Pray, Fast, Give: First Sunday of Lent

First Week of Lent: Luke 4:1-13

This short passage describes Jesus’s temptation by the devil after forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert. We see that the devil approaches Jesus when he is weak and weary and offers to satisfy his most immediate need – hunger. He then seeks to tempt Jesus with power, status, and wealth, and dares Jesus to prove his relationship with God. Jesus, relying on scripture and intimate trust in his relationship with God, spurns the devil’s offers. The devil leaves to await another opportunity.

Loving God,

When I am weak and weary

and tempted to satisfy my own needs before those of others,

help me to remember that I belong to you.

Confident in the loving relationship we share,

help me to cast aside my desire for status, wealth, and power

and replace it with a desire that all may share

in the abundance of the world you have created for us.

Amen.

It is tempting to fill our lives with more activity and more stuff. During Lent, we are invited to free ourselves from all kinds of clutter - material and spiritual - in order to reorient our priorities and our lives. Is there something in your life that is standing in the way of a closer relationship with God? If a desire for material possessions is a weakness, perhaps fast from making unnecessary purchases this week. Consider substituting that purchase for a “gift” that might benefit the common good.

Solidarity Bridge is committed to bringing action to Pope Francis’s exhortation, “When power, luxury and money become idols, they take priority over the need for a fair distribution of wealth. Our consciences thus need to be converted to justice, equality and sharing.” In an era of advances in science, technology and medicine, stark inequalities continue to exist across the world. Together with our partners at Puente de Solidaridad, we seek to bridge this resource divide. Equipping Bolivian hospitals and surgeons with needed instruments and supplies is essential to our mission, and you can help! Medical supply donations help equip hospitals in Bolivia to provide high-quality care to those in deep need.