Temptation of Christ by Brother Blair Nuyda, A.A.

Today’s Lenten reflection is written by Brother Hugo Morales, A.A.,
 Campus Minister at Assumption University

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent, a liturgical season where we are invited to turn our hearts to God as we prepare to experience the Easter Vigil in an authentic way. For this reason, the reading from the Gospel of St. Mark mentions that the Spirit led Jesus into the desert where he remained for forty days and was tempted by the devil. 

From this biblical context, what does the word “desert” mean as a hermeneutical key for the beginning of Lent? This word has several interpretations, among them, I would like to emphasize its meaning as a trial in order to strengthen our Christian life during this significant time of Lent.

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By Matthew-Mary Okereke, AA.

One of the things I love to bask at each time I visit the St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is the believed relic of the Chair of St Peter famously conserved in sculpted gilt bronze by one of my favorite sculptors, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The question is: why is the chair preserved there on the altar? What is in a chair? The feast of the Chair of St Peter that we celebrate today is a celebration of the service of Peter and his successors; a celebration of authority as service. Notice that I did not say that it is a celebration of authority “and” service. I said “authority as service.” This distinction between “authority as service” and “authority and service” is important because if we say “authority and service” it could be misconstrued to mean that the two need not “always” go together. But herein lies the message: Christian authority is service, once, always, and in every way.

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Today’s Lenten reflection is written by Fr. Dennis Gallagher, A.A.,
Provincial Superior of the North American Province

So much of our time and psychic energy during these past months has been spent in responding to an unexpected health crisis. It has restricted our movements and social interactions, and its various constraints have burdened our hearts. As such, it has felt something like an interminably long Lent.

On this Ash Wednesday, as we begin the liturgical season of Lent, how should we orient ourselves? What might be the content of our prayer and our practice during this time of grace? Lent is our annual season of conversion, when the hope of a freshly renewed relationship to the source of our life is made available to us. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8), always ready to refashion us – in pandemic and out of pandemic.

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