Welcome and Opening Prayer:
Lord, we place ourselves in your presence. Send us your Spirit to enlighten our minds and open our hearts to your word. We know Jesus is with us, because we are gathered in his name, and he tells us “…where two or three are gathered in my name I am there among them.”
We invite our holy mother Mary the Seat of Wisdom to be part of our sharing as we say … ‘Hail Mary ….’
We invoke the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit in all that we do as we say … ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.’
1st Reading of Scripture Passage: Gospel – Matthew 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply,
“It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan!
It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
Silence (3 minutes)
2nd Reading of Scripture Passage
Silence (3 minutes) then sharing of word, phrase or image that left an impression on you.
3rd Reading of Scripture Passage
Silence (3 Minutes) followed by short and voluntary sharing of what stood out for you personally in the reading
Reading of Short Commentary:
The first [temptation of Christ] had to do with knowing what is most important in life – obeying the word of God and not living only to satisfy the flesh, or making a living, or using spiritual resources just to meet physical needs. Living by obedience to God has fallen on hard times today when so many are only interested in security of life through investments and entitlements, or indulging themselves in the good things of life. Seeking the good life can truly crowd out the spiritual things.
The second temptation had to do with trusting God. Those who truly know God and experience the reality of their faith daily do not need to find something spectacular to convince themselves and others. Today there is a growing pre-occupation with miraculous signs. Now God will do miraculous things – when He chooses to do them. But if people seek the spectacular in order to believe, or to convince themselves of the faith, it betrays a week faith. Remember how in the vision of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus in their rewards, and the rich man asked Abraham for Lazarus to be sent to his family to warn them, thinking that they would believe if one came back from the dead? The answer was, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets [Scripture], they will not be convinced even if one rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).
The third temptation had to do with fulfilling the commission or plan of God with a shortcut, not doing God’s way. This is the common temptation to avoid the means to get to the ends, or as is said, the end justifies the means. But with God there is a way to accomplish His plan for your life, and it calls for absolute devotion and obedience to Him. But Satan always offers shortcuts, that if looked at carefully, will ruin your life.
So there are a number of very useful lessons that can be drawn from this account. These should start your thinking. You can probably meditate on these for a while and find other examples of how the temptations would work in life, and how knowing what God wants would prevent them. The bottom line is that Jesus demonstrated for us how to achieve victory over temptation. In other words, we do not have to sin. There are ways to spiritual success, if we are willing to take them. (Allen Ross – Bible.org)
Discussion: Discuss for a few minutes any point that struck you from the commentary? How do we put the word of God that we have heard into practice? Is there something we can do individually or collectively? Are we doing something that could be done better? Are there attitudes that need to change?
Prayers of Intercession – Choose any 4/5 of the following prayers and, if possible, include your own prayers and petitions:
1. We pray for the Archdiocese of Armagh as we journey through this Year of Reflection and Prayer together. May our prayer help and guide us as we begin our process of planning for the difficult and challenging years ahead and may the Holy Spirit enlighten us on how we should move forward. Lord, hear us.
2. We pray for those who carry a cross of pain and anguish today – Lord, grant them patience and courage. Lord, hear us.
3. God of all kindness, bless your church - make your people faithful to you. Lord, hear us.
4. Judge of the living and the dead, be merciful to all our deceased family, friends and neighbours; especially N. and N., and receive them into eternal joy. Lord, hear us.
5. Lord remember us as we begin our work, that we work in harmony with you, with others and with our environment. Lord, hear us.
6. May we always do what is right for our brothers and sisters - and together build a world that is pleasing to you. Lord, hear us.
7. Lord, our refuge and strength listen to our praise at the conclusion of this day - teach us to praise you always. Lord, hear us.
8. Lord help us to remember the poor and unfortunate - may we do what we can to ease their burden. Lord, hear us.
9. By the resurrection of your Son, you have enlightened the world - give us new hope this day. Lord, hear us.
Now we offer all our prayers to God our Father as we pray in the Words that Jesus Gave us … ‘Our Father…’
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions in our homes, our communities and in this diocese. Grant us the strength to practice in our lives what your Word has revealed to us. Through you who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God forever and ever. Amen.
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