Friends and companions:
The story of the temptations, with which we inaugurate Lent, is often a magnificent mirror for rethinking our life choices. Those traps that appear on the road are not attractions to sin. They only demonstrate that we are limited beings, who find it difficult to recognize the good in the concrete circumstances of our lives. We have a whole Lent ahead of us to advance in our task of discerning what is good, without falling into the deceptions of the ego.
And I announce a great news on this same line: Brother Marcos has just written a new book about “salvation,” which will come off the press in the coming days.
There are some upcoming events for Barcelona, Logroño or Madrid on the Bulletin Board.
Gospel and comments on the Gospel
Matthew 4, 1-11. He fasted for forty days and nights, and afterward he felt hungry.
Miguel Ángel Munárriz: The temptation. Subjected to temptation like any one of us.
**José Luis Sicre: Adam, Eve and Jesus facing temptation**. As Lent begins, the Church reminds us of two very different attitudes towards temptation: that of Adam and Eve, in which weakness triumphs, and that of Jesus, as an example of strength and the ability to resist in testing.
**Enrique Martínez Lozano: When we read ourselves in terms of lack**. As long as we perceive ourselves as needy beings, we will cling to having, to power, or to appearing and we will find ourselves trapped in a vicious circle of voracity and dissatisfaction.
Fray Marcos: It’s about looking for what’s best for me, even if it costs me. Discover it!
Fidel Aizpurúa: To be tempted. We have our selfishness very much alive and that’s why we suffer many temptations: to become detached from the fragile, to always want to be right, to impose ourselves on the weak while flattering the strong, or to look only after our money.
**José Antonio Pagola: Faithful to Jesus in the midst of temptations.** The Christians of the first generation were very soon interested in the “temptations” of Jesus.
**Mari Paz López Santos: The greatest human temptation.** What happens to humans that we crave material things that have an expiration date?
**Selected articles for the week**
**Guillermo Jesús Kowalski: The ash reveals the hypocrisy of religious practices that do not address injustices.** In a world that absolutizes success, technique, and individualism while domesticating religion as a bourgeois refuge for the soul, ash is a prophetic provocation, a wound that calls for conversion without anesthesia.
María Jesús Olarte: Letter to Pope Leo XIV. Dear Pope, there are many occasions and behaviors in which it seems to me that we are a Church that is little humble and, therefore, arrogant and overly concerned with ourselves … with our dogmas, certainties and rules.
Gabriel Mª Otalora: The Walls of Silence. They sold us globalization as the process that dismantled all borders, but that has not been the case. The walls multiplied and continue to grow, taller and more sinister.
Jesús Díaz Sariego: It is not possible to accept the equation of migrant equal to criminal without further consideration. The president of the Conference of Religious (Confer) considers it “premature” to talk about a “Catholic turn” although he notes a religious awakening and proposes “to get it right in its accompaniment without stifling it.”
**Josep Otón / Xavier Pete: Josep Otón: “Faith is not a refuge or an opiate. It is a challenge that shakes us to the core.”**. The professor and specialist in spirituality explains why the longing for God persists in a society that no longer believes by inheritance but by experience.
José Manuel Vidal: Raúl Biord, archbishop of Caracas: “The Venezuelan people breathe an urgent desire for stability and peace, not imposed by force, but based on truth and justice.” It is about embarking together on the long and difficult path of national reconciliation that allows us a social and democratic coexistence, in a Venezuela where, beyond legitimate differences, we all find a place and a home.
**Gerardo Villar: Experience of welcome in my pastoral life.** Over 30 years, I have been welcoming people who lived in loneliness or with problems.
**José Vicente Martínez: We have little absorbed the “everyone, everyone, everyone” of beloved Pope Francis.** Why do we so frequently forget the majority of members of the Church who are the faithful lay Christians? Are they second-class or third-class Christians?
News coverage. Parolin confirms that the Holy See will not participate in Trump’s ‘Peace Summit’ for Gaza.
For more participatory and current Eucharists
Genesis 2, 7-9 and 3, 1-7. The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
Romans 5, 12-19. Just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death.
Florentino Ulibarri: Lenten Proclamation. Let us enter Lent convinced, let us be swayed by the breeze of the Spirit; let us put our hearts in tune with the beatings of God and the cry of the afflicted.
Vicky Irigaray: Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time to accompany Jesus in silence, serving and loving as he himself serves and loves.
Vicky Irigaray: 1st Sunday of Lent. Being a son of God means doing the Father’s will, overcoming all kinds of trials and living in fidelity of love.
Anaphore: Temptations. Identifying temptations is the first step to overcoming them.
Multimedia material
**Get Used to Tracking Your Emotional and Mental State.** By Eckhart Tolle. Observe the various ways restlessness, discontent, and tension arise in you as a consequence of unnecessary judgments, resistance to what is, and the denial of the now. The unconscious dissolves when you illuminate it with the light of consciousness…
Do you know today. By Ain Karem. This song has become an anthem for the entire Vedruna family, and there’s no place where they don’t sing that “do you know today it needs people like you.” In this year 2026, in which we celebrate our 200 years as a family, here is our small tribute to those who wrote it, sang it, and most importantly, brought it to life.
Salomé Arricibita: Convert my heart. Let not our heart harden, let your light illuminate our dark corners, our fears and demons… May we always hear your voice. Presentation by Lenin Cárdenas.
**Te encontré**. By Marcelo Amaro SJ. Presentation Lenin Vladimir Cárdenas. A song to find God everywhere…” I found you within me.”
**Equipo Quiero Ver: Tener o Ser**. It is lamentable to see with what ease we let ourselves be dragged by customs and ways of living that are gradually implanted in our society, emptying the truest content of the most joyful experiences of human beings. The temptation is always the same, even disguised in different ways. It is the temptation to have instead of being.
**We are more than this game.** By Naurea Soma. We are more than this game. More than fear. More than yesterday. We have learned to be silent, to adapt, to play a game we didn’t choose. A song to remember who you are when you stop obeying fear. It’s not just a song. It’s a reminder, and if this song touched you, it’s no coincidence.
At the EFFA School we provide the link to the study material where you can find all the talks and bibliography available, for those who were unable to see them or want to review them. The link to access the latest videos uploaded may also be useful.
And, as I promised, the letters will end with these three links: the letter of the week, the letter of last week and letters from other weeks. When someone loses -or doesn’t receive- the email with the news, they can use an old letter to access the new one.
A hug,
Inma Calvo
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English version translated with AI