Tempting Jesus: the first Sunday of Lent

In his message for Lent this year, Pope Benedict calls on the faithful to reflect carefully on the Gospel readings for the five Sundays of Lent. Over the coming weeks we’ll be offering a reflection on each of those Sunday readings to help inspire your spiritual preparation for Easter.
The first Sunday on March 13 recalls Jesus’ temptation in the desert, taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew.

Gospel Reading Mt 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.

The Pope’s Lenten message is traditionally issued by the Vatican office responsible for charity: Cor Unum – which means “one heart”. The Lenten message says this Gospel reading offers “an invitation to become aware of our own fragility in order to accept the Grace that frees from sin and infuses new strength in Christ.”

Tracey McClure asked Cor Unum’s Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo what lessons do we learn from this Gospel reading, and how can we apply them to our own lives?
Listen to the program: