First Sunday of Lent — Year A

The First Sunday of Lent always gives us the temptation of Jesus in the desert. And the Church always pairs it with the story of the Fall in Genesis. The contrast is deliberate: Adam had everything — a garden, abundance, companionship — and he fell. Jesus had nothing — a desert, forty days of fasting, total solitude — and he stood.

Adam fell in paradise. Jesus stood in a wasteland. That's the reversal at the heart of our faith.

The three temptations Jesus faces in the desert are the same three that come for every family: the temptation to satisfy yourself at any cost ("turn stones into bread"), the temptation to test God instead of trust him ("throw yourself down"), and the temptation to worship something other than God for the sake of power or comfort ("all these I shall give you").

For families, these sound like: prioritizing comfort over faithfulness, demanding that God prove himself before you'll commit, and arranging your life around money, status, or security instead of God. Every family faces these. Every Lent is a chance to practice saying what Jesus said: "The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve."

Paul in the Second Reading makes the stakes cosmic: through one man, Adam, sin and death entered the world. Through one man, Jesus, grace and life overflow. Your family is living in the space between those two realities — between the fall and the redemption. Lent is forty days of choosing which direction you walk.

The Rite of Election: In many dioceses, this Sunday is when the Rite of Election takes place. Catechumens — adults preparing for baptism at Easter — are formally enrolled as the Elect before the bishop. If you know someone in your parish who is preparing for the sacraments, reach out today. Write them a note. Tell them you're praying for them. The journey into the Church is beautiful and vulnerable. Your encouragement matters more than you know.

Desert Day for Families: Talk to your kids about the desert. Jesus went there on purpose. He was hungry, alone, and tempted — and he won. Ask your kids: what's your desert right now? What's hard? What temptation keeps coming back? Let them know that Jesus didn't avoid the hard place. He went through it. And he came out stronger.

Lent Week 1 Check-in: How are the family Lenten commitments holding up after the first week? If someone already failed — grace. Start again tomorrow. Lent isn't a streak. It's a direction.

Your kids will face temptation — the real kind, not Sunday School abstractions. Peer pressure, shortcuts, the lure of approval, the pull of whatever the screen is offering. Jesus' strategy was simple: he knew Scripture and he used it. "It is written." Three times the devil came. Three times Jesus answered with the Word of God. You can't give your kids what you don't have. If Scripture isn't part of your life, it can't be part of theirs. This Lent, learn one verse together. Just one. And practice using it when temptation comes.