We are now into the great season
of Lent. During the season of Lent, the church invites us to examine our lives, to
repent of our sins and do penance. By means of fasting, penance and prayers, the
faithful obtain strength they need to overcome the sinful tendencies. The purpose
of Lent is to provide that purification by weaning human persons from sin and selfishness
through self-denial and prayer, by creating in them the desire to do God’s will and
to make his kingdom alive by making it first come into our hearts. The real aim of
Lent above all else, is to prepare Christians for the celebration of the death and
Resurrection of Christ. The better the preparation for this day, the more effective
the celebration will be. One can effectively relive the mystery only with purified
mind and heart. The Church invites all to repent from evil ways and return to the
Lord who is eagerly waiting for us. In the first reading we have the story of Noah
and the deluge that destroyed evil persons. At the end of the deluge only Noah and
his family were saved. God then established a covenant with Noah and humanity. The
rainbow in the clouds serves as a sign of this covenant. In the second reading we
have Peter telling us how our Baptism unites us with Christ’s death and resurrection.
We are cleansed of all evil and made right with God. In the Gospel we have the Temptation
narrative. After his Baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted
by the evil one. After his victory over the Satan, Jesus emerges to proclaim the message
of the Kingdom of God. By this time John was arrested and Jesus commences his message
of the Messiah. The first reading of today introduces us to this Lenten theme by
bringing us face to face with the concept of origin and effect of sin. Today’s passage
that gives us the story of great deluge reminds us of two facts: Man’s disobedience
and disloyalty to the divine benefactor who created all and presented all gifts of
body and mind to humanity, and on the other the magnanimity and the infinite forgiving
mercy of God. The narrative tells us about Noah and his family in gratitude to God
for his protection offered a large sacrifice. God blesses Noah in words that recall
the blessing given to the first man and woman at creation: Be fertile and multiply,
and fill the earth. A new element is the fear of Noah and his descendants that will
come upon all animals and reflects the dignity of humanity before God. Noah would
have needed such assurances and worthiness before God after the traumatic experience
of the flood. God also establishes a covenant with Noah, his family and all creatures
that came out of the ark. They have the promise that God will not destroy the creatures
of the earth with a second flood. They are reminded that the service to God is the
main purpose of human life. When clouds gather on the sky as it happened before the
floods, Noah and his descendants have no need to fear. Among the clouds they will
see the colors of the rainbow assuring them that God is mindful of them and of the
covenant of life he had promised. In the Second Reading Peter while speaking to
the believers was comparing the sufferings of the Gentiles who had become Christians
as against the sufferings of Jesus. Peter was telling them that since Jesus had triumphed,
they would also triumph. Their Baptism was the pledge of their triumph for it gave
them a share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus we die to sin and are led to
God. Just as Noah was saved by passing through the waters of the flood, so also, Christians
receive their first instalment towards salvation through faith in Jesus and their
passage through the water of Baptism which cleanses us from sin and enables us to
have a clear conscience. Peter told the Gentiles that Jesus suffered for sins once
for all, and suffered for the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring them
all to God. The sacrifice of Jesus was not just for a few, but for all of us, from
the beginning of time until the end of time. He, who was sinless, took upon Himself
the weight of our sins and allowed Himself to be crucified in our place so God the
Father may be appeased. Christ died for us. Having died on the cross, Jesus resurrected.
He was raised to Heaven and glorified by God the Father above all living creations.
Having been glorified, Jesus no longer enjoys a physical body. He has been made alive
in the Spirit. In his Spirit, Jesus went to make a proclamation to the spirits of
those in prison. Jesus went and announced to them his glorious triumph over evil.
He has overcome evil in its most diabolical forms. After his baptism, Jesus goes
to the desert for forty days. The desert is the place where people felt closest to
God. It is in the desert that they received God’s Law. It is in the desert God made
his covenant with his people. It is there in the desert that God took care of Israel
giving them food and water. Those whom God calls including God’s own Son must be purified
by time in the desert. The forty days symbolize the temptation of Israel in the wilderness
for forty years, Moses’ experience in the desert, and Elijah’s flight. During that
time Jesus is tested by the Evil One. Mark does not tell us how he was tested but
Matthew and Luke do. These tests are really examples of the kind of tests that Jesus
was to face in the course of his public life, even on Calvary. However, we have to
focus on the meaning and symbolism of the passage rather than its historical accuracy.
Its purpose is to help us to understand the conflicts that were in Jesus' own life
and which will also be found in ours too. Matthew and Luke tell us that the tempter
asked Jesus to change stones to bread and satisfy his hunger after his long fast in
the desert, asked him to jump down the pinnacle of the Temple to make a spectacular
entry as Messiah, and called him to worship him and in return he would possess everything
in the universe. They were the temptations to be unfaithful to God’s call. Faced
with such challenges, each time Jesus said a firm 'Yes' to his Father's way, even
when it came to hand over his own life. Jesus did not allow himself to be subdued
by Satan. The purpose of his coming to earth was to overthrow the worldly kingdom
of Satan that had its beginning when Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Jesus
the new Adam overcomes the evil one and proclaims the proximity of the Kingdom of
God. He tells his listeners that he himself is the Kingdom and they ought to listen
to him. Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee. In the Gospel of Mark Galilee
is the favourite place of Jesus. His ministry was most successful there, he chose
his first disciples from Galilee, and later he tells the disciples that after he has
been raised up he will meet them in Galilee. Jesus does not begin proclaiming the
Gospel until John the Baptist was arrested by Herod or he was handed over. The Greek
verb used here by Mark is similar to that word referring to the passion of Jesus as
he was handed over to his enemies. The implication from the start is that the fate
of Jesus somehow foreshadows in that of John. Mark presents him as a precursor to
Jesus, a person who prepared his way. It is in Galilee that Jesus proclaims his first
message of the Kingdom of God and this first sentence he speaks summarizes the first
ten chapters given by Mark. It announces the advent of a new time, a new situation,
a call for radical change, and a commitment to faith. God’s time has finally arrived.
