Today we observe the 1st Sunday of Lent. Each year the Liturgy of the Word at the beginning of the first week of Lent tells us about Jesus fasting in the desert. He spent 40 days there being tempted by the devil. In St. Luke’s account which we read this year, Jesus, responding to the devil’s second temptation stated: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him”. This response from Jesus reminds us of what we are to do first of all. Our priority is to serve the Lord, to give Him glory and praise. Other duties and responsibilities are secondary. If we try to change that order we always go astray. Today’s Gospel account helps us to refresh our minds and hearts in order to reset our priority.

The number of 40 is a symbolic number in Scripture and due to its biblical meaning the Church has chosen to observe the Lenten season for 40 days. In the Bible, the flood at the time of Noah lasted 40 days, Moses remained 40 days on the Mount of Sinai before he received the Ten Commandments (Decalogue), and the Prophet Elijah made a trip to the Mount of Horeb through 40 days. All of those biblical episodes were of great importance and served the people as a preparation time for the mission given them by God. The chosen people, by prayer, fasting, and sacrifice became capable of fulfilling the will of God. Yet, when we look carefully at the calendar, we may say that Lent does not last precisely 40 days because from March 2 nd (Ash Wednesday) to Easter Sunday (April 17 th ) there are 46 days. That mathematics is correct but according to the ancient Christian tradition the Church does not fast on Sundays because each Sunday is a feast of the Resurrection of the Lord. During Lent we have 6 Sundays, so deducting 6 from 46 gives us exactly 40.

God bless,
Fr. Peter