Scripture Reading
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Reflection
The forty years in the desert were not punishment but curriculum. God let Israel hunger so they would discover what truly feeds a person. Jesus quoted this very passage when he was tempted in his own forty days of fasting. Lent invites us into a similar classroom: what does hunger reveal about what we actually depend on?
Prayer for Today
Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Amen.