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The scene of the temptation, which opens the public life of Jesus, declares in the Gospels in a very forceful manner the great change in our lives that He introduces into the world by His work of redemption. Where Adam fell, Christ, the new Head of humanity, triumphs over the power of Satan: at the time of His passion "the prince of this world" will be cast out. The Gospel of the temptation heralds Christ's victory.

The Station today is at St. John Lateran. The Lateran is comprised of the Basilica, the Pontifical Palace and the Baptistry. The church is dedicated to the Christ the Savior. In the fifth century the titles of St. John Baptist and St. John the Evangelist were added. The Papal altar contains the wooden altar on which St. Peter is said to have celebrated Mass. This basilica is the mother of all churches and is the only church which has the title of Archbasilica.

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Sunday Readings
The first reading is from the Book of Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 and is about the creation and fall of man.

The second reading is from St. Paul to the Romans 5:12-19. He is speaking of some of the immediate effects of Christian salvation, as brought to mankind by Christ. St. Paul is stresses the fact that Christ through his death not only conquered sin but poured out divine grace so abundantly and lavishly on mankind, making them his brothers and therefore sons of God, that there is no comparison between the world redeemed by Christ's death and the world of sin whcih prevailed up to then. — Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle A, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.

The Gospel is from St. Matthew 4:1-11 and 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, if it is an extension of His fasting. Awareness of the union between the members of the Body and their Head ought to arouse a greater respect toward 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 winner.

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 the 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.

Formerly, perhaps, we performed our Lenten tasks in private, apart from the community, but now we are beginning to see that we should act as members of the Church, of Christ. Every sin we commit is a stain upon the mystical Body as well as upon ourselves; every virtue that adorns our soul also adorns the robe of Mother Church with new luster. We must become like our Head, Christ, in all things here on earth in abasement, in heaven in glory. The work of fasting contributes to this transformation. — The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Things to Do:

• Begin praying the prayer for the first week of Lent.

• Make Pease Porridge (Split Pea Soup) for supper, a traditional dish for Sundays during Lent. Add some diced ham for more flavor and substance.

• Today's Gospel speaks of the temptation of Jesus after his forty days' fast in the desert. After you go to Mass, discuss this reading with your children, emphasizing that temptation itself is not a sin, but we must use the Word of God to combat it, as Christ did. Read the Catholic Encyclopedia's explanation of the Temptation of Christ.

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