Feb. 18, 2018

1st Sunday of Lent B Genesis 9: 8-15; 1 Peter 3: 18-22; Mark 1: 12-15 We begin another Lent with hope in our hearts. Hope that we will be closer to the Lord after these forty days and realize His constant love and presence in our lives. On Ash Wednesday we were marked with blessed ashes. These are a physical reminder of our mortality and approaching death, which the Lord has established. Also they remind each of us of our responsibility to live our lives in the way of the Gospel. How are we doing? How am I doing? I need these days. The first reading is about God establishing a covenant with Noah and his sons after the devastating flood. The Gospel shares Mark’s version of Jesus being tempted in the desert. They are a reminder of the constant battles in my life. The floodwaters and deserts that make me feel isolated and helpless. I need this season to remind me that I am never alone. The Holy Spirit is always with me. The enormous gift of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist changes my life and brings me constant joy…all I have to do is to say yes. The first reading from Genesis draws a close to the great flood with God speaking very comforting words to Noah. After spending almost a year on his enormous boat, Noah is so grateful to be standing on dry land. In the previous chapter, Noah offers a substantial sacrifice to the Lord: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” (Genesis 8:20) God knows that the thought stays in Noah’s mind that maybe God might use a ‘flood’ again. God uses language that Noah understands, covenant, to give Noah assurance that this will never happen again. The ‘bow in the clouds’ to us the rainbow is a sign of God’s word, God’s covenant. I enjoy seeing a rainbow. Once I witnessed a double rainbow over a church that I ministered at on weekends. I really was in awe. I was too slow to capture it on my cell phone, but it is totally ingrained in my memory. It filled me with an enormous grasp of God’s presence, His care and being totally safe and loved. We must remember the ‘signs’ that God gives us that remind us of His absolute love and care. Psalm 25 echoes God’s presence in my endless search: “Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.” This is labeled as a Psalm of David…Confident Prayer for Forgiveness and Guidance. It is beautiful…read the twenty-five verses. We hear these verses today: “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths, Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. Remember that Your compassion O Lord, and Your love are from of old. In Your kindness, remember me, because of Your goodness, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord, thus He shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and He teaches the humble His way.” Do I know that God always cares for me? Lent tells me so. Mark’s Gospel does not have the account of the Birth of Jesus. It starts with these words, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” and then it starts with the Preaching of John the Baptist, followed by the Baptism of Jesus then todays’ account of the Temptation of Jesus. From the second verse all the scenes take place in the wilderness and are linked by references to the Holy Spirit. Why is this? Mark expects his listeners to remember the forty years’ that the Hebrew people were tested in their desert sojourn. He expects them to remember Moses’ forty days on the mountain being prepared to receive the Ten Commandments of God’s covenant. He also expects them to remember Elijah’s trip to Mt. Horeb after he ran away from Jezebel who was intent on killing Him. In 1 Kings 19: 9, Elijah encounters God outside a cave and He gives him a new mission. He was to reestablish the covenant and restore the pure faith of the people. These images all reappear at the Transfiguration. It is the Spirit who ‘drives’ or forces’ or ‘casts out’ Jesus into the wilderness. Mark’s account of the temptation of Jesus is much shorter than either Matthew’s or Luke’s. This may be because he does not have access to the others sources. Dr. Bonnie Bowman Thurston, a scriptural expert on Mark’s gospel says it may be because “Mark understands all of Jesus’ public ministry to be filled with temptation, but especially the temptation to be Messiah in a way that fulfills human expectations rather than divine plan.” So Mark is telling us point blank who Jesus is for us: Jesus’ identity is the one who shares our struggles and temptations with us. I’m not alone. The Holy Spirit is always with me. Jesus has endured all the horribleness of life that I have witnessed and experienced. Then Mark gives a brief statement that outlines his entire gospel. It is concise but it is packed. Jesus has come to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Sunday Homily Helps explains this: “This statement of Jesus consists of three major emphases: time, a new reality, and action. The first emphasis is that God’s special time (kairos in Greek) has been fulfilled. That means that we have now entered sacred time, which is calculated by the will of God and not linear, hours, minutes, and seconds. In God’s sacred time, there also exists a new and alternative reality called the kingdom of God. This is God’s divine presence manifested in the words and actions of Jesus. This new alternative reality demands a radical response characterized by change (repentance) and believing in this good news. All of this is the Gospel of God in a nutshell.” Lent is a time for me to face those kinds of challenges and trials that drag me down and away from God. It’s a time to look at the grudges, angers or resentments that exist far too much. It is my own spiritual time in the desert where I come face-to-face with my troubles and imperfections…AND most importantly, Jesus walks with me arm in arm on my journey. I am not alone. I have nothing to fear. I am loved. So I reflect on: • When have I experienced a rainbow of hope after a stormy time in my life? Who was there to help? Did I experience God’s presence somehow? • Can I think of a few ways that I can be repentant to reorient my life to live the Gospel this Lent? • Do I ask God for the grace in receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation to forgive myself since You always do? • Can I ask for greater confidence in Your mercy and love Lord? Why not? It’s there! • Lord help me to let go of the negatives and embrace Your grace that is constantly raining down upon me. Sacred Space 2018 states: “What spirit drives me in the things I do? Is my heart a home for the Spirit? Could the Holy Spirit be inviting me to take more quiet space? In the Bible, the ‘wilderness’ is a place of revelations and of intimacy with God. I need to put secondary things aside to meet God. God is found in emptiness as well as in fullness. I can find Him in the emptiness of sickness, old age, disappointment, failure, and solitude. As Lent begins, I might promise God that I will be faithful to the quiet space and time that Sacred Space offers me. I want the kingdom of God to come near me. I want to believe more deeply in the good news.”