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Dear Friend,
From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday is 40 days, the number of days Jesus had spent in the desert where the Holy Spirit led Him before He began His public ministry.
Please read the Gospel of this Sunday (Matthew 4:1-11) to your family which described this event. Discuss with them what happened in the desert. Then, lead them into prayer.
Let us remember that the events in the life of Jesus have meaning in our lives. First of all, how Jesus submitted to the Holy Spirit going into the desert and what took place in there -- how Jesus trusted the Holy Spirit.
Staying in the desert before His public ministry has a meaning – Jesus spent that whole time alone with the Father in the emptiness of the desert. That means He gave His full attention to the Father, fully submitting Himself to Him. It was a time to remember and to cherish everything He had learned with the Holy Family and in His youth. It was a time to reaffirm His love for the Father.
Jesus was at pinnacle of His relationship with the Father in the desert.
The Devil thought the desert had weakened His flesh. He was wrong and was sent away.
But the Devil can be right in trying this strategy with the people. A look around that time and now will confirm how people have succumbed to such temptations of "bread from stone" (getting something for nothing), of "throwing yourself down" (disregard for God’s creation), and of desiring for "all the kingdoms" in exchange for worship of the Devil (compromise).
The Devil knows man’s weaknesses and is succeeding in establishing the kingdom of death.
Jesus showed how to overcome the Devil by going into our own "desert" with the Holy Spirit.
This is the essence of Lent.
Meditation ~
I have invitations for both the kingdom of death and the kingdom of heaven.
I have to make a choice between these two.
The road to the kingdom of death is disguised to be wide and paved; whereas, the road to the kingdom of heaven is rough and full of sacrifices. It is a desert.
Many will take the former and be deceived. But I must open my eyes to the truth and trust the Holy Spirit
Contemplation ~
Imagine yourself with Jesus in the desert, the difficulties of the emptiness, the heat during the day and cold at night, the hunger that haunts you. But the Father is there with you and not feel these difficulties when your attention is with Him.
Will you be tempted to turn "stone into bread"?
Family Response ~
Talk about how each one would respond to the call of Lent. How will the family prepare for the forty days of Easter?
Joe & Charito
THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF MANILA'S
ONLINE RESOURCE FOR FAMILY MINISTRIES
www.simbahayan.org
servants@simbahayan.org
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