Today in the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form of the Mass we hear the gospel narrative of Jesus being tempted by Satan. Even Satan tries to lure the Son of God away from the center. The fact that Satan attempts to make another offer to the Lord whom he knows of his origin ought to indicate to us that we are also under attack. The preparation of Lent for Easter exactly poses for us a renewal of faith in the One to whom we owe everything. At the Easter Vigil we will renew our baptismal vows rejecting sin and the temptations of Satan.
The First Sunday of Lent poses for us the same question Jesus was confronted: to whom do you belong? Obviously, Jesus knew to whom He belonged, but do we?
When faced with personal temptation can we say with Jesus, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”
A reflection by Saint Gregory Nazianzen reminds us of a central aspect of our baptism:
We must not expect baptism to free us from the temptations of our persecutor. The body that concealed him made even the Word of God a target for the enemy; his assumption of a visible form made even the invisible light an object of attack. Nevertheless, since we have at hand the means of overcoming our enemy, we must have no fear of the struggle. Flaunt in his face the water and the Spirit… Strong in our baptism each of us can say ‘I too am made in the image of God, but unlike you, I have not yet become an outcast from heaven through my pride. I have put on Christ; by my baptism I have become one with him. It is you that should fall prostrate before me!’