I often think back to my time in Rome as a seminarian, especially when the liturgical season of Lent comes around each year. One of the great traditions in the city of Rome is the Lenten Station Church pilgrim. Each day, during Lent, a different Church is appointed as the Church of the day and pilgrims visit that Church. It is a way of doing a pilgrimage in the city itself and is a hugely popular tradition.

The Pontifical North American College, the American seminary in Rome, participates each year in the station church pilgrimage. There is always a 7 a.m. Mass in English at the station church of the day and it is always filled with American priests and seminarians. For five years, I participated in that pilgrimage and never missed a day. It was a great way to get to know the city of Rome, to experience the great liturgies and spirituality, as well as concretely walk in the footsteps of the saints who lived, prayed and died in Rome.

One particular Ash Wednesday, I left early with all the other seminarians at the college to participate in the Mass at Santa Sabina, the first station church. The Mass, because it was a more complex liturgy, was scheduled to begin at 6:50 a.m., not 7 a.m. It was pitch black when we left the college at 5:45 a.m. The walk to Santa Sabina, the Dominicans’ church, was a long one. I was engrossed in early morning conversation with another seminarian and had not noticed that along the way of the journey, I accidentally had stepped into some horse manure in the road! I was not aware of this series of unfortunate events, and somehow had managed to make a big mess at the bottom of my pants legs with this gift of an anonymous horse! I was a mess and, of course, my brother seminarians found this all too amusing, because this had happened to a neat freak like me!

Add to that the fact that the rector of the college, then Msgr. (now Archbishop) Timothy Dolan had placed on my forehead a huge, solid black cross of ashes. In most of Europe, the ashes are not placed on the forehead of the faithful, but simply sprinkled on the top of the head. Here I was, walking through the streets of Rome, with messy pants legs and a big black cross on my head. I was the picture of a pariah, of an outcast, and two elderly Italian gentlemen at a coffee bar took one look at me and commented to each other in Italian, “My God, these Americans sure do take Lent seriously! Would you look at what that guy did for penance!”

Seriously though, my unfortunate walk and the reactions of those two elderly gentlemen can tell us much about the season of Lent which we began on Ash Wednesday. Do we take Lent seriously? What are we doing to take Lent seriously? Are we trying to grow in a spirit of prayerfulness and humility? Are we trying to grow in discernment of spirit in our lives? If we are (and we should be if we’re not), the best example comes to us from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, in today’s Gospel gleaned from the Evangelist Matthew.

In today’s Gospel pericope, we see our Lord tempted by the devil, Satan. Often we think that Jesus was tempted to sin. Jesus is a man like us in all things but sin. He is wholly impeccable and cannot sin. The temptations of Jesus are not temptations to commit sin, but a real temptation to be another type of Messiah from the meek, humble of heart, suffering servant that God the Father wishes His Son to be.
The first temptation faced by Our Lord is to turn stones into bread, so that He might break His own self-imposed fast during his desert retreat. This is a temptation to put the focus on the things of this world, our material needs, not the things of the world to come, the things of the Kingdom of God.

This Kingdom of God is the central message of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Kingdom of God made incarnate. He is the Kingdom of God in His very person. He is the teacher and He is what is taught. He is the preacher and He is what is preached.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in his Epistle to the Romans that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking (the things of this world), but a matter of peace, justice and joy, the things that are our matter of ultimate concern. Are we taking Lent seriously? Where do we place the material things of our lives? First and primary, or where they truly belong, after our ultimate goal, living one day in union with the Lord in the Kingdom of God?

The second temptation faced by Our Lord is to throw Himself off the parapet of the Temple and be caught by the Angels of Heaven above. This is a temptation to be a showoff, to want all the attention, to be the big deal that everyone is fussing over. Jesus knows that this is not the path laid out for Him by His Heavenly Father. He knows that what truly matters in life is not the flashiness, but the substance.
Are we taking Lent seriously? How important is being impressive to others in this life for us? First and primary, or where it truly belongs, after our goal of the Beatific Vision?

The third temptation faced by Our Lord is to prostrate Himself before Satan, in order to be given the power and authority over all the kingdoms of the world. This is a temptation to fall into the trap and the power of those dangerous little words: “I’m in charge of…”

Ultimately, none of us are in charge. It is the Lord Jesus who’s the boss and all power and prestige, titles and honor come directly from Him! Are we taking Lent seriously? How important are the titles and honor which we hold to us? Do we use these things, not to serve others, but to puff ourselves up in a façade of self-importance?

Are we taking Lent seriously? If our answer is yes, or at least yes, I’m going to try, then we all need to open our hearts and minds to the message of the Lord, the ultimate message of the Lenten season: “Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.” Our Lord stands as the model of gentleness and humility, the attitudes exhibited if we are to take Lent seriously. May our daily prayer ever be: “O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our heart like unto thine.”

   Father Cush is Director of Formation at Cathedral Prep Seminary.

   Readings for the First Sunday of Lent

   Genesis 2: 7-9; 3: 1-7
   Romans 5: 12-19; or 5: 12, 17-19
   Matthew 4: 1-11