Daily reflection on the 1st sunday of Lent

BE WITH ME, LORD
This is the season in which we tend to the spiritual tasks of penance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, in order to deepen our experience of God's presence and to strengthen our faith. When we fast, we come to know what we are truly hungering for during our journey. We ground ourselves in a prayerful life, listening attentively to God's call. We give things up so that we might come to appreciate what we truly have.  
Here are some questions to think about:
1) What spiritual progress do I hope to make during this holy season? What steps am I prepared to take toward proper growth?
2) Moses recounted to the people, their story of liberation. What saving action of God am I grateful for in my own life?  Do I nurture the virtue of gratitude in my heart?
3) Jesus rejects temptations of immediate gratification, power, and safety. How am I doing in regard to these temptations in my own life? What help can I find during this time of Lent?
Saint Paul exhorts us to "confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord" (Rom 10:9). We are being called to profess our Creed, our Confession of Faith. Such faith brings deliverance, liberation, and salvation to God's people, and is open to all who call on the name of Jesus. In thanksgiving, we make our sacrifice, our self-offering. It all starts with acknowledging Jesus, and if we do so seriously and deeply, such a confession will order the rest of our lives. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux confirms this by saying, "Nothing restrains anger, curbs pride, heals the wound of malice, bridles self-indulgence, quenches the passions, checks avarice, and puts unclean thoughts to flight as does the name of Jesus."
In the Responsorial Psalm, we acclaim, "Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble" (Ps 91:15b). No harm shall come into our homes, for God has instructed the angels to guard us forever, wherever we go. Be with us, Lord! Today's Gospel helps us in all this. As Christians, we don't hesitate to acknowledge that Jesus is God, but we do find that accepting His humanity can be much more difficult. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that we have a High Priest [Jesus] Who knows what it is like to be weak because He, like us, experienced temptation (cf. Heb 4:15). Let us think about some of our own temptations. Jesus, also, was tempted in the same way, but He never consented to them.
Luke's Gospel tells us about the temptations that Jesus faced while spending forty days in the desert. In the first two temptations, Satan tempts a hungry Jesus to turn stones into bread (a symbol of this world's goods). Then, He promises more power and authority if Jesus would only worship Him. It would have been easy for Jesus to use His mighty powers and escape from the devils promptings, but He didn't. In the desert, and throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus conquering sin and using His divinity to serve the poor and needy.
In the third temptation, Satan takes Jesus to the parapet of the Temple and challenges Him to jump. A stairway inside the Temple led to the roof where a seven foot wall (the parapet) ran along its edge. The story concludes with the devil leaving Jesus until He finds another opportunity to tempt Him, indicating that Jesus had to struggle with more temptations through His life. Temptation, it seems, was just as much a part of Jesus' life as it is a part of ours. All three times when He was tempted, Jesus responded by quoting Scripture. May we too, become more familiar during this time of Lent, with Scripture, to help us in time of challenges and temptation in our own lives.
Be with me Lord when I am in trouble!