First Sunday of Lent
Penitential Act: Confiteor
my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done
and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
Therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints;
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.
Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and placed there the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow
that were delightful to look at and good for food,
with the tree of life in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman,
"Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?"
The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said,
'You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'"
But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die!
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R.The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R.The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.
But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one, the many died,
how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.
And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned.
For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation;
but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.
King of endless glory
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forthfrom the mouth of God.
King of endless glory
Mt 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
"If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread."
He said in reply,
"It is written: One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."
Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone."
Jesus answered him,
"Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test."
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him,
"All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me."
At this, Jesus said to him,
"Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve."
Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
The Gospel of the Lord,
Lord Jesus, You said to your disciples,
"I am the way the truth and the life."
Give young people the gift of discernment,
to find their way and embrace their true vocation,
the life for which you have created them.
In all that lies before them, help them discern a life
that is pleasing to you,
whether to Christian marriage,
to priesthood,
or the consecrated religious life.
Send your Holy Spirit to inspire them.
Grant them the grace to embrace
a life of joyful service.
Fulfill their desires to make a
generous gift of themselves to others,
after your example.
Give them the loving support of family and friends
as they prayerfully discern their vocation in this life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
~ Amen