Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Sunday,
9 March 2014 - Catholic Meditations
Meditations: Matthew 4: Matthew 4: Then
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3
The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that
these stones become bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth
of God.’”[a]
5 Then the devil took him into the holy
city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are
the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels
in charge of you.’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”[b]
7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is
written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”[c]
8 Again, the devil took him to an
exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and
their glory. 9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you
will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind
me,[d] Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you
shall serve him only.’” [e]
11 Then the devil left him, and behold,
angels came and served him.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3
b. Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11-12
c. Matthew 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16
d. Matthew 4:10 TR and NU read “Go away”
instead of “Get behind me”
e. Matthew 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13
1st Sunday of Lent
If you are the Son of God … (Matthew 4:3)
Imagine if Jesus came up to you today,
embraced you, and said, “You are my greatest treasure!” Wouldn’t you be shocked
and speechless? Well, during this Lenten season, you will have numerous
opportunities for this to happen. Day after day, in prayer and in the
Scriptures, you will have the chance to let Jesus show you your true dignity
and identity as his beloved brother or sister.
In today’s Gospel, we read how Satan
tried to get Jesus to question his identity. He prefaced his temptations by
saying, “If you are the Son of God …” He knew that if Jesus became unsure of
his Father’s love and wisdom, it was much more likely that he would walk away
from the plan God had laid out for him. But Satan’s plan didn’t work. Jesus
knew who he was, and he clung to the word of God so that he could stay focused
on his Father.
God wants you to stand firm on the truth
just as Jesus did. He wants to convince you that you belong to him. He wants to
make it clear that he is completely committed to you. It sounds easy, doesn’t it?
But we all can point to ways that the devil tries to knock us off our
foundation in Christ. There seems to be no end to his attempts to discourage us
and trap us in our fears and weaknesses so that we won’t bother to pray.
When these temptations come, follow
Jesus’ example, and hold on to Scripture. You are God’s child, born of the
incorruptible seed of his own word (1 Peter 1:23). You are part of a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (2:9). You have been made alive
with Jesus (Ephesians 2:5) and set free from the law of sin and death (Romans
8:2). Your heavenly Father will supply all your needs out of the riches of his
own glory (Philippians 4:19).
There are so many promises. Hold on to
them! Believe them—and watch the devil flee!
“Thank you, Lord, for claiming me as your
own!” Amen!
(Genesis 2: 7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 Yahweh God
planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had
formed. 9 Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant
to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of
the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than
any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has
God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may
eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not the fruit of the tree which
is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You
shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You
won’t surely die, 5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to
be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave
some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7 Their eyes were opened, and
they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made
coverings for themselves.
Psalm 51: 3 For I
know my transgressions.
My sin is constantly before me.
4 Against you, and you only, have I
sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight;
that you may be proved right when you
speak,
and justified when you judge.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward
parts.
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
12 Restore to me the joy of your
salvation.
Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your
ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Romans 5: 12
Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin;
and so death passed to all men, because all sinned. 13 For until the law, sin
was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless
death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like
Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come. 15 But the
free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many
died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man,
Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 The gift is not as through one who sinned:
for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many
trespasses to justification. 17 For if by the trespass of the one, death
reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of
grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus
Christ. 18 So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so
through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. 19 For as
through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the
obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
Questions for Reflection or Group
Discussion:
(Genesis 2: 7 Yahweh God formed man from
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul. 8 Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and
there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground Yahweh God made
every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including
the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than
any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has
God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may
eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not the fruit of the tree which
is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You
shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You
won’t surely die, 5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to
be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave
some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7 Their eyes were opened, and
they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made
coverings for themselves.
Psalm 51: 3 For I know my transgressions.
My sin is constantly before me.
4 Against you, and you only, have I
sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight;
that you may be proved right when you
speak,
and justified when you judge.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward
parts.
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
12 Restore to me the joy of your
salvation.
Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your
ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Romans 5: 12 Therefore as sin entered
into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to
all men, because all sinned. 13 For until the law, sin was in the world; but
sin is not charged when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from
Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience,
who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come. 15 But the free gift isn’t like
the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the
grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to
the many. 16 The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came
by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to
justification. 17 For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the
one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift
of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 18 So then as
through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of
righteousness, all men were justified to life. 19 For as through the one man’s
disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one,
many will be made righteous.
Matthew 4: Then Jesus was led up by the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 When he had fasted
forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3 The tempter came and
said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become
bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth
of God.’”[a]
5 Then the devil took him into the holy
city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are
the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels
in charge of you.’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”[b]
7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is
written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”[c]
8 Again, the devil took him to an
exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and
their glory. 9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you
will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind
me,[d] Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you
shall serve him only.’” [e]
11 Then the devil left him, and behold,
angels came and served him.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3
b. Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11-12
c. Matthew 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16
d. Matthew 4:10 TR and NU read “Go away”
instead of “Get behind me”
e. Matthew 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13)
1. As we begin Lent this year the Church,
in its first reading, takes us back to the origin of sin in the world, and the
temptation we are still part of today: to “be like gods.” In what ways are
there still areas in your life where you believe you really know what’s best
and, thus, struggle to entrust these areas to God’s providential care?
2. In the responsorial psalm, David’s
great prayer of repentance, he cries out, “A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me” (Psalm 51:12). What do you think this
means? Where in your relationship with God could you use a more “steadfast
spirit”?
3. In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul
tells us that through Jesus Christ “acquittal and life came to all.” All of us
have been reconciled to God through “the gracious gift of the one man Jesus
Christ.” And what is this gift we have received? It is “the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification.” What steps can you take this Lent to receive
more fully these wonderful gifts?
4. In the Gospel, Christ uses the power
of the “word of God” - the Scriptures - to defeat Satan’s temptations. During
this Lent, what commitment are you prepared to make regarding your prayer time
and Scripture reading? Are you willing to be accountable to someone for this
commitment? If not, why not?
5. The meditation reminds us that when
temptations come, we need to remember who we are in Christ and to use
Scriptures “to stand firm on the truth just as Jesus did” and: “follow Jesus’
example and hold on to Scripture.” It goes on to provide some examples from
Scripture of the “truths” of who we are in Christ. How would you describe these
truths? How often do you turn to the Lord and to the truths of Scripture when
you are tempted to sin? During the upcoming weeks of Lent, make a greater
effort to turn to the Lord during times of temptation and ask for the power of
his “Word” and the power of the Cross to overcome them.
6. Take some time to pray and ask the
Lord for the grace and the strength to say no to the temptations that come at
you during the day. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting
point.
“Thank you, Lord, for claiming me as your
own!” Amen!
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