Readings and meditation on the Word of God on the first Sunday of Lent, February 22nd, 2026

Delivered by Yurike Gunawan from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Genesis 2: 7-9; 3: 1-7; Rs psalm 51: 3-4.5-6a.12-13.14.17; Romans 5: 12-19; Matthew 4: 1-11.GOD SEES ANDALLOWS MAN TO BE TEMPTED BY SATAN The tittle for our meditation on the First Sunday ofLent is: God Sees and Allows Man to be Tempted by Satan. We often askourselves: if God is good, why does He allow people to be tempted? Why didn'the stop the devil right away? In the Garden of Eden, God saw when the first humanbeing was tempted. In the wilderness, God also saw when His own Son, JesusChrist, was tempted repeatedly. God is not blind, God is not negligent. Hesees. He knows. And He allows. But God's permission is not a sign that Heapproves evil. God's permission is always in the plan of love and salvation. God allows temptation because He created man withfreedom. Love without freedom is not true love. Loyalty without choice is notloyalty. If humans can never choose the wrong one, then choosing the right oneis no longer meaningful. So in the face of temptation, man is actually standingbefore an opportunity: whether he will believe in God, or believe in anothervoice. That's where faith becomes real, not just words. The story in Eden shows how human can fall. Whenlistening to the voice of the devil, human chooses a path away from God. Buteven in that moment of fall, God does not leave. He seeks out people, callsthem, and opens the way of salvation. So God never allows temptation to destroyman, but rather to lead man to see how much he needs God. Sin hurts, but theconsciousness of sin opens the door to repentance. Then we see Jesus in the wilderness. He was temptednot once, but many times. Satan tried to shake Him through the hunger, power,and glory of the world. But Jesus did not fall. He answered with the Word ofGod, with full trust in the Father. This is where the light of hope lies:temptation does not have to end in sin. In Jesus, we learn that humans canstand firm. He showed that faithfulness is possible, that God's grace is strongenough to help us. Perhaps in our lives today there is also a"wilderness": the temptation to despair, the temptation to be angry,the temptation to look for shortcuts, the temptation to live away from God.Don't immediately think God is leaving us. Quite the opposite. God sees. God iswith us. And He allows that struggle to be purified in our faith, in order forour hearts to learn to rely on Him again. So don't be afraid of temptation. Be afraid when westop returning to God. When you fall, rise through repentance. When you arestrong, be grateful for His grace. Because in every struggle, God is working toshape our hearts. He never leaves man in temptation. Instead, he opens the wayhome. And on that way home, we find that God's love is always greater than anytemptation in this world.Let us pray. In the name of the Father ... O Father inheaven, fill us with Your power so that we may overcome the temptations in ourlives and choose the way back to You. Our Father who art in heaven... In thename of the Father ...