Mark 1:12-15

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among the 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.”

Today, of course, is the First Sunday of Lent. In the first reading, we join Noah and his family on the dry ground after they have emerged from the ark. The flood that destroyed all life on earth, has subsided. No one is left except Noah’s family and the animals and birds he brought with him on the ark, and the sea creatures who didn’t need the ark to survive.

God is explaining to Noah that He is creating a covenant with him and with all living creatures. No more will He destroy the earth. He will set in the sky the bow, so that when He sees it, He will remember the covenant He has made between Himself and every living creature and withhold His hand from the utter destruction of life on earth. Why did God destroy all life on earth by means of the flood? Because He had grown weary of man’s sins and regretted even creating humankind. Noah was the only righteous man He could find, so He was chosen as the instrument by which humankind would be redeemed. 

Just as Noah, all living creatures, and all of humankind were redeemed by the waters of the flood, so we are redeemed, St. Peter tells us in his First Letter, by the waters of baptism: “God waited patiently in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigures baptism, which saves you now. It is not the removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ …” Just as Noah and his family were redeemed by passing through the waters of the flood, so are we redeemed by the waters of baptism. Our sins are cleansed, just as the world was cleansed of sin by the flood waters. We are redeemed by baptism through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After coming out of the desert, where He faced the combined forces of good and evil (the devil and the wild animals representing evil, and the angels ministering to Him representing good), Jesus immediately went to Galilee to proclaim the gospel: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel”

The Greek word we translate as “repentance” is metanoia, and it means “to change your mind.” The Hebrew equivalent is tshuva, which means “to return.” When Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the gospel, He is calling us to change our minds about living the way we do and to return to God. Why? Because the kingdom of God is at hand. Now is the day of salvation, St. Paul says. There is no time to waste in getting our act together, in turning away from those things that keep us from God and turning to God by believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news that Jesus has come to redeem us. Just as God redeemed Noah and His family by the flood, so He has redeemed us by means of the life, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Just as Noah was not to tarry in preparing the ark and gathering his family and the animals, so we are not to tarry in returning to God by rejecting those things that keep us from Him and embracing faith in Jesus Christ.

What is the purpose of Lent? It is a season of preparation and repentance. We prepare ourselves for Easter, the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, by repenting of those things, especially our sins, that hold us back in giving all we have to Him. The traditional acts of penance during Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – are meant to be tools to help us focus more on our relationship with God and His love for us by helping us to focus on Jesus. To prepare a meal during Lent is to think about Jesus. To sacrifice more of our time, talent, or treasure is to think about Jesus. To consciously pray more with a prayer guide or devotion, a commitment to the Liturgy of the Hours or the rosary, or daily Mass is to think about Jesus.

Hopefully, in thinking about Jesus during Lent, we will realize that nothing in this temporal order can do for us what He can: redeem us from our sinful lives by the grace of baptism and the sacramental life of the Church. So, the other things can go and, during Lent, we symbolically let them go by letting go of some smaller things in our lives that attach us to this world: sweets, TV, social media, … whatever. In letting go of these things during Lent, hopefully our souls are more and more transformed into one who is willing and eager to let it all go for the sake of following Jesus.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.