Gospel: Mark 1:9-15
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’
RENEWAL TIME
St. Mark doesn't give us the details of how Jesus is tempted in the desert. However, St. Matthew and St. Luke do. After Jesus's baptism in the Jordan River, empowered by the Holy Spirit, he goes straight to the desert where he was tempted by evil, and from there to Galilee. Christ endures the desert temptations to defeat evil and to start a time of good news because of his love and care for us. We are the aim of his incarnation.
We see Jesus going through the desert, and not remaining in the desert. The church considers Jesus's time in the desert as a time of Lent with fasting and praying. It is a model for us who follow Jesus to renew our baptismal promises.
Throughout centuries, the church has invited the faithful to live the 40 days which precede Easter as a time of spiritual renewal. This renewal has four dimensions. The first is relation to God. The second is relation to ourselves. The third is relation with our neighbor. The fourth is our relation with God's elements of nature.
In the first dimension, we are invited to know more about God's love and mercy through Christ. It is God's will that all people come to know the truth through Christ. "...wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (through Christ)-I Timothy 2:4. It is not possible to do so without reading the gospel with a brief meditation and prayer. God wants ALL humans to know the truth through Christ. By reading the gospel, we can more deeply know Christ as the Son of the Father who was sent by the Spirit.
The second dimension is to know oneself and to examine how faithful I am to Christ as my Lord and Savior. How much do I trust God and have self confidence as a fruit of this trust in God? My plans, projects, job—are they in accordance with God's will? This is also a time to examine one's self-control, character, behavior, values and self-esteem in God's eyes.
The third dimension is relation with one's neighbor. This is a time to examine again and again, how faithful I am to the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Where do I stand? Does that lead me to think about how I respect others' dignity and personality? How do I promote positive qualities that my neighbor received from the Lord? How many times do I seek the negative character rather than concentrating on their positive qualities? Do I try to see God in my neighbor? How much do I encourage others to achieve their full potential? How compassionate am I about others' conditions? How much do I try my best to assist them in respectful and discrete ways?
The fourth dimension is to reconsider how we care for our environment. Do we use God's elements of nature that he has entrusted to us with care and respect? We can worship God by admiring his creation, the sea, the mountains, birds and plants. How can we protect this wonderful creation from pollution and decay? Our earth was given to humanity to use, protect and pass on to future generations. In Biblical terms, giving something a name is having authority over it and responsibility to keep it. Genesis 2:19-20, ..."He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals...."
Jesus mentions fasting and praying as a substantial condition to fight evil. In Mark 9:29, Jesus states that a certain kind of evil cannot be expelled except with fasting and prayer. We are currently fighting against evil, suffering from different diseases, moral and spiritual enemies. Do we feel it is our responsibility as Christians to act on our faith with love and God's mercy to help heal the wounds of the world? Do we think about those who suffer? To feel with these people is how we commit ourselves to Christ. In Matthew 25, he identifies himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and prisoners. Verse 40 says "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." The world needs our love and care today.
Let us pray for ourselves and for others to be renewed during this Lent, to live with and through Christ, and to reach the point of a new beginning with Christ!
Father Kamal - February 21, 2021