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In these times our attention is drawn to authenticity in the personal, organisational and societal space. Stories abound at the moment about NGOs, football clubs, faith groups, governments, broadcasters and employers who have failed to live up to the standards on which they were founded. As individuals and groups, we will always be confronted with the question of what is authentic? For most it would likely be about being true to oneself, one’s values and virtues. We are in the first week of Lent. That’s when those of us who are Christians are called to examine our own authenticity. Christianity understands that despite our best intentions, we all often stray, and yet the Lenten call back to virtue is a constant offer to return to the authenticity embodied in Christ. That invitation to be authentic is always open and hopeful - not scolding or closed; it gives space for forgiveness and ultimately reconciliation, and the ability to reset our life. Yesterday’s reading at Mass included the Gospel of Mark about the Temptation of Christ in the desert when Jesus fasted for forty days and when the Devil tempted him. It is one of the key passages of the Lenten period which we hear as we move towards Easter. There are fuller accounts in the other Gospels, which recount how Christ didn’t succumb to the temptations of power, actions which would have diverted him towards self-focus rather than self-sacrifice. Despite the increasing frequency of stories showing the abuse of power, we are still shocked when the parts of our society tasked with protecting the vulnerable fail to do so. We hold such bodies, founded on principle to higher standards because we expect more of them. The Bible is littered with examples of wrongdoing. But it is also littered with examples of those who reorder – restore and re-establish the link to something good and authentic. The season of Lent encourages Christians to see hope not despair, and is a time in the calendar, particularly, to examine our conscience, our habits and our existence, and when we are asked to return to the authentic person, we are called to be. That asks us to understand more fully the human dimension. That understanding should not come from smug self-righteousness, but from the humility that is fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the human condition. The Lenten challenge for Christians, and for all people of goodwill, is to remember that the authentic living we expect from others is something we must first demand of ourselves.