Understanding the Day
Season
Lent
Week
Week 1 of Lent
Rank
First-class feast
Lent is the forty-day season of preparation before Easter, marked by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Sunday 1 of Lent begins that journey: the Church’s focus shifts toward repentance, spiritual renewal, and growing closer to Christ through the disciplines of the season. This day is a Greater Sunday of the I Class, which in plain language means it is one of the most important Sundays of the liturgical year; its celebrations take precedence over most other commemorations and set the tone for the weeks that follow. There is no octave or vigil specific to this entry beyond the normal Lenten observances.
Daily Prayer
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Weekly Prayer
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Weekly Formation
Beatitude 3
The Beatitudes
Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.
The blessed mourners grieve chiefly for sin—their own and the sins of the world—and bear unavoidable trials in union with God. Their promised comfort is not mere earthly relief but the consolation of grace and, finally, eternal joy.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Sunday 1 of Lent
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Today in Church History
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Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
In the Catechism, we learn that Jesus' public life begins with his baptism, a moment that signifies his acceptance of his mission as the suffering Servant and the Son of God. By being baptized, Jesus identifies with sinners and anticipates his sacrificial death, showing us the depth of his love and obedience to the Father. His subsequent temptation in the desert reveals his victory over sin and the devil, affirming his role as the new Adam who remains faithful where others faltered. For Catholic families, these events highlight the importance of baptism as a call to humility and repentance, encouraging us to embrace our identity as beloved children of God and to draw strength from Christ’s example during Lent and throughout our lives.
In these passages, we learn that Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom of God on earth and gathers people around himself in the Church, the seed and beginning of that Kingdom. He calls all people into union with him, inviting them to accept his word and become his disciples. His Kingdom is received by the poor and lowly in heart, and Jesus welcomes sinners with the Father’s boundless mercy while calling them to conversion. Through parables, Jesus teaches that entering the Kingdom requires a radical choice: not words alone, but deeds, active love toward the poor, and a wholehearted response to his call. As we pray and reflect together, we can ask for humble hearts that welcome Christ’s word and follow him more faithfully.
¶ 540
Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him. This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning." By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.