My Good Friends,

Peace and all good to you, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! As we have now begun our Season of Lent, with our First Sunday of Lent, the Church leads us into the desert with Jesus. We witness His confrontation with the devil and His unwavering trust in the Father. This passage from the Gospel of Luke (4:1-13) invites us, especially as followers of Franciscan spirituality, to reflect on the themes of poverty, humility, and trust in divine providence.

St. Francis, in his deep love for the poor and crucified Christ, saw the temptations of Jesus as a call to embrace a life of dependence on God. We now continue our journey together through this Lenten Season striving to live the Gospel with the eyes and hearts of St. Francis.

“One does not live on bread alone” | Embracing Poverty & Simplicity | The first temptation Jesus faces is hunger. After fasting for forty days, He is invited by the devil to turn stones into bread. But Jesus responds, “One does not live on bread alone” (Luke 4:4).

St. Francis lived this truth profoundly. He abandoned wealth and privilege to embrace holy poverty, recognizing that our deepest hunger is for God, not material security. Lent calls us to let go of excessive attachments and trust in God’s providence. It is a time too fast, not just from food, but from all that distracts us from relying on the Lord. So, we ask ourselves… Do we place our trust in material comforts, or do we seek to be nourished by the Word of God?

“You shall worship the Lord your God and Him alone shall you serve” | The Call to Humility | The second temptation is about power. The devil offers Jesus’ authority over all kingdoms, saying that it will be His if He worships Satan. Jesus refuses, declaring that God alone is worthy of worship.

Francis of Assisi, though once ambitious and eager for worldly success, learned that true greatness comes from humility and service. He chose to live among the poor, not seeking power or recognition, but only the love of God. Lent is a time for us to resist the temptations of pride, ego, and the desire for control, instead choosing the humble way of Christ. Once again, we ask…Are we tempted by power, status, or the need for recognition? How can we embrace humility in our daily lives?

“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” | Surrendering to God’s Will | In the final temptation, the devil challenges Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple, testing God’s protection. Jesus refuses, showing complete trust in the Father’s plan.

St. Francis also learned to trust God completely, even in suffering and uncertainty. Whether begging for food, preaching with no guarantee of success, or bearing the wounds of Christ in his own body, Francis never doubted that God was with him. Lent calls us to let go of our fears and surrender fully to God’s will. And finally, we ask ourselves… Do we trust God in times of difficulty, or do we try to control everything? Are we willing to surrender to God’s plan?

Lent is a time of renewal, a call to follow Christ more closely in poverty, humility, and trust. Like Jesus in the desert and Francis in his radical discipleship, we are invited to fast from attachments that keep us from God. Pray with simplicity and sincerity, deepening our relationship with Christ. Give generously, sharing with those in need, as Francis did.

We ask our Lord to transform our hearts this Lent, so that we may walk more faithfully in the footsteps of Jesus and St. Francis.

May our Lenten journey lead us to the joy of Easter, where we will rise with Christ in newness of life. Amen.

– Fr. Zack

Saints of God, the Lord be with you!

Years ago, when my friend Sister Kate Murphy, OSF, was in her eighties, I would often ask her, “Kate, if you had to choose Jesus or me, who would you choose?” She always answered that she would choose me, to which I would say, “Wrong choice! You’re 80!” Now picture Fr. David Phan, OFM. As soon as I would say, “David, if you had to choose…” and before I would finish, he would respond, “Yes!”

It seems to me that all the readings hold out to us the demand to choose either a life of blessing or curse. Of course, most of us would choose blessing. The difficulty is that sometimes we must choose so quickly that we choose without reflection. Other times, the choice is not between good or evil, but between two actions or things which are both good. Sometimes, we choose without enough information or life experience. And even not to choose is itself a choice.

What might help us is asking, what a person choosing blessing would look like. In today’s Gospel according to Luke (6:17, 20-26) Jesus describes a blessed person as knowing that no matter how monetarily wealthy one is, they are aware of their existential poverty. None of us will live forever, and all the wealth we accumulated does not go with us.

We are blessed when we realize that no matter how much stuff we have, we are still hungry for more. But more of what? Or better yet, hungry for whom?

The answer, of course, is God.

We choose to be blessed people when we mourn, for our own sins and the sins of the world. And when hated or ridiculed by others because of our choices to trust in God rather than our wealth, we continue to trust in “Christ (who) has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

All of today’s readings ask us to make conscious choices for God, and God’s values. Moral theologians call this “our fundamental option.” And in choosing choices that point us in the direction of God, we are cooperating with the Holy Spirit living within us.

– Fr. Steve