Scripture: March 5, 2025—Joel 2:1-2,12-17 (image) or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 103 or 103:8-14 (image); 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (image); Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 (image). 

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflection: How can I give alms, pray, or fast without regard for the attention of others? How does Jesus’ admonition to do these acts in secret compare to his earlier command in the Sermon on the Mount: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16)? What is the reward that God gives to those who give alms, pray, and fast?

Scripture: March 9, 2025—Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (image); Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 (image); Romans 10:8b-13 (image); and Luke 4:1-13 (image). 

Collect: Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reflection: In Luke 4:1–13, the devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, to take control of the kingdoms of the world, and to perform a spectacular stunt that would “wow the crowd.” Jesus refused to take control in these ways. Instead, Jesus chose another way to feed hungry people, to demonstrate what the kingdom of God looks like, and to enter Jerusalem humbly. Why do think Jesus chose another way to “do justice” and what are some ways that you and your faith community practice justice in his name?

Lent Reflection

Lent is generally considered a somber time of year. We focus on penitence, sin, death and ashes.

“From dust you were made and to dust you will return” we are told on Ash Wednesday. That all sounds very gloomy and transactional. Can we think a bit differently?

Every scrap of energy and the potential for every particle was created by the Big Bang about 14Bn years ago, in a moment when matter and spirit were joined for the first time in a grand and ongoing outpouring of divine love. So that means that all the dust that we have been created from is as old as the universe itself. It is the same dust that at some point could have been part of a star or sun or planet. It also means that at the end of our lives the dust that we are made of returns to the universe to be reused over and over again.

So doesn’t that mean we are participating in a continuous act of creation and resurrection?  “At the heart of matter is the heart of God,” as Teilhard de Chardin eloquently put.

Lent is therefore a time to comprehend our place in this ever-unfolding universe of love and action, created by a God waiting to be in a direct relationship with us.

We were chosen in Christ before the world was made. Ephesians 1:4

Maybe it would be better to say that "from stardust we are made and to stardust we will return."

©2022 Edwina Winter

For families: Study guide & activity (previous guide); group activities; snacks, kid video.

For children: activity—see guide/activity above (another); bulletin games; craft;

For middlers: activity—see guide/activity above (another); bulletin games; craft.

For youth: For this week, reflect on "From the Pew" (above), a reflection by Edwina A Winter. How do you feel about being stardust? Do you feel closer to the universe in which we live or more isolated and small? Please feel free to comment.

On this first Sunday in Lent, the church’s liturgy is designed to catch our attention, facing us with the most important issues of Christian commitment and living.

Today’s scriptures present us with our solidarity with one another in Christ, and with God’s people through the ages. We are part of a people with a story to tell and a song to sing. That story’s beginning is recounted in the first reading today in the form of the ancient Israelite confession of faith. This is not read as an interesting account of the salvation of strangers. It is the story of God’s first action in our salvation. We are a part of that people, having become members in our baptism. We are to begin our own story by remembering Abraham, our first ancestor in the faith, and by recounting the story of our brothers and sisters in the faith who were saved from Egyptian slavery.

The reading from Romans affirms our unity with the people of faith in all ages, regardless of status or race or culture.

Finally, in the story of the Lord’s testing (temptation) we see Jesus as the beginning of the new Israel. The old Israel, in its wilderness wandering, failed these three tests—temptations—to use God merely as a means for acquiring food and power and riches. The scriptures Jesus quotes against Satan come from those three times in the story of Israel’s wilderness experience. Israel’s failure, which is part of our story, is turned around in Jesus and becomes a saving triumph for Israel, for us who are made one Body in Christ in Baptism and Eucharist, and for those who are preparing to be baptized at Easter.