2/21 - 1st Sunday of Lent

The primary purpose of Lent is spiritual preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery recalling Jesus’ death on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Hence, the Church leads her children to “repentance,” metanoia the process in which one reorders one’s priorities, and changes one’s values, ideals, and ambitions, through fasting, prayer and mortification. Lent, then, is a period of self-examination, prompting us to repent of our sins, and so to bring about a real conversion: to turn to God and to His teaching, and to do good for others. Lent also challenges us to reform our lives by turning away from self, from evil, and from sin, to turn toward God and toward others with renewed Faith and fervor. Lenten observances are also intended to lead us to our annual solemn renewal of Baptismal vows on Holy Saturday. Through Baptism, we are called to live justly, to love God with all our being, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to build the kingdom of God by our acts of charity.  That is why the three readings chosen as today’s Scripture refer to Baptism directly or indirectly.

The sign of the covenant with Noah was the rainbow. The rainbow often gives the impression of linking heaven and earth. That is why the rainbow is a sign of the second covenant joining Heaven and earth. The ancient Hebrews looked upon the rainbow as God’s bow (weapon) hung up like a decoration, not to be used again! Humorous as it sounds, the sign of the rainbow may help us to understand better the pivotal place of Jesus in salvation history. Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, is the link between God and humankind, and between Heaven and earth. The story of the salvation of Noah and his family from the waters became an inverse symbol of our Baptism: through the waters of Baptism in which we die to sin, we become incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, the living Christian community. Through our life in and with our parish and world-wide Christian community, we learn how to live out our commitment to Jesus. We get support in living that life from the community of which we are a part.

Peter reminds us all of our place in the larger history of God’s providence in order to help us see our present sufferings in a larger context. He says an outward sign of the Covenant that God made with his people through Jesus is Baptism. Baptism not only removes Original Sin but is also our birth into Christ – the way we become adopted children of God, heirs of heaven, and temples of the Holy Spirit.

What we read in detail in Luke and Matthew, Mark just puts brush marks of a scene in the wilderness. The desert was the place where, in Moses’ time, ancient Israel was tested for 40 years. The 40 days of Jesus’ fasting may also recall the 40-day fasts undertaken by Moses (Dt 9:18) and Elijah (1 Kgs 19:8). Wilderness experience is a great lesson of dependency on God. So on this first Sunday of Lent we are asked to look upon these contrasting images of water and wilderness in order to reorder our present life with the gift of God’s grace in Baptism, rainbow connection of his beloved Son and learn total dependency on him in obedience.
 

Fr. Tom Kunnel C.O.