February 18, 2015 - Wednesday

He said in reply, “It is written:
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)  

In, today's passage, Jesus reminds us that life requires more from us than just satisfying our physical hungers. We see that, in addition to meeting our physical needs, we only truly live by feasting on God's Word.

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus went out to the desert to be tempted by the devil. During this time, he prayed and fasted for forty days. While there, he was tempted three times before the devil finally left him; and each time he was tempted, he quoted from God's Word (Deuteronomy 8:3) as his only means of resisting temptation.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the day we mark the beginning of Lent. In Jesus' desert experience, we learn that we need not submit to the temptations of this life, that by feasting on God's Word we gain the same power as Jesus to overcome whatever it is that draws our thought and our hearts away from God. 

During Lent, we pray, fast, and give to others with renewed focus and energy, aware that it is by these acts of love that we grow closer to the Lord, that it is by these disciplined choices that we humble ourselves, and that it is by these spiritual exercises that we strengthen our faith and reliance on God.

Today, on this Ash Wednesday, I will follow the tradition of fasting and abstinence as a reminder to myself to fast from sin and to depend on God for all my needs.


Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who had 18 visions of Mary at Lourdes, France in 1858, pray for us.