Homily – First Sunday of Lent (2026)

Father Sixmund Henry

SCROLL DOWN FOR CHILDREN’S LITURGY QUESTIONS

My dear brothers and sisters, today the Church brings us into the desert with Jesus. Right after His baptism, right after the Father calls Him “Beloved Son,” the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness. Not into comfort. Not into celebration. But into silence, hunger, and temptation. This tells us something important about the spiritual life. Being loved by God does not remove struggles. Sometimes the Spirit leads us into places where our faith must grow. After forty days of fasting, Jesus is hungry. That is when the devil comes. Temptation always shows up when we are tired, stressed, discouraged, or spiritually weak. 

The first temptation is simple: “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” There is nothing wrong with bread. Jesus is truly hungry. But the temptation is to put physical needs above everything else. It is the temptation to live only for comfort, pleasure, and security.

How often our spiritual life becomes weak because we focus only on what satisfies the body. We work hard, we plan, we take care of many responsibilities—but prayer becomes short, rushed, or forgotten. We feed the body every day, but sometimes we forget to feed our souls. Jesus answers, “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” In other words, without God’s Word, without prayer, without grace, something inside us slowly dries up.

The second temptation, the devil tells Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple so that angels will catch Him. It is a temptation to test God, to demand proof. We can fall into this in our own lives. We may say, “God, if You really love me, fix this problem. Remove this suffering. Give me a sign.” But faith does not grow by forcing God’s hand. Faith grows through trust. A healthy spiritual life means trusting God even when we do not understand, even when answers are slow, even when prayers seem quiet.

The third temptation is about power and glory. The devil offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He will bow down. It is the temptation to compromise, to gain success without obedience, to win without sacrifice. In our daily life, this may look small: cutting corners, holding onto resentment, choosing popularity over honesty. Little compromises slowly weaken the soul. But Jesus stands firm and says, “Get away, Satan! It is written; The Lord, your God, shall you worship and Him alone shall you serve.” Worship belongs to God alone. When we put success, or even ourselves in God’s place, our spiritual life becomes divided.

Lent is a gift because it helps us see clearly. It slows us down. It brings us into the desert where we can ask honest questions about our hearts. How is my prayer life? Do I make time for God each day? Do I come to Mass prepared and attentive? Do I seek forgiveness in Confession when I fall? These are not questions only for certain groups. They are for all of us—young and old, families and single people, those strong in faith and those who struggle.

The good news in this Gospel is that Jesus wins. He defeats temptation not with power, but with trust in the Father and the Word of God. He shows us that temptation does not have the final word. Weakness does not have the final word. Sin does not have the final word. Faithfulness does.

This Lent, we are invited to strengthen our spiritual life in simple but real ways: a few extra minutes of daily prayer, reading a passage from Scripture, making a sincere confession, forgiving someone who hurt us, fasting with intention, helping someone in need. These small acts, done with love, make the soul stronger.

The desert is not the end of the story. After the desert comes mission. After Lent comes Easter. If we walk with Christ in these forty days—if we face our weaknesses honestly and turn back to God—our hearts will not remain the same.

May this Lent be a time of renewal for us. May our spiritual life grow deeper, our trust becomes stronger, and our love for God become more sincere. And when temptation comes, may we stand with Christ and choose the Father. Amen.

CHILDREN’S LITURGY QUESTIONS

1. Was Jesus led into the desert by the Holy Spirit? Yes
2. Did Jesus eat food every day while in the desert? No
3. Did Jesus fast for forty days and forty nights? Yes
4. Did the devil tell Jesus to turn stones into fish? No
5. Did Jesus say, “Man shall not live by bread alone”? Yes
6. Did the devil take Jesus to the top of the temple? Yes
7. Did Jesus jump down from the temple? No
8. Did the devil offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the world? Yes
9. Did Jesus agree to worship the devil? No
10. Did angels come to serve Jesus after the temptations? Yes
11. Was Jesus in the desert for only ten days? No
12. Did the devil tempt Jesus three times? Yes
13. Did Jesus say, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”? Yes
14. Did Jesus fail the temptations? No
15. Did the devil show Jesus all the kingdoms of the world? Yes
16. Did Jesus use His power to help Himself during the temptation? No
17. Did the devil leave Jesus after the temptations? Yes
18. Did Jesus say we should live by money alone? No
19. Was Jesus hungry after fasting? Yes
20. Did Jesus ask the devil for help? No