The Gospel message for Sunday, March 6th is from Luke 4:1-13.
“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. . .Jesus said to [the devil] 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.”
“Why would Jesus, immediately after being baptized, willingly enter the wilderness, only to be tempted by the devil? Jesus resists these temptations by taking the focus off himself and putting it on others, which we do when we do the things Jesus called us to do on Ash Wednesday: fasting, praying, and giving alms. No one can avoid the desert forever. Deserts of temptation, deserts of loneliness, deserts of pain – these deserts are an inevitable part of human life. Our faith in God enables us to face these times of stress, to look to the Lord for strength. We too need the Holy Spirit’s assistance to withstand the temptation, sadness, or desperation of our deserts.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Spring 2022
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105
Monday Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18; Matthew 25:31-46
Tuesday Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 6:7-15
Wednesday Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 11:29-32
Thursday Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Matthew 7:7-12
Friday Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:2-26
Saturday Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Matthew 5:43-48