Lectio Divina First Sunday of Lent

Praying with the Sunday Gospel
First Sunday in lent – year C
Luke 4:1-13
“The temptation in the wilderness”
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through
the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time
he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you
are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture
says: Man does not live on bread alone.’
Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the
kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory
of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I
choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him,
‘Scripture says:
You must worship the Lord your God,
and serve him alone.’
Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple.
‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said to him ‘throw yourself down from here, for
scripture says:
He will put his angels in charge of you
to guard you,
and again:
They will hold you up on their hands
in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’
But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said:
You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at
the appointed time.

A person dressed in a biblical costume holding a staff beside hay bales in an arid landscape.


Hearing!
“Speak Lord your servants are listening”
Slowly read the Gospel passage; listening carefully to the story. Read
it intentionally, so as to perceive the small details we can miss on an
initial reading. These small details might be the bridge between the
Gospel Story and the story of your life.

  • What phrase of word resonated with you in your reading of this text?
  • In the reading of this text were you opened to hearing and
    engaging your own temptations in life?

Happening
Through the lens of the Gospel we now look with compassion at
the story of our lives
Having listened to the text of the Gospel now let it speak to the text
of your life story. Become aware of where this Gospel story is already
alive in your life or in your community. Or maybe you notice where it is
absent in your life? Where might this Gospel story be inviting life and
hope into aspects of your life that long for resurrection and new life?

Hoping
What do you want to say to the Lord in light of what you have
shared, or what you have heard others share during this time of
prayer?
The Gospel always leads us to places of hope, possibility, and new
beginnings. It awakens us too where and what we should be grateful
for. It leads us to where God is waiting and inviting us to grow in
freedom, inner peace and maturity as a disciple. What prayer is in your
heart as you draw to a close this period of prayer?