you who are tempted to create your own idols and to make yourself the center of the world, Jesus wants us with him to worship only God. With him who overcame our temptations we confidently enter this Lent.

B. With Jesus in the Desert

At our baptism, through our godparents, we said NO to Satan and his temptations before we said YES to the covenant of love, which God offered to us. There we joined Jesus in his NO to Satan and his temptations that tried to make him abandon his mission of restoring people to God's covenant love. During Lent we are challenged to make this YES and this NO come true. Like Jesus, are we willing to be faithful to our mission in life, to join Jesus in his NO to all evil and in his YES to God and neighbor and to our truest self?

Penitential Act

We welcome this Lent as a time
to seek conversion and reconciliation.
         (PAUSE)
Lord Jesus,
let your Spirit lead us into the desert
to recover the spirit of prayer:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ,
let your Spirit lead us into the desert
to rediscover our neighbor:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus,
let your Spirit lead us into the desert
to make us see again
what really matters in life:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Lord, in your loving kindness
forgive us all our sins
and make us new and alive.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to our living God
to turn our heart to him
         (PAUSE)
God, you want to be near to us,
you lead us with your Son Jesus
to the desert of questions and temptations
that you may speak to our heart
and bring us back to you in loving trust.
Open our eyes, our minds and our hearts
to discard all that leads us astray
and to look for you and for the plans you have
for us and for the world.
Let your Spirit give us the mentality of Jesus,
that we may seek your will in all we do
and serve you in our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Scripture Readings

First Reading Introduction: A People Saved by God
      Like the Jewish people, we must be convinced that it is God who makes us a free people: he is our Savior.

First Reading: Dt 26:4-10

Then the priest shall take the large basket from your hands and place it before the altar of Yahweh, your God, and you shall say these words before Yahweh, "My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt to find refuge there, while still few in number; but in that country, he became a great and powerful nation.

The Egyptians maltreated us, oppressed us and subjected us to harsh slavery. So we called to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, and Yahweh listened to us. He saw our humiliation, our hard labor and the oppression to which we were subjected. He brought us out of Egypt with a firm hand, manifesting his power with signs and awesome wonders. And he brought us here to give us this land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring and offer the firstfruits of the land which you, Yahweh, have given me."

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15

R. (cf. 15b) Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
say to the LORD, "My refuge and fortress,
my God in whom I trust."
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

No evil shall befall you,
nor shall affliction come near your tent,
For to his angels he has given command about you,
that they guard you in all your ways.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Upon their hands they shall bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the asp and the viper;
you shall trample down the lion and the dragon.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress;
I will deliver him and glorify him.
R. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Second Reading Introduction: Jesus Is Our Lord and Savior
      This is the faith that we profess and live: Jesus is our Lord and he alone is our Savior, whatever our race or nationality.

Second Reading: Rom 10:8-13

True righteousness coming from faith also says: The word of God is near you, on your lips and in your hearts. This is the message that we preach, and this is faith.

You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised him from the dead. By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved. For Scripture says: No one who believes in him will be ashamed. Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, who is very generous with whoever calls on him. Truly, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

Gospel Introduction: Jesus Remained Faithful to His Mission
      Jesus, God's Son, is the new human being who resisted the temptations of self-indulgence, power and trying to bend God to his will. We are called to follow him on his way of fidelity and responsible freedom.

Gospel Reading: Lk 4:1-13

Jesus was now full of Holy Spirit. As he returned from the Jordan, the Spirit led him into the desert where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during that time, and in the end he was hungry. The devil then said to him, "If you are son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread." But Jesus answered, "Scripture says: People cannot live on bread alone."
Then the devil took him up to a high place and showed him in a flash all the nations of the world. And he said to Jesus, "I can give you power over all the nations and their wealth will be yours, for power and wealth have been delivered to me and I give them to whom I wish. All this will be yours provided you worship me." But Jesus replied, "Scripture says: You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone."

Then the devil took him up to Jerusalem and set him on the highest wall of the Temple; and he said, "If you are son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: God will order his angels to take care of you and again: They will hold you in their hands, lest you hurt your foot on the stones." But Jesus replied, "It is written: You shall not challenge the Lord your God."
When the devil had exhausted every way of tempting Jesus he left him, to return another time.

