February 22, 2026
I Sunday of Lent
Fr. Matteo Munari
Peace and good from Fr. Matteo Munari from the Convent of the Flagellation in Jerusalem.
In the Gospel of the First Sunday of Lent, A, we hear the account of the temptations according to Mt. After the baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the mountainous desert of Judea to be tempted. The Spirit leads Jesus, but the tempter is the devil. This means that in life temptation is seen by the Lord as a useful experience that helps us grow in fidelity, while by the devil it is seen as an opportunity to separate us from the heavenly Father in order to destroy us. Each of the temptations, in fact, through a subtle sarcasm, aims to destroy our relationship as children with the Father who is in heaven.
The first temptation plays sarcastically on the statement of John the Baptist addressed to the Pharisees and the Sadducees at the place of baptism, Mt 3,9 "And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father". For I tell you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The devil therefore means, if God can raise up children of Abraham from stones, the Son of God will at least be able to raise up bread from stones. Jesus’ response, Mt 4,4 "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God", Dt 8,3, means that it is God who decides what nourishes man, not satan who seeks to replace Him.
The second temptation ridicules the statement of John the Baptist, Mt 3,11 "He who comes after me is mightier than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals". John, the angel sent to prepare the way of the Lord, is not worthy to be a slave of Jesus. If therefore Jesus is clothed with such dignity, let him make himself known in the most frequented place of the Holy Land, let him come out of anonymity. The devil quotes Ps 91, which was used in exorcisms. The sarcasm therefore is this, let us see whether the Son of God is truly capable of resisting the temptation of popularity, through which many men lose themselves and sell their dignity. With his response, Dt 6,16, Jesus shows us the trap from which we must guard ourselves.
In the third temptation, satan seeks to totally destroy the relationship between the Son of God and the Father. He offers Jesus precisely what the Father had taken from Him in the self emptying of the Incarnation. Here the devil reveals his cards by showing that his main objective is to replace God. This is the way in which he ordinarily destroys human life through the temptation of riches and power. Once again Jesus helps us recognize the terrible bargain that is set before us. The universe belongs to God and the power of satan is only a temporary illusion. May the Lord help us to live Lent in the light of His word.
Amen.
