Dear Parish Family,
As we begin our Lenten journey, our Church provides us with many spiritual riches to pursue in our liturgy and in our Scriptures. We have 40 days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving set before us. These days are reminiscent of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, and the 40 years Moses led God's redeemed people through the desert out of slavery into freedom. 

We hear in our readings that God did not create or cause sin, but that sin entered the world through the disobedience of our primordial parents who believed the lies of the tempter. We call this tempter Satan, and he desires our destruction. Satan has forever made himself the enemy of our human nature. The very name Satan means 'accuser' since he twists the truth and carefully crafts lies in order to condemn and set human beings against themselves, one another, and against God. When we look at our world now and throughout history, we can clearly see the chaos Satan has brought upon humanity in every age. It is into this chaos that God sends His Son. 

In today's Gospel, we hear that Jesus encounters Satan in the desert during his forty days of fasting. In his typical ways, Satan tries to get Jesus to fall for his lies. Jesus knows well the tactics of the enemy. Even from the first word of his first temptation, Satan tries to get Jesus to doubt His identify as the Son of God, "If you are the Son of God…" Of course Jesus is the Son of God! Why would He doubt this? Jesus takes no part in such nonsense. We should learn from our Lord to recognize and reject the lies of the enemy just as simply and fully as Jesus does. We know from our own experience that recognizing and rejecting these lies requires time praying with Scripture and listening to the voice of the Lord. God is with us! Remember that Jesus never confronted Satan alone, but always with the presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Likewise, may we never seek to meet the enemy alone on his own turf, but only with and in the presence of the Holy Trinity who guide us and guard us through every experience.

Parish Mission
I invite you to come to our Parish Mission this week starting this Sunday February 26 and continuing on Monday February 27, and Tuesday February 28. All three nights start at 6:30 pm in the church at St. Mary's. I will be leading the mission this year. The theme is RIM - Relationship, Identity, Mission. Each night will flow from and deepen the teaching of each night, so please plan to come to all three nights! I want to teach you how to pray relationally, to understand more deeply who God is to you and who you are to Him, and to help you live your God-given mission fruitfully. I promise it will be a rewarding time of spiritual renewal!

I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow