And so Lent begins, as always, with a Gospel reading depicting the Temptation of Jesus, of a very biblical 40 days in the wilderness which we are invited to replicate with our 40 days of fasting and prayer. Well, that’s the liturgical theory anyway. Given that we are now in Year B, when Mark and John share the gospel honours, how well adapted are these for dealing with the Temptation theme? Mark’s account of Jesus’ temptation is only two verses long, and John doesn’t have one at all. Surprisingly, however, we still have plenty to work with in Mark’s brief story.
You can listen to my comments on the Gospel text here….
Howard Pilgrim