1st Sunday of Lent - Temptation in the Wilderness

"The Gospel shows us Christ in a double role, as a penitent and as a warrior.  First, we follow Him as the penitent par excellence into the desert of self-denial to fast with Him for forty days.  Our fast will be spiritually fruitful if we keep it in unity with Him. Awareness of the union between the members of the Body and their Head ought to arouse a greater respect towards Lenten practices.  The fast of Christ formed a part of His work of redemption; for us too the forty day season of penance contributes to His mission of constructing God's Kingdom on earth.  The next six weeks may well be the most important time of the year.   In any case, Head and members are now entering upon the great season of penance.  

Our Redeemer also goes before us as a warrior.  We see the divine Hero victorious on three fronts.  Two princes stand face to face: the Prince of this world and the King of God's Kingdom.  The Prince of this world deploys his whole army: the world and its splendor, hell, the ego with its insatiable desires. But Christ emerges as the victor.

Now the battlefield is not far from any one of us; it is in my soul where the higher and lower man are ranged against each other.  Christ in us must be victorious.  From this conviction flow strength and solace; we are not alone in this battle, Head and members fight together, Head and members win together.  Thus, the Gospel is our first lesson in the training school of Christ; today we are raw recruits, at Easter we will be proven soldiers." - Pius Parch, The Church's Year of Grace, First Sunday of Lent.