FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
February 26, 2023

“I have let myself be deceived.” What is the most important word in that sentence? “I” I have let it happen again.
In fact, as we begin Lent, it is important to remind ourselves how important the word “I” or “my” is for the salvation of our soul:
            Confiteor: I confess…I have sinned – I have done – I have failed to do..through my fault (3 times), why? In the Bible, 3 equals absolute. This is a recognition that my own fault is absolute. It means I have no one else to blame for my sin but myself.

Lent is a time to ask the questions: What have I done? Can I make amends? What am I doing?
Yes, it is not an easy program, but neither is the true practice of our faith. We too will be tempted like Adam and Eve.
Adam’s temptation was reversed by Jesus temptation. So, also with Jesus’ example we can resist the tempter and reverse the damage.

What does Jesus teach us? He teaches us the value of denial. The law of habit is as present in the moral order as the law of gravity is in the physical order. The will answers the gravitational pull of habit. A bad will can be turned into a good will only by repeated denial of its demands.

Jesus also teaches us to train our minds (our thoughts). St. Augustine once wrote that a man is what he thinks. That is to say, we choose the furniture of our minds, and live with it. Our deliberate thoughts are our possessions. But we can control our thoughts. By applying the right kind of discipline to our thoughts, a man can change his whole character and his whole life.

Lastly, the mind must be fed, or the faculty of thought will atrophy (dry up). We feed our minds with the right kind of ideas and processes. St. Francis de Sales said when we choose material for spiritual reading, we should always prefer the authors whose name begins with an S – he meant of course, the Saints.

We are at the beginning of Lent – a time of penance, purification, and conversion. Yes, it is not an easy program but then Catholicism is not an easy way of life.

To die to self so as to rise with Christ.