FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Genesis 9:8-15

Psalm 24:4-9

1Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:12-15

LENT, AN OPPORTUNE TIME FOR CONVERSION

"Repent and believe in the Gospel". This is the call that Jesus addresses to each one of us on this first Sunday of Lent. As we know, Lent is essentially a preparation for the celebration of Easter. It is a journey in which we are called to change our lifestyles, put order into our lives and return to God with all sincerity. Lent is a period of conversion and spiritual discipline: intense prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

As our imitation of Jesus’ fasting and prayer in the desert, we too embark in a forty day journey in the wilderness of our hearts. Like Jesus, we will be tempted in various ways (Mark 1:12-15). But if we remain obedient and faithful to the covenant-keeping God, we shall stand firm and not fall despite the snares of the devil. 

In the first reading, God made a covenant with Noah and, through him, with all creation. The rainbow became the sign of God’s covenant with mankind (Gen. 9:8-15). In the second reading, Peter recognizes this event as a prefiguration of Christian baptism. With Noah's ark, only a few people, eight in all, were preserved from the devastating waters of the flood. But with Jesus’ death and resurrection, many are we who have been saved through the life-giving waters of baptism (1Pet. 3:18-22).

Lent is therefore an opportune time to rediscover our relationship with God, a relationship that began with our Baptism. As Pope Francis has said in his Lenten message, Lent is a time for “renewing our faith, hope and charity”. It is a time for us to come into contact with our inner self and evaluate how faithful we have been to our baptismal promises. It is a time for spiritual renewal and transformation. 

It is a time to rediscover the merciful and forgiving God. He does not count the number of times we have fallen, but the times we have risen after falling. Like the prodigal child, let us make an interior home-coming journey so that we may rediscover God’s love manifested in Jesus, the Righteous who suffered for our sins. Let us repent and trust in God's mercy and compassion. Let u ask him to grant us the grace to understand the meaning of his Son’s death and resurrection so as to reflect it in our daily lives. Amen