First Sunday of Lent (2/26/23)

Write an expository homily for the First Sunday of Lent using these scripture passages: Genesis 2:7-9,3:1-7; Ps 51:3-4,5-6,12-13,14,17; Romans 5:12-19; and Mt 4:1-11; while cross-referencing the Fathers of the Church, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the writings of recent popes throughout.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the First Sunday of Lent, a season of repentance and renewal. Our readings today remind us of the profound truth that we are created in God's image and likeness, and yet we have fallen into sin and separated ourselves from God. But through the grace of Christ, we can be reconciled to God and restored to our original state of holiness.

Our first reading from Genesis tells us of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their fall into sin. God created them in his own image and breathed into them the breath of life, but they were tempted by the serpent and chose to disobey God's command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result of their sin, they were banished from the Garden of Eden, and all of humanity was tainted by original sin.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that original sin is "the sin inherited by all human beings as a result of Adam's disobedience" (CCC 404). This sin affects our nature and inclines us towards sin and away from God. But God did not abandon us in our sin. He promised a savior who would redeem us from our fallen state and restore us to communion with God.

Our second reading from Romans speaks of this redemption. St. Paul tells us that just as sin entered the world through one man, Adam, so too salvation entered the world through one man, Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection, Christ conquered sin and death and opened the way for us to be reconciled to God.

The Fathers of the Church also speak of the importance of Christ's redemption. St. Irenaeus wrote that "Christ became what we are, so that he might make us what he is" (Adversus Haereses, 5.1.1). St. Augustine taught that "Christ took on himself our nature so that he might heal it, and he bore our sins so that he might deliver us from them" (Sermon 185).

In our Gospel reading from Matthew, we see Christ being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The devil tempts Christ with food, power, and glory, but Christ resists each temptation and remains faithful to God. The devil offers Christ a shortcut to glory, but Christ knows that the only way to true glory is through the cross.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote that Christ's temptation in the wilderness shows us that "the way of faith always passes through the desert, through the night of the spirit in which we feel abandoned by God" (Jesus of Nazareth, p. 21). But we can take heart in the knowledge that Christ has walked this path before us and is with us every step of the way.

Our responsorial psalm today is a prayer of repentance and a plea for God's mercy. We acknowledge our sins and ask God to create in us a clean heart and renew within us a steadfast spirit. Pope Francis has called us to embrace this Lenten season as a time of conversion, saying that "Lent is a time of grace, a time for recognizing that our lowly ashes are loved by God and for letting God gaze upon us with love, and in this way change our lives" (Homily, Ash Wednesday 2017).

As we begin this season of Lent, let us turn our hearts towards God, confess our sins, and seek his mercy and forgiveness. Let us remember that through Christ's death and resurrection, we have been redeemed and can be reconciled to God. May this Lenten season be a time of renewal and transformation, as we strive to live more fully in the image and likeness of God. Amen.

Write a Haiku on these Scriptures

Man in God's image,
Fallen into sin and death,
Redeemed by Christ's love.

Write a limerick on these Scriptrures

In Eden, man was first created,
By God's own breath he was animated,
But tempted by sin,
He fell and gave in,
Yet Christ's redemption has us reinstated.

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