On Ash Wednesday, we began our Lenten journey. Hundreds of you came forward to receive ashes, and I was moved to see so many families, young people, and longtime parishioners marking this sacred beginning. Thank you for starting this journey with openness and faith.
This Sunday’s readings take us to two powerful moments in salvation history. In Genesis, we hear the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, tempted by the serpent to eat from the tree of knowledge. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where the devil presents him with three temptations that strike at the heart of human identity.
Consider what the devil offers Jesus. First: “Turn these stones into bread” – the temptation to believe that we are what we have, that our worth is measured by our possessions and comforts. Second: “Throw yourself down from the temple” – the temptation to believe that we are what others say about us, that we need spectacular acts to win approval. Third: “All these kingdoms I will give you” – the temptation to believe that we are what we do, that power and influence define who we are.
These temptations cycle through every generation, every culture, every life. The evil one is remarkably consistent. The packaging changes, but the strategy remains: lure us away from our true identity as God’s beloved sons and daughters. In Silicon Valley, these temptations carry particular weight. We live in a culture that measures people by what they earn, what title they hold, and how others perceive their success. The false spirit whispers through advertising, social media, and the pressure to achieve more and be seen as more.
The Genesis story captures this same dynamic. The serpent’s temptation was essentially this: you can be like God on your own terms. You don’t need to trust. Just reach out and take what you want. It is the original drift away from God’s call, and every one of us has felt its pull. We eat from that tree whenever we decide we know better than God, whenever we choose control over trust.
Jesus shows us another way. In the desert, he faces these temptations and rejects them. He answers each one with Scripture, rooting himself in the truth of who he is before God. He returns to the voice of the Father who declared at his baptism: “You are my beloved Son.” That is the identity the evil one wanted to unravel, and that is the identity Jesus held firm.
Lent gives us the same opportunity. These forty days are our desert, our sacred time to step back and examine where we have drifted. The three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – are the Church’s ancient tools for loosening these temptations. Prayer reconnects us to God’s voice. Fasting teaches us we are more than what we consume. Almsgiving reminds us that life is found in giving.
Pope Leo XIV has given us a beautiful framework for this journey. Drawing on his spiritual father, St. Augustine, the Holy Father reminds us that we are all migrants on the way to the City of God. Augustine wrote that the Church is a societas peregrina, a community of pilgrims making our way toward a homeland we have never visited and yet recognize as our own. As Augustine prayed: “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Pope Leo has warned against the temptation of “sedentarization” – settling in, getting comfortable, ceasing to journey. And is that not exactly what the three temptations in the desert invite us to do? They are invitations to stop the journey, to settle for bread, applause, or power instead of pressing on toward God. The cross of Christ is our raft on this journey. It carries us across the turbulent waters of temptation toward the City of God, toward the homeland that we did not know and yet know is ours.
Our parish Lenten theme this year is Return to Joy: Untying the Knots of Life. You will see knots in baskets on the tables at the Church entrances (main vestibule, chapel entrance and choir loft side entrance). Please take one with you as a quiet reminder to pause, breathe, and refocus when your day feels busy or stressful. It represents these temptations
Please mark your calendars for our Lenten Retreat with Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS, the beloved Catholic artist and storyteller, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, March 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at 7:00 PM. Brother Mickey uses his vibrant paintings and stories to help us see the healing power of beauty and God’s presence in unexpected places. It promises to be a powerful experience of faith, art, and renewal. Save these dates and invite a friend! More info here
Let these forty days become an honest examination of the temptations that hold your life right now. Name them. Bring them to prayer. Trust that the same God who sustained Jesus in the desert will sustain you. We are migrants together, journeying toward our true home. Let us travel light, travel together, and travel with the cross of Christ as our guide. Lent 2026 at St. Simon.
God Bless,
Fr. Brendan
