Following Jesus’ example of sacrifice for Lent
02/22/2026
Matthew 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.
Here is the burning question on
everyone’s mind as we hit the first Sunday of Lent, namely, do we have to make Lenten
sacrifices on Sundays? Are you wondering that right now? Now, the technically
correct answer is “No.” Why? Because if you count all the days from Ash
Wednesday to Easter, you get 47 days of Lent, because the Sundays are counted
as “extra days” like “snow days of Lent.” So, if you did not sacrifice on
Sunday, you still observe the 40 days of Lent. Another reason not to sacrifice
on Sunday is because every Sunday is theologically a “mini- Easter” when Jesus
rises from the dead. And we obviously do not sacrifice on Easter Sunday but
celebrate. So, I fully intend to enjoy my martini this Sunday evening! On the
other hand, some people feel that not sacrificing on Sunday feels like we are
cheating on Lent. After all, Jesus did not get to take a break during his 40
days in the desert during his duel with the devil. If Jesus, therefore, who is
our model for the Christian life did not get any snow days during that first
Lent, then we should not take breaks from our sacrifices during Sundays of
Lent.
But I believe a better way to
look at the sacrifices of Lent is through the lens of love. What does that
mean? When a young man falls madly in love with a young lady, he does not
think: “What is the least I can do to show my love for her.” Rather, he beats
his chest like Tarzan and says: “What is the most I can sacrifice to show my
love?” In other words, true love does not think in terms of half-measures nor
does it calculate how to cut corners. In the gospel today, the devil tries to
tempt Jesus in effect to take short-cuts during his 40 days in the desert. In a
sense, the devil is trying to build in three snow days for
Jesus’ first Lent. How so? First,
he invites him to eat bread and thus take a break his fast from food. Second,
he tempts our Lord to jump into the loving arms of the angels and thereby avoid
any pain. The angels wouldn’t even let our Lord stub his toe on a stone. And
third, he offers Jesus fame and fortune and world renown, which would be like
winning every Olympic gold medal instead of obeying his Father. And how did
Jesus deal with these tempting short-cuts and snow days of Lent?
Like the young man madly in love,
so Jesus overcame the devil with the power of love, namely, love for his Father
and for humanity. That is, Jesus did not come to show the world the least he
could do out of love for us, he came to show us the most he could sacrifice for
his beloved. Jesus did not need any snow days in the desert.
My friends, the real question as
we celebrate the first Sunday of Lent is not whether we should or should not sacrifice
on Sunday. Rather, the real question is how deep is our love? That is, do we
love someone so much that giving up something for Lent does not even feel like
a sacrifice at all. Let me give you an example of loving someone so much that
love turns our sacrifice from a foe into a friend. Last week I visited a man in
the hospital who was very sick and preparing for surgery. I gave him the
Anointing of the Sick. But as I was preparing to leave, I could tell he was feeling
sad and a little depressed.
So, I gave him a little advice
that might lift his spirits. I suggested that he offer up his suffering and
surgery for someone he loves that is going through a hard time, maybe his
children or grandchildren. I explained that our sufferings and sacrifices can
be a profound form of prayer, like Jesus prayerful pain on the Cross.
And when offered for others, that
prayer born of pain can bring others great graces. As I spoke I saw a knowing spark
light up his eyes as he realized that pain can have a purpose. That is,
suffering does not have to be senseless. Rather, it can be converted into an
act of love, which is what Jesus did by declining the devil’s temptations of
snow days in the desert. So, back to our burning question of sacrificing on the
first Sunday of Lent, and all subsequent Lenten Sundays. The short answer is:
no, you don’t have to make your Lenten sacrifices on Sundays of Lent.
Nonetheless, let me give you the same advice I gave to that man in the hospital
last week. Think of someone you love like your children or grandchildren, or
your spouse, or neighbor, or even those folks on the street corner holding the
signs that say, “Anything will help.” And offer your Lenten sacrifices for them
even on Sundays. Only love for others can transform our Lenten sacrifices from
a foe into a friend. And then we, too, might say “No” to a snow day in the
desert.
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
