The temptations of Jesus and our temptations as well.

On this the First Sunday of Lent, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  In our Lenten journey, we enter the same space as Jesus.  We are led by the Spirit into the desert experience of Lent through fasting and self-denial and then are tested with the demons that are within us -- the demons of too much busyness, addictions that enslave us, the faces of those we are unable to love.

The desert is the place of struggle in life.   The desert is also the place where we encounter God.  The places of struggle in life can lead us to trust in God's unending love for us.

The real temptation of Satan was to offer Jesus a way to be the Messiah without the cross.  It is our temptation as well -- to be a disciple without the experience of the cross in life.  The cross is part of who Jesus is, and it is an enduring sign of His unconditional love for us.  In our Lenten journey, we take up the cross by embracing spiritual disciplines.  We also take up the cross by our commitment to trust in God's healing presence in the face of the brokenness that causes us to lose our spiritual footing.

Lent is a wonderful time to be honest with ourselves and to recognize that which is not yet transformed within us.  We are then invited to place our lives more completely in the hands and the heart of a God who loves us infinitely.

This afternoon we had a great family Lenten gathering in which we engaged in prayer, talks on the meaning of Lent, and activities that involved everyone in the family.  Thank you to Eva Mascadri and Jeanne Mooney and the team.

We also had the RCIA Rite of Election at Sacred Heart Cathedral this afternoon  with Bishop Matano in which William Paul, Adam Welz, Nicole Diehl, Virginia Falcon, Daniel Henry, James King, and Vincent Tassone took another step on their journey to be fully initiated as members of our Catholic faith community.

This evening our middle school and high school youth gathered for their FAITH NIGHT reflecting on the miracles and parables of Jesus.  The faith community of St. Joseph's is fully engaged in our desire to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.