Sunday March 1st 2020 — First Sunday of Lent — Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 4, 1-11 — One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God"

Dear Christians, At the beginning of Lent, we follow the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, it is for us a privileged moment to help us turn more towards our salvation. It is always necessary to insist on the call, in this Lenten season, to conversion and to believe in the Gospel because these two concepts encompass the different efforts that we Christians must make.

Jesus, tempted but victorious, this is the message that today's Gospel delivers. It represents two facets of what we must live: man is tempted but also called to overcome this temptation because he is a Christian who has received the faith. This faith does not guarantee us salvation as long as it does not pass through the trials to judge its rootedness. The Lenten period is the ideal time to strive to overcome temptations following the example of what Jesus has already experienced and also overcome.

According to the account of Matthew, Jesus has just received the baptism. Led by the Spirit, He withdrew alone into the desert and fasted forty days and forty nights. For Jesus, it was a real retreat to prepare for the beginning of his mission. It was during this period that the demon tempted him. It is during this period that the devil tempted him. It was already for us a teaching that we may be led by the Spirit. Let us always be attentive to the Spirit that we received on the day of our baptism and which continually enlightens our conscience.

Jesus overcame temptations because the Spirit is always with Him. In our humanity, the devil always tempts us with material objects presented in a pleasant and attractive way. Without the grace of the Spirit, inevitably, we will always end up succumbing.

Humans are inseparable from temptation, moreover, the demon likes to trap us. According to St. Augustine, there is no victory without a fight. Wisdom is not to go into battle empty-handed and naked: let us take prayer as a shield, let us put on the Holy Spirit as armour, let us arm ourselves with the Word of God as a sword, and following the example of Jesus we will not succumb.