Lent Through the Eyes of La Salette
First Sunday of Lent
La Salette Laity Reflection by the Orlando Laity Core Team
Today’s readings invite us to begin our Lenten journey by honestly examining who we are and who God calls us to be, through the message of Our Lady of La Salette.
In the first reading from Genesis, God lovingly creates Adam and provides everything needed for life. Yet temptation enters quietly through doubt: “Did God really say…?” This echoes the warning of Our Lady of La Salette—the temptation to believe that God withholds something from us and that we know better than Him. Adam and Eve’s sin was not simply eating fruit, but choosing self over trust and pride over obedience. Shame and fear followed, and they hid from God. Sin promises freedom but leaves us broken. At La Salette, Mary warned of the consequences of turning away from God, revealing to Maximin the conversation about the spoiled wheat as a sign of what happens when we fail to repent.
The responsorial psalm expresses the cry of a repentant heart: “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” Lent is not about guilt, but about returning to a God rich in mercy. Mary’s message reminds us that her Son’s arm is heavy with the weight of our sins, calling us to conversion.
Saint Paul reminds us that while sin entered through Adam, grace comes through Jesus Christ. Where sin abounds, grace overflows. This is our hope. Lent calls us to repentance, prayer, fasting, and generosity.
We are dust, yet filled with God’s breath—sinners, yet deeply loved. Through Christ, grace always has the final word.
Our Lady of La Salette, pray for us.
