"Scripture says:

People cannot live on bread alone."

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Deuteronomy  26-10

 Then the priest shall take the large basket

From your hands and place it before the altar of Yahweh, your God, and you shall say these words before Yahweh, “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt to find refuge there, while still few in number; but in that country, he became a great and powerful nation.

 The Egyptians maltreated us, oppressed us and subjected us to harsh slavery.   So we called to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, and Yahweh listened to us. He saw our humiliation, our hard labor and the oppression to which we were subjected.  

 He brought us out of Egypt with a firm hand, manifesting his power with signs and awesome wonders.   And he brought us here to give us this land flowing with milk and honey.  So now I bring and offer the firstfruits of the land which you, Yahweh, have given me.”

 

Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15

Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Romans 10:8-13

True righteousness coming from faith also says: The word of God is near you, on your lips and in your hearts. This is the message that we preach, and this is faith.

 You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised him from the dead.   By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved.  

 For Scripture says: No one who believes in him will be ashamed.   Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, who is very generous with whoever calls on him.  Truly, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊  

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

Jesus was now full of the Holy Spirit. As he returned from the Jordan, the Spirit led him into the desert, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during that time, and at the end he was hungry. The devil then said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread." But Jesus answered, "Scripture says: People cannot live on bread alone.

Then the devil took him up to a high place, and showed him, in a flash, all the nations of the world. And he said to Jesus, "I can give you power over all the nations; and their wealth will be yours; for power and wealth have been delivered to me; and I give them to whom I wish. All this will be yours, provided you worship me." But Jesus replied, "Scripture says:

You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone." Then the devil took him up to Jerusalem, and set him on the highest wall of the temple; and he said, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here; for it is written: God will order his angels to take care of you; and again: They will hold you in their hands, lest you hurt your foot on the stones." But Jesus replied, "It is written: You shall not challenge the Lord your God."

When the devil had exhausted every way of tempting Jesus, he left him, to return another time.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Lectio Divina.

"If"

Read: Remembrance of God's intervention helps us surrender our lives into His hands. We are invited to trust that memory and believe in our hearts and confess with our lips the Lordship of Christ. Jesus has such trust in his Father that he refuses to test God's fidelity.

 Reflect: All three temptations of Jesus are predicated on a conditional clause: "If you are the Son of God" (temptations 1 & 3), "provided you worship me" (temptation 2). Jesus resists such temptations, because, in his heart, there is no "if" clause with regards God. For Jesus, the Father Son relationship he has with God is not a hypothesis to be tested and proven; it is an experiential truth he has lived eternally.

His life is so one with God that there is no space for worshipping someone else, even when the Father is seemingly absent or silent. When the devil, quite ingeniously, tempts Jesus with words from the Scriptures, Jesus does not budge: You do not put conditions on God; you simply live God.

 Pray: In your relationship with God, do you use "if" clauses, such as: "if God heals..." or "if I get a job..." ."? If you do, pray for the grace of abandonment to God's will.

 Act: Make an act of abandonment to God's will.