Commentary

'TEMPTED', in the Scriptures, means 'put to the test'. Jesus was led (in Mark, driven) into the desert to be put to the test. For a start, the desert itself put him to the test. A desert gives you nothing to eat, it makes you feel utterly powerless, and it seems totally indifferent to your fate.

First a superficial interpretation. The three temptations of Jesus correspond to these three facts about deserts. He felt hungry, and when he looked at the stones he saw bread. (A Hindu poet who used to write a lot about the moon fell into great poverty, and whenever he looked at the moon now he saw only a chipatti!) Secondly, the feeling of powerlessness tempted Jesus to power, and thirdly the uncaring desert made him imagine God sending "his angel to care for you." All this may only mean that the devil has a feeling for place! At any rate, temptations are never just disembodied ideas.

A scholar says that Luke is thinking also of the Church when he describes this episode in the desert. The trials of Jesus are prolonged in his body the Church. It is the Church that is now in the desert, tempted by the devil. It is tempted to be only a material provider (in some instances providing just for itself); it is tempted to power, and it is tempted to what Italians call 'spettacolarismo'-pomp and show. The devil's sense of place and timing hasn't deserted him in the meantime.

At an individual level we can all look around us and investigate our particular temptations. They will be related to our own time and place, to the things nearest us, to our hungers, ambitions and fears. And they are not always obvious. The temptations of Jesus were not temptations to evil, but to limited kinds of goodness. How do you tempt a good person? With evil? No, he or she will not take that bait. You tempt them with goodness-but with some kind of short-term, self-defeating goodness. On this first Sunday of Lent the Church encourages us to look with clear sight at our temptations.

Read also Sundays Into Silence: Not Settling For Pleasure

General Intercessions

Let the Holy Spirit inspire our prayer as we bring before the Father the great needs of our brothers and sisters, of the Church and of the world. Let us say: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

- That the Lord may give us and all Christians a deep and strong faith, which we profess not only with our lips but which we also live in our deeds, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

- That we and all those caught up in material tasks and concerns may learn to seek other food than bread alone, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

- That we and all those who work to increase their influence and power may learn to seek the Lord and adore him alone, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

- That we and all those who are tried by temptations may remain faithful to God and answer his call to serve God and people, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

- That we and all those surrounded by suffering, injustice and illness may be made more sensitive by the Lord to the needs of people and love them more, let us pray: R/ Hear us, Lord, and have mercy.

Loving Father, you stood by your Son in his temptations. Sustain those who hope in you and keep them in your love, now and for ever. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

God of mercy and compassion,
we are aware of our weakness and our faults.
We bring before you these signs
of our good intentions and our will to change.
Let them empower us with the strength of Jesus
to give ourselves with him
to you and to one another.
Guide us by his Holy Spirit
on the humble way of conversion.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharist Prayer

Let us now with our hearts and voices give thanks to our Father that Jesus, suffering our temptations, overcame them and gives us the strength also to resist them.

Invitation to the Lord's Prayer

Let us pray in the words of Jesus
to our Father in heaven
to set us free from evil
and to stand by our side in days of trial: R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant us peace with you
and with one another.
When you test those who belong to you,
do not allow us to yield
to the seductive power of sin
but refine our loyalty and love
and strengthen us with the hopeful joy
that you will complete your victory in us
at the full coming
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus the Lord,
who was tested for our sake
and whom God raised from the dead.
If we believe in him
and eat his bread of life,
we are saved.
Happy are we to be invited
to eat from his table. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, our Father,
you have let us encounter here Jesus,
your Son, who had been tempted like us,
and Jesus has refreshed our courage
by his word, his example and his body.
By the strength of the food of the eucharist
lead us on our journey of forty days
and take us to the mountain of Easter,
that we may share in his risen power
as people renewed to love and trust you more
and to serve better our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

It is good for us to know
that Someone before us
has successfully faced the illusions
and the misleading attractions
of a world estranged from God.
With him we can overcome,
we can make a strong choice
for God, for people, and for our better selves.
Let us go Christ's way,
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Be guided by the Holy Spirit
on the road of conversion and renewal. R/ Thanks be to God.

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Additional Resource Material for this Sunday

Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today"s gospel.

Beneath the Desert Sun
(Lk 4:1-13)

(taken from the book A Certain Jesus, Vol. 1)
Click here for other Readings --> Index of A Certain Jesus