FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT, February 22, 2026
(Genesis 2:7–9; 3:1–7; Romans 5:12–19; Matthew 4:1–11)
We have begun the long journey of Lent. To help us make good
use of these forty days, the Church offers us some of the most profound
readings in the entire Bible. We know them well, yet they are always worth
revisiting.
It is often said that the story of Adam and Eve describes
the first sin. This is true, but it also describes every human sin. At the root
of all human sin lies the pride of the first human beings. We sin whenever we
consider our own will more important than the will of God. In this story, the
serpent tempts the woman with the promise that if they eat from the fruit of
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they will be like God. By rejecting
God’s command not to eat from that tree, both eat the fruit. Every time we sin,
we do the same thing: we reject God’s will to satisfy our own desires.
We say “we,” but we should not include Jesus Christ in that
statement. Although Jesus shares our human nature, he never placed his own will
above the will of God the Father. In today’s Gospel, we see him overcome pride
in each of the three temptations presented to him by Satan.
In the first temptation, Jesus is in the desert suffering
intense hunger. Satan urges him to satisfy his desire by turning stones into
bread. Jesus, however, recognizes that doing so would disappoint his Father. He
decides that satisfying his hunger is not worth displeasing God, and he rejects
the temptation. We can place ourselves in Jesus’ sandals. If, after working all
Sunday and missing morning Mass, would we choose to attend Mass in the evening
instead of immediately satisfying our hunger?
Then Satan tries to test Jesus’ relationship with his
Father. He suggests that Jesus perform a reckless act to see whether God will
save him from death despite his foolishness. Jesus has no difficulty rejecting
this challenge because he knows that God’s love for him—and for all—is
infinite. But beyond the question of paternal love, Jesus knows that he must do
things in God’s way, not his own. We might ask ourselves: when faced with a
difficulty, are we ready to handle it in God’s way? Or do we insist on doing
things our way while assuming that God will forgive us later?
Finally, Jesus is tempted with power over the world. It is
easy to imagine how appealing this temptation is to pride. All Jesus would have
to do is perform an act of adoration to Satan to gain control of everything.
But Jesus recognizes the stench of deceit. Satan is the father of lie. Furthermore, Jesus did not come to earth to
serve himself—much less to worship the devil. He came solely to serve his
Father.
In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of “the overflowing
grace that makes us righteous.” This is the grace that flows from Jesus Christ.
He twice conquered the pride of the first human beings that brought death to
all. First, he overcame the three temptations in the desert. Then, he
definitively overcame human pride on Calvary. To benefit from this overflowing
grace, we must live in relationship with him. Here, in the Eucharist, he offers
us his Body and Blood as our strength. He does not abandon us when we go out to
face life’s challenges. Rather, he walks
with us so that nothing may cause us to stumble. With him at our side, we
trample pride underfoot and pass from death to eternal life with God.
