Just a word before we go...First Sunday of Lent...February 22, 2026

Today’s readings tell us stories about happenings in a garden and in a desert. Both are concerned with temptation, first of Adam and Eve, and then, of Jesus. Adam and Eve, children of God, were in a place of plenty, beauty, and enjoyment. They had everything they could want, except for the fruit of one specific tree. What could possibly go wrong in this paradise?  The tempter appeared as a serpent, and appealed to the first couple’s desire to like their creator, being in complete charge of their lives. And who of us hasn’t desired to be in control of all the circumstances of our lives? 

With Jesus, the tempter shed his snake skin, but the temptations were the same...all about power. The power to turn stones into bread (after all, he was mighty hungry after 40 days in the desert), the power to defy gravity, and the power to have all the riches of the earth. Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus sent the tempter packing.

At their core, both these stories of temptation are essentially about identity. Adam and Eve morphed from being a couple happily ensconced in delightful surroundings, into becoming aware of their vulnerability, their humanity, their necessity of making choices that would determine who they would become.  Their identities had changed.

Jesus, in response to his temptations, became more aware of his identity as the Son of God, more determined to renew his ministry of caring for the poor and the marginalized, and more committed to leading others into the reign of God.

What of our identities?  We know we are the children of God, members of the Body of Christ.

But where will the temptations we encounter this Lent lead us?  Will we choose to respond to the Gospel call to care for our neighbor, to feed the hungry, to welcome the stranger?  Or will we be more concerned with our own pursuits and leave the rest to God? 

Of course, God’s grace is far greater than our transgressions, as Paul tells us.  But our decisions, in the face of our temptations, influence our true identity.  The question is, will those decisions help us, or hinder us, in becoming more like who we were created to be, by  the end of our forty days this Lent, and beyond.