First Sunday of Lent (Cycle A)

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The Temptation of Jesus Lectionary:  22 Reading 1 -  Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 Reading 2 -  Romans 5:12-19 Verse - Matthew 4:4b Gospel -  Matthew 4:1-11 One does not live on bread alone. Every year, we begin our Lenten journey in the same place: the desert.   The Gospel for this Sunday places Jesus in the wilderness, fasting and praying, confronted by temptation. In that stark setting we find the pattern of our own Lenten journey: a movement away from distraction toward the heart of God, a testing that reveals what truly sustains us, and a call to conversion that reshapes our lives.  Throughout our lives, we are frequently confronted with tests … and these tests generally reveal something about ourselves: In school, we demonstrate that we have mastered an academic subject with a test  in sports, we demonstrate our level of a particular skill with a contest  In life, we demonstrate the integri...
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Reflection - Holy Hour for Life 2025

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Parish HOLY HOUR FOR LIFE (HHFL)


Welcome to this Holy Hour for Life here at Our Lady Star of the Sea. This is one of many such times of Adoration and prayer that are held throughout the Archdiocese of Boston each year in conjunction with the national observance of a Day of Prayer and Penance on January 22nd, and this year’s annual March for Life in Washington DC this coming Friday, January 24th. The purpose of these Holy Hours is to bring Catholics together in prayerful solidarity, united by our desire for an increased respect for the dignity of human life, from conception to natural death, and by our own need for the tender compassion of God and the generous mercy of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Life is a precious gift from God, created in His image and likeness. This is how we know that there is always a beauty and dignity inherent in each individual. Each person, regardless of their circumstance, is deserving of love and respect … and …as we hear in our first reading tonight from Isaiah, each of us is known and loved by God from the moment of our creation in our mother’s womb … and we are called to bring the light of that love into the world so that God’s “salvation may reach the ends of the earth.” This is not merely a task to accomplish, but a divine mission to engage with the world compassionately, addressing the needs of the marginalized and the distressed, and to be the agents of hope and healing found in the divine mercy of Jesus Christ.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus responds to the cries of the afflicted with a gaze of mercy and the comfort of His presence … healing the sick, forgiving sinners, and welcoming outcasts … and each act of mercy reveals the heart of God, who desires reconciliation and healing for all … In fact, when Jesus says in the Gospel of John that He is the Bread of Life … we see a little of just how precious the gift of life is … because Jesus gives everything he has to restore and nourish it … and He continues to give himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist … and that brings us back to the Holy Hour for Life.

Because the Real Presence of Jesus is in the Eucharist, we come here tonight to be in His presence. We do so for an hour in memory of Jesus asking Peter, James and John to keep watch with him for one hour while He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before His passion. Tonight, we also reflect on the sanctity of life, the transformative power of forgiveness, and the healing power of Christ.

As we conclude this Holy Hour ... May we, through the grace of God, be empowered to live out His compassion and mercy in our daily lives, becoming beacons of hope and love for all those we encounter. May we continue to pray for the sanctity of Life, Forgiveness, and Healing and all that surrounds our presence with one another – compassion, mercy and understanding. I ask you to please include in your prayers all Expectant Moms and their unborn babies.

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