Scripture Reflection, February 22, 2026, First Sunday of Lent

Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7 Romans 5: 12-19 Matthew 4:1-11

Like many other people, I use the monthly periodical, "Give Us This Day,” as an aid to daily prayer. There, in reflecting on this weekend’s readings, Fr. John Kartje shared an insight I thought well worth passing on to you. He suggests that we "pay attention to (our) temptations, not just (our) sins.“ Our temptations reveal where we are vulnerable.Those words brought back to me an experience from my own life.

A number of years ago as I was walking the grounds of a college campus with a priest friend of mine, I shared that the presentation we had both just heard triggered an observation for me, my consistent sin against charity. "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” I began and then shared my pattern of behavior. This wise man responded, "Why do you suppose you do that?” And suddenly I knew. I knew that I was consistently bringing an old tape out of my history and playing it in a new situation, reliving a hurt that I had never dealt with. Looking at the temptation I consistently fell for, showed me what needed healing.

We are all sinners. But there are likely millions of different temptations out there, many of which I'll never succumb to. It's unlikely, for instance, that I will give in to a temptation to leave my husband with the children and run off with the mailman! But, like you, there are places where I am wounded, weak. And when temptation targets those vulnerabilities, I am more inclined to sin.

And so as we examine our conscience during Lent, I suggest it may be spiritually helpful to follow Fr. Kartje’s suggestion and pay attention to our temptations. Why do I sin the way I do? Does greedy or jealous behavior mask emptiness? Do I sin against charity because I need to be seen by others as powerful? Or accomplished? Or clever? I invite you to pull on that little string this Lent and see where it leads.

Fr. Kartje writes that God prepared Jesus for his ministry by first affirming his true identity at his baptism, as God’s beloved Son. As we come face-to-face with our own vulnerabilities, may we feel supported by the knowledge that we, too, are each God’s beloved child. And may that conviction heal us in the broken places.

by: Pat Schnee, OPA