When I look back on the months I have spent in Rome, I often find myself caught between wonder and disbelief, writes Fr Clement Baffoe SVD. Rome, with all its centuries of whispers and layers of history, now forms part of my own personal story — a story I never imagined would unfold in such depth and colour.

I share this as a friendly journey through the corners of my life in the Eternal City. It is a story of grace, vulnerability, laughter, study, growth, and a fair share of unexpected moments.

Today is the First Sunday of Lent, and  today’s Gospel is taken from the opening of  Matthew, chapter 4.  We hear the well known, dramatic story of Jesus’ temptations in the desert which takes place before he begins his public ministry.

When I was in my first year in the seminary, our Religious Education teacher challenged us to see who knew the Ten Commandments and who could recite them. I raised my hand and thanks be to God, I got them all, to the amazement of my classmates, because there were only two of us who raised up their hands. As you read this perhaps you could ponder, how many of the Ten Commandments do you really know? 

Here in Australia the idiom “turn something on its head” is used quite a lot, especially in sports. When a team is leading by a big score and then the opponent rallies and is now in the lead, you can hear commentators saying, “The game has been turned on its head”.

During this time of the year, when we are nearing the end of the Liturgical Calendar, our readings are about the “end-times”. And especially when we hear about natural and man-made calamities happening around the world left and right.

Last week, if you came to Church, you would have heard Jesus telling us to “pray continually and never lose heart.” He reminded us persevering in prayer, because prayer is not just for hard times, it is not just when we need God we start to pray — it’s a way of living for our life. Keep trusting. Keep knocking the door. Keep speaking to God who loves us.

Today, the first reading, from the Second Book of Kings, speaks about Naaman the Syrian. This is a beautiful reading that all of us need to remember because it is a wonderful teaching about our relationship with God.

One of the more difficult sayings of Jesus is in today’s gospel: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted’ and it would obey you.” Wow.

Today’s readings speak with one voice. They give us a warning, a challenge, and an invitation. And they leave us with one very powerful question: Are we really seeing the people around us?

There was this story of an old but sick man who won a huge prize from lotto. The relatives were afraid that if they broke this news, he might have a heart attack and die.