This provides a new time frame within which everything that follows will happen. A
new presence of God’s reality is now at hand, a presence traditionally understood
to have power and bring judgment. A radical response of change is called for, so
radical that makes a person move in totally opposite direction. The Good News of
God’s eternal plan for the elevation and redemption of human kind is presented. All
of this is aimed towards a faith commitment to the gospel about to be unfolded by
Jesus, the Messiah, and the Son of God. Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming
the message from God his Father. He tells his audience that a new era is about to
begin and a new relationship is being established between God and the people. He tells
them that the time has come which is the moment of fulfilment. The long awaited "Kingdom
of God" is close at hand. That Kingdom is not a place, still less 'heaven', but the
loving power of God, to which we are all invited to submit ourselves. It is the rule
of God in the hearts of people. This Kingdom has arrived in the person of Jesus, our
King and Lord. The presence of this loving power of God is evident in his teaching
of the love of God, in his healing of the sick, in the liberation of people from all
destructive forces in their lives, in the bringing back of the rejected and the outcast,
in the forgiveness and reconciliation of sinners and finally in the supreme act of
self-giving love shown in his dying for us. He invites all to enter that Kingdom
through his personal call of repentance. This call is not just to feel sorry about
our past; it is not just to stop the bad things we are doing now. Jesus is calling
for a radical change in our whole way of seeing life and the world. In the words of
St. Paul's it is to be a new person for in Christ we undergo a radical personality
change. Jesus then suggests the practical way of entering into the Kingdom by believing
in the Gospel. Not just believing that the Gospel is true but believing in what the
Gospel says and more significantly believing the person of Jesus. This involves a
total commitment to the way of life presented in the Gospel and a sharing of its vision
of life. This will mean standing firmly to the values of Jesus and remaining faithful
to him. Today’s Word of God demands a twofold response from people. This response
is summarized in the reminder given to us on Ash Wednesday. One part of the response
is a profound change in opening ourselves to the Kingdom of God and to determine the
direction of our life. The other part of our response should be that we believe in
the gospel, that we take Jesus at his word. In Jesus there has been a new beginning.
God is once again going to re-establish his sovereignty in the world. He is going
to win his victory over sin and evil. Lent as a time for repentance and we are called
upon to repent and change ourselves according to the ways of Jesus. It is a time to
seek the face of God and to be strengthened in our belief. At the same time Lent tells
us that repentance without belief is also bad, because it can easily lead to despair.
Lent is a holy season in which the Lord wants to help us repent more completely and
believe more deeply. Today's message from the Word of God clearly speaks of this triumph.
The triumph of Jesus is a perfect message during the Lenten Season. It tells us that
because of the triumph of Jesus by his death on the Cross, we can through him be triumphant
in our battle against evil. Through our living in and with our community we learn
the way of Jesus, we learn how to live in commitment to him. We learn to live a life
based on truth, love, compassion, sharing, justice and freedom. We get support in
living that life from the community of which we are a part. We learn to grow into
a people who are whole and complete in union and harmony with our God, with others
and with ourselves. We are now into the great season of Lent, when we spend six
weeks preparing ourselves to celebrate the high point of our faith: the Paschal Mystery,
the suffering, death and resurrection of the Incarnate God. This season is a time
of penance, fasting and prayer. It is a way of purifying ourselves from our weaknesses
and prepare ourselves to celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus with
a renewed commitment to follow him. Even though we are no longer asked by the Church
to observe the severe penances of former times, it is surely fitting that we make
some of form of sacrifice as a preparation for the great event. It should be a time
for personal reflection on our personal commitment as Christians. Only a little reflection
will convince us that, on the one hand, there are many ways in which we fail through
word and action, through our thoughts and through our failure to be the kind of people
that the Gospel challenges us to be. We are called to go forward and shine by our
obedience, our servitude, our charity towards others, through prayers, sacrifices,
all in the love of God. Let us prepare ourselves during this season of Lent to receive
the Word of God with open hearts and lead ourselves to our Lord with purified hearts
and ask him to make hearts the centre of his kingdom. The story is said about the
Salt Doll which wanted to have a look at the Ocean and see for itself how big the
ocean was. It had heard a lot about the ocean from other dolls around him. So it set
on its great mission and first encountered a lake and it asked whether it is an Ocean.
The lake said that the Ocean was much bigger and it was but so little before it.
The Salt Doll then met the river and asked whether it is the Ocean and river said
no but it would ultimately join it. Further the doll went travelling and finally came
face to face with the Ocean. It asked the huge mass of water whether it was the Ocean
and it got the reply that it was indeed the Ocean. Then the Doll asked the Ocean how
it could believe it. The Ocean replied and said if it really wanted to know, then
it should come forward and touch it. The Salt Doll went forward slowly and stepped
into the ocean. Immediately the doll noticed a change in its person. Its toes were
missing. It shouted at the ocean and said that it had cheated the doll. The Ocean
smiled and replied that if it really wanted to know him well it has to be one with
him. The Salt Doll smiled and made a decision. It slowly entered the Ocean and soon
was melted into it. Then it said, now I know what the ocean is; I am one with it.
That is the reason why the Ocean is still salty in taste. Fr. Eugene Lobo S.J.