The time has come: convert and believe in the Gospel: Commentary Fr. Jorge Miró

Sunday, February 11, 2024
1st of Lent

Cathopic

Father Jorge Miró shares with Exaudi readers his commentary on today’s Gospel, Sunday, February 18, 2024, titled “The time has come: convert and believe in the Gospel”

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We have begun LENT, a time of intense preparation to celebrate Easter, the most important event in the history of salvation: the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord.

It is a time in which the Lord invites you to take your life, your conversion, and your renewal seriously. To be renewed is to convert to Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Lord of your life: of your entire life!

Lent reminds us that life is a serious combat in which the tempter, the devil, is present, prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

If you open your heart to the tempter, he will lead you down the path of pride, worldliness and self-sufficiency, superfluity, materialism and selfishness, ambition and power, pleasure and strength…

Lent invites you to close your heart to temptation and open it to the Holy Spirit. And to live with a contrite and humbled heart, like the one the Psalm has shown us: a heart that recognizes his sin and trusts in the mercy of God: The Lord teaches the way to sinners; He makes the humble walk in righteousness.


The Holy Spirit also leads you to enter the desert to meet God. The desert is the “place” in which you are stripped of your “securities”, where you are purified – if you let yourself – of all idolatries, so that you can experience that my strength and my power is the Lord.

Today’s Gospel presents you with a constant reality in the life of man: the reality of temptation. Jesus was tempted, and we also went through that reality.

The root of all temptations is wanting to be the god of your life. Temptation is the invitation to do evil, to deviate from God’s plan for your life. This reminded us of the sign of ashes: you are not god. You are dust. You don’t give life to yourself.

What are the temptations in your life today? How do you fight them?

Wednesday’s gospel reminded us of three means for spiritual combat: prayer and meditation on the Word of God, fasting and almsgiving.

Cheer up! Ask for the Holy Spirit. Ask for the gift of strength to be able to fight the good fight of faith and thus be able to experience the victory of Jesus Christ in your life.

Come Holy Spirit! (cf. Luke 11, 13).