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Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne
February 22, 2026
On this page you will find:
The readings for Mass, the Mass leaflet with the choice of hymns
A sample universal prayer available for download, in PDF and editable Word formats.
A meditation on the Sunday Gospel, a spiritual text and commentary by Marie-Noëlle Thabut
1st Sunday of Lent
Man does not live by bread alone,
but of every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4
Readings from the Mass
Mass leaflet
Universal Prayer
Consult the Lectio Divina page, which invites you to read the Gospel in a prayerful atmosphere so that you may be touched in your heart. It is important not to rush to read commentaries or homilies before having this personal experience of encountering Christ in Scripture.
Next, if you wish, you can read the meditations below which will enrich your personal reading and meditation.
Méditation
Meditation by Pope Francis
On this first Sunday of Lent, the Gospel leads us on the path to Easter, showing Jesus remaining forty days in the desert, subjected to the temptations of the devil (cf. Mt 4:1-11). This episode takes place at a specific moment in Jesus' life: immediately after his baptism in the Jordan, and before his public ministry. He has just received the solemn investiture: the Spirit of God has descended upon him, and the Father in Heaven has declared him his "beloved Son" (Mt 3:17). From now on, Jesus is ready to begin his mission, and since it has a declared enemy, namely Satan, he confronts him immediately, "hand to hand." The devil uses the title "Son of God" to dissuade Jesus from fulfilling his mission: "If you are the Son of God…," he repeats to him (vv. 3, 6), and he proposes that Jesus perform miraculous acts—play the "magician"—such as turning stones into bread to appease his hunger, and throwing himself from the temple walls, leaving the angels to save him. These two temptations are followed by a third: to worship him, the devil, in order to dominate the world (cf. v. 9).
Through this threefold temptation, Satan seeks to lead Jesus astray from the path of obedience and humility—because he knows that in this way, evil will be defeated—and to lure him down the false shortcut of success and glory. But the devil's poisoned arrows are parried by Jesus with the shield of the Word of God (vv. 4, 7, 10), which expresses the Father's will. Jesus utters no words of his own; he responds solely with the Word of God. And so, the Son, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, emerges victorious from the desert.
Homily
Draw from the source
Since last Wednesday, we have entered the season of Lent. Many people are no longer quite sure what it is. Many first think of the deprivations: we fast… we don't eat meat… Children add that we don't eat sweets…
Yes, of course, all of this can be part of Lent. But these deprivations are merely means to an end. The true purpose of these forty days is to rid ourselves of things. Our only priority is Jesus, who died and rose again. Once we understand this, everything else becomes secondary. We are invited to withdraw from the noise of the world and free ourselves from the baggage that weighs us down. Lent is not a period of deprivation but a time of rediscovering the Lord who has never ceased to love us.
Understanding the readings
with Marie-Noëlle THABUT
Une parole pour la route
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