Throughout the Lenten season, we’ll be posting reflections for holy days and Sundays. These reflections are taken from this year’s Lenten reflection booklet, Return to me with all your heart, which includes all-new reflections written by Ralph McCloud, and from previously published reflections, like the one below, written by Sr. Jeannine Gramick in 2001. Click here to see all reflections as they are posted as well as links to other Lenten resources on our Lent 2025 webpage.
If you are looking for a daily reflection booklet specially curated for Lent, you can still purchase and download this year’s e-booklet, Return to me with all your heart: Reflections for Lent 2025.
reflection for the first sunday of lent, MARCH 9, 2025
by Sr. Jeannine Gramick
originally published in 2001
Deuteronomy 26:4-10 | Romans 10:8-13 | Luke 4:1-13
This first Sunday of Lent traditionally symbolizes the time Jesus spent in the desert. The wilderness is the archetypal place of confronting ourselves, a place where we analyze our motives, question our behavior, and investigate our future. In the desert, there are no road signs or maps, just the time and space to know God and ourselves in a clearer way.
Like Christ in the wilderness, we have met our temptations from the evil spirit, the shadow side within ourselves. We have been tempted to turn stone into bread, to make something into what it is not. How often have we tried to remold and refashion other people to make them conform to our image of what we think they should be? During this Lenten time, we pray that, in our fasting, we may place our stone hearts before God. May we be concerned not with manipulating others, but with opening our own stone hearts to conversion by the Spirit.
We have been tempted to possess the power and the glory of wanting the good opinion of others. Our loving God knows how basic is the desire to be loved, to be respected, to be understood, to be thought well of, especially by those we care about. We pray that we may not pay homage to this human yearning but be filled with the joy of God’s boundless love when we feel misunderstood and rejected.
We have been tempted to throw ourselves down form the pinnacle of life into the depths of work, expecting that you will catch us and supply our emotional and psychological needs. We have also been tempted to throw ourselves into the pit of fun, comfort, and socializing with friends and thereby avoid the bit of work that feels too challenging. We pray for a huge dose of common sense, a sense of balance in work and play.
As we begin this Lenten journey, the lesson of the desert is clear: We cannot use people, situations, or institutions for our own personal power and prestige. Our posture and the posture of those in positions of authority must be that of Jesus. Power must not serve itself; power must not dominate or manipulate others. Our desert time teaches us to serve God and God’s chosen ones, those who are poor and marginalized.
FOR REFLECTION:
- What temptations do I find in my wilderness?
>> Join the Pax Christi USA community on Monday, March 10, for the first of this year’s weekly Lenten prayer services over Zoom. Click here for more information and to register.
>> Click here to see more resources for prayer, study and action this Lenten season.
Sr. Jeannine Gramick is a member of the Sisters of Loretto. She is the co-founder of New Ways Ministry, a Catholic social justice center working for the reconciliation of LGBTQ+ people and the church, and has spoken and written widely about this issue for years.
Thank you for sharing Sr.Jeannine’s reflection. Her Spirit led, and courageous co founding of New Ways Ministry has always been a great blessing to the Universal Church. God bless her as she continues her loving service.
Thank you Sr Jeannine for your work and a place here with Pax Christi who show courage in this week’s statement for Justice and Peace. My grade school was blessed by the attention of the SLs. I am so happy to see you represent them here in this outstanding issue.