In our First Reading today (Genesis 9:8-15), God speaks to Noah and his children. It is God who takes the initiative, who acts first. By speaking to Noah, God intervenes in human history in order to establish a special relationship a covenant with Noah and his descendants. Today’s Reading describes the essence of God’s promise. Never again would God destroy his creation as he had with the great flood. Instead, God will honor his creation even when his people fail to live up to their part of the covenant. God set a rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant that existed between God and man.
In the Second Reading (1 Peter 3:18-22) we can hear the words of Saint Peter that speak of the suffering of Christ that leads us back to God. Although Christ died in the flesh, he was resurrected to life in the Spirit. It is through his suffering and death that we have become heirs to new life in him. Our Lenten journey presents us with an opportunity to walk with Jesus through our sacrifices prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and by the power of the Holy Spirit to come to a fuller life in him.
Today’s Gospel passage (Mark 1:12-15) is about Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, and is much shorter than the versions found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Mark focuses less on the temptations themselves and ends with the heart of the New Testament message as Jesus proclaims: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” Jesus’ time in the desert was one of preparation for his public ministry. We can prepare during Lent for the upcoming Paschal Mystery by asking ourselves some questions.
First: How have we been saved by God already in our lives? Are their times of trial from which we have been delivered? It’s so easy to see only what is in front of us, and the sufferings of the present moment. Reflect back on years gone by and actively look for ways that God has delivered. This should serve to deepen our trust in God.
Second: How have we been led to God? How have we been blessed, and saved? What methods of prayer have brought us closest to him? Take those lessons and make us of them during this Lenten season.
And the third question: How might we best follow the Lord into the desert? Perhaps focusing on all the penitential practices of the season might be a way to open our hearts to the Kingdom.
Lent recalls the forty days of our Lord’s fasting in the desert in preparation for his public ministry. Through prayer and fasting, the Son of God prepared himself for the mission that lay before him. During the Lenten season, prayer, fasting and almsgiving prepare Christians to better celebrate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord.