20240218 JOURNEYING TOWARDS EASTER AS A COMMUNITY
18 February 2024, 1st Sunday of Lent
First reading | Genesis 9:8-15 © |
'There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again'
God spoke to Noah and his sons, ‘See, I establish my Covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; also with every living creature to be found with you, birds, cattle and every wild beast with you: everything that came out of the ark, everything that lives on the earth. I establish my Covenant with you: no thing of flesh shall be swept away again by the waters of the flood. There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again.’
God said, ‘Here is the sign of the Covenant I make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all generations: I set my bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth. When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the Covenant between myself and you and every living creature of every kind. And so the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all things of flesh.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 24(25):4-6,7b-9 © |
Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant.
Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.
Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant.
Remember your mercy, Lord,
and the love you have shown from of old.
In your love remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord.
Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.
Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant.
Second reading | 1 Peter 3:18-22 © |
The water on which the Ark floated is a type of the baptism which saves you now
Christ himself, innocent though he was, died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison. Now it was long ago, when Noah was still building that ark which saved only a small group of eight people ‘by water’, and when God was still waiting patiently, that these spirits refused to believe. That water is a type of the baptism which saves you now, and which is not the washing off of physical dirt but a pledge made to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has entered heaven and is at God’s right hand, now that he has made the angels and Dominations and Powers his subjects.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt4:4 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Gospel | Mark 1:12-15 © |
Jesus was tempted by Satan, and the angels looked after him
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.
After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’
JOURNEYING TOWARDS EASTER AS A COMMUNITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Genesis 9:8-15; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15]
In the gospel, the Lord said, “The time has come and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.” Indeed, the good news is that our sins have been forgiven. All we need to do is to repent by believing the Good News. As St Peter wrote, “Christ himself, innocent though he was, died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God.” Christ died for us whilst we were still sinners, not saints. When we know that God has forgiven us our sins and that His grace and mercy have saved us through the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, we will then, out of gratitude for His love and mercy, repent of our sins as well. Repentance of sins follows the reception of the Good News. If there is any repentance required of us, it is the lack of faith in His unconditional love and mercy. Conversion is the consequence of receiving His Good News. If we believe that God loves us and that Jesus has died for us, we cannot remain indifferent to the price that He paid for our salvation. We will then never doubt the love and mercy of God. We will change because of His love. Love always brings healing and reconciliation.
This is the fundamental message of our Lord. This, too, is a central message of Pope Francis in the work of evangelization. He sees the importance of allowing everyone to encounter the joy of the Gospel, the Good News that they are loved, forgiven and accepted. Hence, he urges the Church to be inclusive, to empower women in ministry, to welcome the divorced and remarried, and those in irregular union. He asks us to bless them too, not their sins of course, but to help them to encounter God’s mercy and love so that they will come to accept the full gospel of our Lord.
This theme is also underscored in today’s scripture readings. When God created the human race, God intended that we share in His life of love. But because man is ungrateful and selfish, we reject His invitation. Man’s infidelity to His covenant is something that has always been repeated throughout the history of salvation from the very beginning of time. The first reading from Genesis recounts the story of Noah and the covenant God made with the people that He would never destroy humanity in spite of man’s ingratitude and infidelity. The story of Noah seeks to underscore the infinite mercy of God for humanity. However, this sad story of man’s failure to live up to the covenant was repeated.
Yet, in His mercy, God is forever patient with man. Even when His people did not keep the Mosaic Covenant, God allowed them to be purified in time. At times, of course, they had to pay the penalty for their folly and stubbornness. What we reap is what we sow. This is the basic principle of life. But God does not allow us to be disheartened and fall into despair. Whenever sin increases, grace abounds all the more. God does not will the sinner to die in his sins, but be converted and live. God will bring goodness out of evil, as in the case of the story of Noah. To assure us that we are not hopeless in our struggles, God gave us the rainbow as a sign of hope. After every storm, there is a glimpse of hope. We can always start all over again. We are fallible human beings but God’s grace is always there to hold us when we fall. We do not give in to despair but we can hope in His mercy and grace.
But we cannot receive God’s forgiveness and mercy unless we recognize that we are sinners. Hence, Lent is an occasion for us to go into the desert, into ourselves, and face the wild animals in us. We are wolves and predators of others because of greed, self-centeredness, anger and violence in our hearts. In the desert, our sins become more obvious because the temptations are even more obvious. Indeed, the ugly side of us becomes more obvious when we are going through difficult times, especially when undergoing trials and challenges in life. Sometimes, instead of bringing out the best in us, these challenges bring out the ugliness in us. We are called to face the truth about ourselves when we enter into the desert of life, when we feel alone, when we are dealing with difficulties – our illness, unreasonable superiors, politicking colleagues, insecure in-laws, competitive siblings. In our trials, many of us, when stripped of power, health or status, or when we are completely down, will come to know who we are and who God is. We are not that powerful after all!
Today’s gospel story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert assures us that our Lord understands our struggles. Jesus, too, was tempted as a man. He entered into conflict with the Devil under the impulse of the Holy Spirit. He resisted the temptations of the Devil to choose the way of the world. Jesus had to face the opposition of the Devil throughout His ministry. We, as His disciples, too are not exempted from temptation and from opposition. In fact, as Christians, the more we seek to walk the way of truth and love, the more the Devil will tempt us because He likes to see us fail. The Devil as usual always comes to tempt us when we are most vulnerable and weak. Today, he comes not just as a personal being but also as a force in the world, confusing us in a world of moral relativism as to what is right and wrong. Most of all, the Devil attacks and deceives political, corporate and even religious leaders, so much so that some of us have lost our moral compass and lead our people and followers to perdition by offering apparently wise arguments, twisting and distorting the truth.
That is why we must turn to God for help and guidance. The psalmist proclaims the Lord’s fidelity to us. “Your ways, Lord, are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant. Lord, make me know your ways. Lord, teach me your paths. Make me walk in your truth, and teach me.” We must be rooted in the scriptures. In the temptation account of St Matthew’s gospel, Jesus used scriptures to retort the temptations of the Evil One and to expose his lies. He told the Devil, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt 4:4) We, too, must go back to reading and praying the Word of God daily as our armour and weapon against the deceptions of the Evil One who is creating disunity in the world. Scripture is the best defence against the falsehood of the devil.
We are therefore invited to prepare ourselves anew to celebrate the new life that the Lord has won for us in His paschal mystery at baptism and also for those of us who have lost it due to negligence in our spiritual life. We are called to enter into the heart of Christ’s love for us by sharing in His baptism, which is to enter into Christ’s death so that we can rise with Him in the new life. The waters of baptism cleanse us. The new life comes about through washing off our guilt, not externally but internally through a good conscience. This calls for a conversion of heart and death to our sins. We will share in Christ’s victory and triumph over evil and sin. Christ’s resurrection is the basis for us to rely on God’s strength and grace to overcome the evil in our hearts.
Finally, the gospel recounts that Jesus “was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.” We are not alone. God has sent His angels to help us to fight against sin and walk in the way of truth and life. Our confidence is based on the resurrection of Christ. As St Peter writes, He “has entered heaven and is at God’s right hand, now that he has made the angels and Dominations and Powers his subjects.” He will send His angels to help us. Indeed, the invitation to fidelity is not just our individual battle against evil but we must walk with the Church, the Body of Christ. We must journey with our brothers and sisters. The season of Lent is to help us as Church, as members of the Body of Christ, to walk together in this penitential path towards the New Life offered to us by our Lord in His paschal mystery.
Indeed, the sacrament of baptism which our elects will receive at Easter, and which we will, together with them, renew our baptismal vows, reminds us that this sacrament does not only give grace to the individual but makes us a member of the community of grace. This means that we are called to give our individual commitment to God but also our commitment to His people, His body, His Church. Receiving baptism is not just about getting our passport to heaven, but we must travel with the rest of the community to arrive there. The covenant that God made with Noah, Abraham and Moses is with the chosen people. As Christians who are privileged members of the New Covenant, we too must therefore support each other in our spiritual journey in life.
Let us begin this Lenten journey with faith and hope. Let us walk this spiritual journey together as Church, which means taking part in the spiritual exercises and disciplines of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. These spiritual exercises are not ends in themselves but the means to make ourselves available to the grace of God. It would be truly beneficial if we try to attend daily mass during this season of Lent, and if not possible, at least to pray the scripture readings of the day so that we can accompany each other in this journey to Easter. Most of all, as we reflect on our life and come to be aware the wild beasts controlling us, we will be ready to celebrate a truly meaningful sacrament of reconciliation, one that is not a mere routine religious exercise but a contrite recognition of our sins, which brings healing, reconciliation and peace in our lives. Only then can we be said to be ready to enter into the resurrection of our Lord.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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