Gospel-Homily for First Sunday of Lent (2026)

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A Kindred Spirit.

The first time I told my father that I was training to run a marathon, he enthusiastically responded, “Are you out of your mind?” I ran the marathon and experienced something for the first time in my life: the wall. The best way to describe the wall is that sometime between mile 20 and 25, the body shuts down, the legs no longer work, and the mind starts to play tricks on you. “You are going to die. But you can live if you stop now and eat pizza.” Yes, the wall is a very hard experience, but there is a benefit. Something happens when you hit the wall. You get a kindred spirit. Let me explain.

In life, we absorb a lot of negativities: long lines, long waits, getting no appreciation, little affirmation, thankless jobs, being yelled at, disappointments, setbacks, and rejection. All that negativity gets trapped in the body. When I hit the wall in a marathon, an amazing thing happened. All the negativity leaves the body. You are left with a humble, meek, and kindred spirit.

When I used to read that Jesus went into the desert for forty days and fasted with no food or water, I always thought: “Has he lost his mind. Doesn’t Jesus have something more important to do like cure the sick.”

Now I get it. When Jesus met the sinful woman, there was no negativity. When Jesus encountered the religious leaders who wanted him dead, no negativity. When the disciples showed little or no faith and left him alone to die, He showed no negativity. When Jesus was condemned by Pilate and when he died on the cross, no negativity. And most impressively, when Jesus rose from the dead, there was no ax to grind, no vendetta, and no negativity. When Jesus said, ” Come to me, who are burdened with negativity, for I am meek and humble of heart. We should be compelled to ask. How do you get a meek and humble heart?

The greatest thing we could ever acquire in life, the hardest thing to acquire in life, is a humble and meek heart, a kindred spirit. I bet we can possess it in forty days.