First Sunday of Lent B

During the Lenten season, Christians focus on prayer and penance as they journey towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Lent is a time to deepen their understanding of God's love through Jesus Christ. Jesus was tested in the desert for 40 days, just as Adam and Eve and the Israelites were tested. This testing is about trusting God's faithfulness. Jesus overcomes temptation and goes forth to proclaim the good news of God's trustworthy love. As we read and meditate on this passage, we are called to be with Jesus in our own deserts, trusting in God's love and seeking His presence in every aspect of our lives. Let us sit with this Gospel, let it stir within us, and talk to Jesus about its impact on our hearts. Greetings, friends. What a joy to share the Gospel. With the start of the Lenten season on Ash Wednesday, the Christian people have begun their annual journey of prayer and penance. Lent is the period of 40 days in which we set our hearts with Jesus on Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the place of Jesus' act of love in which he gave himself for us in trusting obedience to the Father. Lent moves towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is a time of grace to free our spirits to embrace ever more deeply the love of God poured out in Jesus Christ through his Holy Cross. Let's take a moment to quiet our inner selves. If you will, take a deep breath slowly in and slowly out. Come Lord Jesus, allow your Holy Spirit to bring your word to life in me. May I hear your voice, good Shepherd. Reading a passage from the Gospel is the first step of the ancient prayer of Lectio Divina. By reading we begin to grow in familiarity with the passage, opening ourselves to the movement of the Holy Spirit carried on the words of the Gospel. On this first Sunday of Lent we read from Mark's Gospel, chapter 1, verses 12-15. At once the Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God. This is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand. Our journey to Jerusalem, to the cross, takes us first with Jesus into the desert. The desert in the sacred scripture story is always the place of testing. Jesus' forty days, tempted by Satan, draws our minds back to Israel's forty years of wandering testing in the wilderness. Those forty years, in turn, bring us even further back to the mysterious origins of humanity where Adam and Eve were tested in the garden, like Jesus now, by Satan. What was this testing, Adam and Eve and the Israelites in the wilderness? Wasn't it, simply put, the question of God's trustworthiness? The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. Recall from where the Spirit drove Jesus. It is directly from our Lord's baptism in the Jordan River, where that voice spoke when He came up out of the water, You are my beloved Son, with You I am well pleased. Jesus' testing will be whether or not this voice, His heavenly Father's love for Him, can be trusted. Overcoming all temptation to deny God's faithfulness, Jesus goes forth into the Galilee to preach the good news. Good news that God is a God who can be trusted and God's kingdom is presently active to manifest this faithful, healing love of the Father for His children. Returning now to a second reading of this piercing passage, pause again, intentionally surrendering over to the Holy Spirit. The Word mediates the reality. It takes us, in union with Jesus, out to the desert. This is our Lent, a season with Jesus. To be tested, for sure, but tested to be affirmed, strengthened by ministering angels in the truth of the One who says to us, You are my beloved, with You I am well pleased. As the passage is read, allow your imagination to be opened up, exposed to the living Word. What Word, what phrase, perhaps a movement within the narrative, stands out? Once again we read Mark chapter 1, verses 12 through 15. At once the Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and He remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to Him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came 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. The second step of Lectio Divina, after reading, is meditation. In meditating we pause to embrace the Word, phrase, that movement within the passage that has spoken most powerfully to us. What is speaking to you at this moment? Today's reading, while meditating on this passage, has opened my spirit to the call of this Lenten season, at least for me. That call to be with Jesus intentionally, deeply, quietly. To see the places I live, as beautiful and rich as they might be, as places also of desert, of testing. My home, my work, the daily commute, the chores and responsibilities that are mine, all realities that test me, that question me. Do I trust God? Is God, for me, a Father who can be trusted? Can I, even in moments of desolation and difficulty, remain in His love for me? Lord Jesus, help me in this sacred season of Lent to be with You, yes, to be with You even in the desert. In the testings that come from difficulties, frustrations, disappointments, boredom, the daily routine, struggles encountered. Jesus, help me to touch in all places the Father who loves me. Send me ministering angels to sustain me on this journey with You. Friends, let me invite you again to continue to sit with this Gospel. Notice please how it stirs within you. Talk to Jesus about what His Word is doing within you now. Before leaving prayer, be sure to intentionally place the Word deep in your spirit, where the Lord might bring it growth throughout this week ahead. And friends, it is a joy to share the Gospel with you.