The word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon lencten meaning "spring." Before we consider Jesus’ springtime, let’s ask why such a cold winter fell upon mankind.

God created our first parents for happiness. His plan for them centered on marriage and family. God placed man in a beautiful garden with virtually unlimited resources. The man lacked only one thing – a companion like himself. So God cast a deep sleep over him, removed a rib and formed a woman.* When the man awoke, he let out a joyful exclamation because she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. More beautiful than the mountains or streams, more beautiful than the entire night sky. He thought he would never take his eyes off her.

But what happened? The man was supposed to stand by his wife and protect her, but at the most crucial instant, the moment of the temptation, he was nowhere in sight. Where was he? Perhaps he gave in to laziness and was sleeping. Dr. Scott Hahn builds the case that the man got frightened and ran away. Whatever the reason, he was not there.

From this we can see that a lack of mutual support preceded the Fall. When they did the forbidden act, things quickly began to unravel. They immediately started making excuses, trying to duck personal responsibility. As we see in today's first reading, the man blamed his wife; she blamed the serpent. Trust disappeared. They could no longer be “naked” in each other’s presence. This nakedness, as Pope John Paul pointed out, refers to an innocence which was not just physical, but spiritual. In its place came concealment, duplicity, bullying. Thus a cruel winter fell upon our race.

After tripping our first parents, the devil had no difficulty with the rest of us. Like the Enron scandal indicates, he can pick out people who are on top of the world and bring them down in an instant. Others see them and say, “How could they be so stupid?” But those who ask the question do not know their own hearts. You and I have done foolish things. The only difference is that, unlike the Enron executives, we did not have billions of dollars - other folk’s money – to throw around. Nevertheless, considering our more limited opportunities, you and I have shown remarkable stupidity.

Knowing how readily humans fall, the devil thought he would have an easy time with Jesus. He offered the usual fare: sensual pleasure, quick wealth, comfort, popular esteem, authority without accountability. He even tried to draw Jesus into a kind of despair. “Throw yourself down.” (Mt 4:6) As God, Jesus could not have fallen. Still, as a man he carried in his human nature the full burden of our failures. By his resistance, something new entered our world.

It once seemed the dreary winter would never end, but even now there are tiny buds on the trees. Lent, lencten, springtime is upon us. In today’s Gospel we see the first signs of that new life.

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