First Reading: Genesis 2:7-9 3:1-7

Our human condition means we are attracted to sin. Sin is not something we are, it is something we do. From the moment we are created we are filled with the breath and Spirit of God. Through God’s Spirit in us we become enlivened; it is our very life. The writers of the creation story recognise that sin causes us to judge others superficially, seeing them from the outside only.


Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19

Paul superimposes the disaster of Adam’s sin with greater victory over sin won by Christ on the cross. But Christ’s victory for outweighs Adam’s action in the Garden. Whereas Adam’s sin makes us sinners, Christ’s
obedience obliterates that identity. It penetrates us and fills us with grace. Spiritually, the prelapsarian state is restored so that once again we are filled with divine life and the grace of God’s love.


Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

When we experience darkness in life we feel God is absent. Matthew teaches that it was exactly God’s Spirit who led Jesus to the wilderness. Sometimes it is an important place to be. Time apart to think, pray and fast can strengthen us and give clarity to our purpose in life, as it did here for Jesus.
The Vastness of what Satan offers Jesus is greatly contrasted with the calculable tenderness of God’s angels. Indeed there are many angels, but those of God are in servitude of God alone. They support Jesus “on their hands” and “Look after him”. This indeed is the calling of every Christian.