Catholic TV Mass Online March 09, 2025: First Sunday of Lent

Presider: Fr. Justin Lopina Parish: St. Joseph Text from the Gospel and Homily The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, o Lord. Filled with the holy spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, one does not live on bread alone." Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me." Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written, you shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve." Then he led him up to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple and said to him, "If you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you and: with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone." Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test." When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time. The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ. So once again here we are, first Sunday of Lent. Always a good time of the year. And right off the bat, a basic reminder it is not too late to take on a Lenten sacrifice of some sort. Lent is 40 days of suffrage there are 36 days left. It's not too late. You have plenty of time to adequately prepare yourself for Easter. And on that note what I have for you for a reflection for this Sunday is this notion of "roughing it" for 40 days, is a major part of our faith tradition. It goes all the way back to the Pentateuch. The Hebrews, who would very soon become known as the Israelites, were tried and tested in the wilderness for 40 years. They did that because they needed to be purified and prepared for the promised land after their slavery in Egypt. Many, many, many, many, years later Jesus echoes that experience with 40 days being tempted, tried, and tested in the wilderness. I'm sure he would have done 40 years, but he didn't have that kind of time. 40 years goes to 40 days, but still the idea is the same. Jesus is preparing himself and purifying himself for his earthly ministry. I'll remind you, the temptation in the desert is what Jesus does immediately after his baptism. So for us today, we echo the experience of Jesus. We don't literally go into the wilderness, but for 40 days we "rough it" with prayer, fasting, and alms giving. So for 40 days, we mortify our flesh, we deny ourselves a creature comfort or something along those lines, we try to be more charitable, alms giving, and with prayer we tend to our spiritual relationship with Jesus a little bit better than for the rest of the year. And we do that for 40 days, which in sacred scriptures is symbolic of a long time. And that's appropriate. Before something momentous and important entering the promised land, beginning your earthly ministry, preparing for Easter, it is appropriate that we prepare ourselves for a long time to show proper reverence for that and we express a long time in our faith tradition by something lasting 40 days. So for this Lent, I wish you a season that is holy and effective, regardless of what metaphorical wilderness you happen to be wandering in throughout these 40 days. Entrance: A Place At Your Table © 2015, Ben Walther. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved. Psalm 91: Be With Me Lord Text: Psalm 91:1–2, 10–11, 12–13; Sarah Hart and Curtis Stephan, © 2004; refrain trans., © 1969, ICEL Music: Sarah Hart and Curtis Stephan; acc. by Peter Quint, © 2004, Sarah Hart and Curtis Stephan Published by Spirit & Song, a division of OCP. Preparation: Drawn To You © 2019, 2020, Sarah Hart. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved Communion: The Feast Meant For Everyone © 2019, Tom Booth and Sarah Hart. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved Sending Forth: Holy God We Praise Thy Name Text: 78 78 77 with repeat; Te Deum laudamus; attr. to St. Nicetas, ca. 335–414; Grosser Gott, wir loben dich; tr. ascr. to Ignaz Franz, 1719–1790; tr. by Clarence A. Walworth, 1820–1900. Music: Allgemeines Katholisches Gesangbuch, Vienna, ca. 1774. Mass Setting: Mass of St. Mary Magdalene Text © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Music © 2018, Sarah Hart. Published by OCP. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591. www.HeartoftheNation.org www.HeartoftheNation.org