First Sunday in Lent, Cycle B
Gn 9:8-15; 1 Pt 3:18-22; Mk 1: 12-15
Can a storm ever last forever?
Thank God these past few days we have been enjoying some beautiful days of
bright sunshine. Don’t get me wrong – stormy weather does not bother me.
However when you are in the thick of it, when the storm would have been going on perhaps already for a few days days and the skies are just like one big grey cloud, as we have had in the past few weeks, no matter what
the Weather Channel says, you feel as though the storm will never pass. You
start to think that the bad weather, this time round will last for ever.
The Deluge in the history of humanity
It is interesting that the story of theDeluge is found in almost all the ancient religions in some form or other, from
the Babylonian and Mesopotamian stories, to ancient Hindu stories and even
among native North, Central and South American tribes. However the way in which
the story is recounted in the Genesis, today’s first readings reveals some
particularities that are not found in other accounts of the same story. It is
clear the emphasis here is on the relationship between God and His people. In
fact, it is a special relationship, marked by the covenant, a pact, a promise, a vow.
In just seven or eight verses that we’ve read today, I’ve counted the word covenant
about five times!
God's covenant
What is God promising? God promises that
never again will he destroy the human race to punish them for their sin. In
other words, God is saying, no matter how many times you break your promise
with me, no matter how many times you fail to be faithful towards me, my love
and mercy towards you will be constant. My love towards you will be unfailing.
God is not saying this only to our ancestors thousands of years ago but he is
saying these words to you and me right now. “My love for you is constant and
never ending.”
Baptism tells, but even shapes our story
Within this context we can really
appreciate the words in the second reading: through our baptism we have been
introduced to this love, through our baptism, this promise has been made to us
too. Recently I came across an article which compared baptism with tattoos. The
author made the link by saying that both of them are made once and for ever - both are permanent - and both usually have a
very special significance for the person. However he goes a step further by
saying that the mark which baptism leaves on our soul changes us. Not only does
it tell a story but it also shapes our story, our future.
If you undergo temptation it is a good sign
Perhaps we can see this best when we see
Jesus’ temptation in the desert and his spiritual combat with Satan as
embracing even our own temptations. The ancient Desert Fathers used to say that
being tempted by the devil is a good sign, because it means that you are
spiritually alive. Satan does not tempt who is spiritually dead. It is when we
feel that struggle in our soul that we know that we are being tempted. Who is
spiritually dead feels no struggle.
Exposing the devil's traps
Pope Benedict XVI used to say that when the
devil tempts us, he does not usually attract us with what is evil, but it is
more likely that he attracts us with false goods. We start mistaking what
appears good and nice with what is really good and beautiful. We are tempted
when we start getting doubts about the right order of our priorities in our
life. The devil tempts us with discouragement, that is, when we think that the
storms in our life are never going to pass, when God becomes secondary in our
life and other trivial, creating things slowly slowly taking his place. Pope Francis offers some very wise advice: don’t argue with the
devil, rather, as St Peter says, stand firm against him in faith (1 Pt 5:8-9).
An ongoing struggle which is already won
This struggle is a constant one throughout
our life. Sometimes it will be even more challenging, but we
will never be completely free from this struggle so long as we’re alive! Jesus
himself in the same Gospel of Mark, after today’s episode continues to fight
Evil throughout his ministry in Galilee, as he frees people possessed by the
devil and even to the point of chiding Peter because he was being an instrument
of temptation for Jesus in the hands of Satan.
Repenting and believing in practice
Lent is the perfect opportunity for this
spiritual awakening, to become aware of how we encounter temptations in our
life, to repent and to believe in the word of God. Two concrete ways of doing
this is by making at least one good confession during this Lenten season and of
committing to reading with the eyes of faith the Bible, even if only 5 or 10
minutes every day. Then - and only then - can we too realise that the Kingdom of
God is indeed at hand, we need to just repent and believe in the Good News.
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