Although it seems that every year we do the same, this is not so. We are not the same, every day God makes us new. So as we change, also the celebration of Lent is different every year, every year God has a new gift for us.
The readings for this First Sunday of Lent
« Genesis reminds us about the Covenant that God makes with his creation.
« The letter of Peter speaks to us about our baptism
« And in the Gospel Jesus goes to the desert and suffers temptation. When his “retreat” is over he proclaims the good news of the Kingdom and invites us to repent and to believe.
FIRST READING – Gen 9:8-15
Ø This blessing about which we read in the book of Genesis comes after the story of the flood.
Ø The biblical author uses a myth from the countries of Mesopotamia and transforms it in a theological message about human freedom, about the consequences of the wrong use of freedom which leads to destruction of the human being and of the rest of creation. (the flood destroyed every living being)
Ø There is no reason to ask if the flood really happened, because the author is not interested in the flood but in the truth about God and human beings.
Ø The author uses images, colors, beautiful descriptions which are difficult to forget and which become engraved in our memory, but these images have to lead us to the message intended by the sacred writer.
Ø God makes a universal covenant with Noah, who represents the whole human race, the entire creation, thus it is a universal covenant which goes beyond the chosen people, it is for all the peoples on the earth and for everything that has been created by God.
Ø As it happened “in the beginning…” God blesses his creation, and in a very special way the human beings” … and God saw that it was good…” “… and God saw that it was very good…” God offers a new opportunity to the human beings, God is not tired of beginning anew…
Ø The sign of his covenant described by the author is a beautiful image taken from nature; it is an image of an extraordinary beauty, the rainbow: “when I see my bow on the clouds… I will recall the covenant…”
Ø God is portrayed in an anthropomorphic way. God needs to see in order to remember, this is the way us human remember things
Ø When two people were fighting, and one of them did not want to fight anymore, that person would put his bow at the entrance of his tent as a sign of peace.
Ø God who has his home beyond the clouds in the sky, according to the belief of the time, will put his bow at the entrance of his tent, on the clouds. This is the sign of the covenant.
Ø The people of that time believed that God did everything; God would punish or bless men sending the rain, the flood, and the drought because these were his weapons.
Ø In the story of the flood God is tired of the human being, and wants to punish them using his weapons, the flood to destroy everything, except Noah and his family.
Ø We know that the rainbow appears because of the laws of physics, but even knowing that we are in awe when we see its beauty. It reminds us of the beauty, the truth and the peace of God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
« The psalmist asks God to show him his ways.
« He asks God to remember his compassion and love.
« Our good God teaches his ways to the sinner, and leads the humble to justice.
« Let us remember that the justice of God is to make us just as He is. It is not like our retributive justice. It is the justice of God who loves and gives without measure to all the just and the sinner alike; and He calls all to love. The God who pays the same salary for the work of the whole day , and for an hour of work; he pays the same to the one who has been on the ways of God his or her entire life and to the one who accepts God in his or her last moments.
FIRST LETTER OF PETER 3:18-22
Jesus suffered doing what is good for “the unjust” in order to lead him or her to God. Christ through his sufferings is our savior and our model. Peter mentions the flood narrative. And he relates this account with the bath of baptism, which is not only for little group like the family of Noah, but for all who accept Christ. Baptism is not a bath that takes away material stains, but it is a commitment to become like Jesus. Christ with his death and resurrection has open for us the way that leads to the Father. Christ is glorified at the right hand of the Father. This image reminds us about the king’s court where the most important person in the kingdom sits at the right hand of the King. GOSPEL OF MARK 1:12-15
ü After his baptism, the same Spirit of God who descended upon him leads him now to the desert.
ü For the people of Israel the desert was the place of the trial and the place to make decisions, the place of the first love.
ü In the desert the people of God will learn d to trust in God.
ü Jesus, who has taken our human nature, is tempted.
ü He is the perfect Israel, who in the peace and contemplative silence in the desert chooses the way of the Father. He may be seen also as the Adam(man) of the new creation who lives in harmony with the wild beasts, thus transforming the desert in an inner paradise where the Angels of God are present.
ü Mark does not explain to us the content of the temptations or trials of Jesus as Matthew and Luke do.
ü But Mark makes it very clear the triumph of Jesus over the tempter, and also his complete trust in the providence of the Father.
ü Jesus, the new Adam lives peacefully with the rest of creation. This image reminds us of the scene described in Genesis about Paradise when man was in peace with the rest of creation and the animals were subjected to him.
ü Jesus in the desert makes true also the prophecy of Isaiah… the lamb and the lion, the caw and the bear…. Jesus makes the dream of God over creation a reality.
ü Mark mentions Satan who puts Jesus to the test,
o In the book of Job Satan is the accuser of Job,
o In the Book of Revelation, Satan is the one who opposes the project of God Rv12:7-9
ü When John is arrested, Jesus returns to Galilee to begin his ministry of proclaiming the Kingdom.
ü Jesus proclaims
o This is the time. What time? The time of the fulfillment of the promises of Yahweh. In Jesus the fullness of time has come, the lasts days are here already.
o The Kingdom of God is at hand, very close to us because Jesus is the Kingdom. This kingdom will be ours, or better to say that, we will be in the kingdom when we make the decision to allow God to be God.
o What does Jesus requires for this kingdom to be in each one of us, in our society?
§ To repent, that we feel really sorry for our sins. To change this situation and to begin to act in a new way.
§ To believe in the Good News, which are sometimes so good, that it becomes difficult for us to believe in it.
§ To believe is to allow God to enter into our hearts, to change us, to make us in the likeness of his only Son, able to love unconditionally.
§ He died for all of us; we cannot exclude anyone, if we want to be like Him.
§ Only in this way the world will believe and change.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- CERVANTES GABARRÓN, Juan, “Primera Carta de Pedro” en Comentario al Nuevo Testamento. La Casa de la Biblia. Estella, Navarra 1995.
- GUILLÉN TORRALBA, Juan, “Génesis” en Comentario al Antiguo Testamento I. La Casa de la Biblia, Estella Navarra, 1997.
- LA BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO, comentarios de Luis Alonso Schökel. Misioneros Claretianos, 2010.
- LOZANO, Juan Manuel, Escritos María Antonia París, Estudio crítico, “El Misionero Apostólico .” Barcelona 1985.
- RAVASI, GIANFRANCO. Según las Escrituras. Doble Comentario de las lecturas del domingo. Año B. San Pablo, Bogotá,Colombia 2005.
- VIÑAS, José María cmf y BERMEJO, Jesús, cmf. “Autobiography” of St. Anthony Mary Claret.
CLARETIAN CORNER
Do not kill the spirit of the holy prayer no matter the many things he has to do.
Jesus Christ our Lord and most perfect Master during the day did mission work and at night he prayed. If the words of the missionary will not come from the forge of prayer, they will not soften hearts.
Be careful the missionary to be too emotional with the enthusiasm of the homily; he must not immediately say his feelings about any matter but wait for the proper time and it will be better.
Strive prudence when in silence and temperance when speaking. (María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. The Apostolic Missionary, 2.19-20; 22-24)
My God, how good you are! You use the very weaknesses of the body to cure those of the soul. You make use of this miserable sinner to heal both bodies and souls. What the prophet said could clearly be seen: Domini est salus. Yes, Lord, health was yours and you were giving it. (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 182)
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