Have you ever longed to be somewhere else to take you away from your cares and troubles? With pandemic going on and all the cold and snow this may be something we are all hoping for. The rainbow in today’s first reading reminded me of favorite childhood movie, The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy longed to be taken away from her cares at the end of the rainbow. Dorothy longed to be in a perfect land beyond the horizon. She got her wish by being taken to the land of Oz. But Dorothy soon found out that her troubles only got worse in the land of Oz.
We may yearn to escape and be taken somewhere else, but the rainbow is a reminder
that God is the one to rely on when we have troubles. In today’s first reading God makes a covenant with Noah to never again destroy all the men and creatures of the earth through a flood. God’s reminder of this covenant is the rainbow. It’s fulfilled through Jesus who brings about the Kingdom of God.
Today’s Gospel is brief but has a powerful message. In the first part we hear about Jesus overcoming the temptation by Satan in the desert. There aren’t a lot of details about this encounter, but it gives us great hope. We’re told: “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert”. Just prior to this John had just baptized Jesus, and the Holy Spirit had descended upon him. Jesus’ immediate action after the baptism by John is to battle Satan for forty days in the desert. Jesus resists the devil’s temptations to sin. Jesus’ victory of the devil begins the process to reverse the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin, which brought about death. Jesus wasn’t in need of baptism as he is without sin, but by being baptized and tested in the desert, he united himself with our struggles to overcome sin. His obedience in following God’s will triumphs over Satan and is also triumph for us. This is Good News!
In the second part of the Gospel Jesus proclaims: “Now is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand.” The Kingdom of God is a prominent theme of Jesus’ ministry. In proclaiming the Kingdom He’s announces that God’s reign has come through himself. The people of Israel had longed for God’s reign to come in a Messiah who would overcome the political powers to restore a rightful ruler to Israel. But Jesus was not the mighty ruler they were expecting. He is a humble servant, who not only came for the people of Israel, but for everyone.
Jesus continues John’s ministry of calling to repentance and baptism but adds a new dimension. Jesus proclaims to “Repent AND believe in the Gospel.”
Another word for Gospel is good news. What is the good news: The new covenant established by Jesus in his sacrifice in dying for us so we can have eternal life. This new covenant makes salvation and eternal life for us by having faith in Jesus. This indeed is good news!
The season of Lent is an annual call to conversion to become more Christ like so we can bring about the Kingdom of God. Lent can be a challenging time for us It’s a time that we deny ourselves through daily sacrifice. It’s a time set apart by the Church to repent through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These practices are meant to lead us to conversion to become for Christ like so we can help bring about the Kingdom of God and celebrate the Easter Joy of the Risen Lord. If we keep this destination in mind and unite our sufferings with Jesus it can make the time of Lent one of joyful anticipation.
We don’t need to go it alone during Lent. Through our baptism we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to bring about the virtues to help us in our journey. We can call on our guardian angel to help fight the temptations the devil puts in our way. We also have our families and faith community who can support us. But even with this help we may fail in keeping our Lenten observances and yield to our temptations. Don’t get discouraged by these failures. These failures may not be all that bad, as they help us to realize our need a savior. When we struggle with our temptations, we can recall that Jesus faced some of the same temptations and is united with us in our struggles. He understands what we’re going through and has compassion for us. If we fail in our Lenten disciplines or fall into sin don’t give up. Ask Jesus for help and start over. If you need to go to confession, there are plenty of times to receive Jesus’ forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation.
If you haven’t chosen what to do for the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving yet, I’d like to offer some for consideration. The first is to slowly pray the Our Father daily and pick one section of the prayer to focus on. Meditate on how you’re living out this prayer in your daily life. Really focus is on, “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. Think about how you are bringing about the Kingdom of God to those close to you and also to those most in need. A great way to bring about the Kingdom of God is to actively practice almsgiving and fasting. Consider whatever you give up and dedicating time or money to support the Lenten ministries of the Outreach or Johnson County Senior services that the parish is supporting this year. A final suggestion is to read an entire Gospel from start to finish. The shortest Gospel is Mark and is being read during this year for the Sunday readings. One of the best ways to come to know the good news of Jesus is to read the story about him. If you finish before the end of Lent is over, start another Gospel. These practices will help you “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
So, as we being this Lent remember the sign of rainbow of God’s covenant with us and set your sights on the Kingdom of God. The new covenant of Jesus promises us eternal life if we have faith in him. Through God’s love the waters of baptism bring us new life in Christ. Our baptism provides the grace of the Holy Spirit to live a virtuous life and resist temptations to sin. It also helps to make the Kingdom of God present to those around us through our acts of service to others. As we prepare to receive the Eucharist let us all thank God for the Holy Spirit and his angels who help us on our Lenten journey.
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