First Sunday of Lent

We have just begun the Holy Season of Lent. We began with Ash Wednesday. We were marked with the ashes to remind us of our human condition of sin and death – of our need for forgiveness and our hope of eternal life. I noted in my reflection last Wednesday that we were marked with ashes in the sign of a cross, not with an “X”. At the outset, for me, this shows that although we have sinned, and because of that, we merit the consequence of sin, which is death, God has not put an “X” on us. God has instead given us the Cross – the Cross of Jesus Christ. And we are marked with the Cross – we are marked with the Love of God shown in its fullness by Jesus Christ, the Love of God which forgives ours sins and that gives us eternal life. This love we commemorate and celebrate at the most holy days of the Paschal Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday).

But we do not only commemorate and celebrate our redemption. We rather, enter into these mysteries – we take part in these mysteries, so that we will be recreated anew – we die with Christ so that we may rise anew with him. We are not passive recipients and inactive spectators. By our Baptism, we have died to sin, and have received new life. But as we go through every day of our lives, we come face to face with sin and death, and often times fall prey to them again. That is why, every year, we go through the liturgical seasons. Every year, we are invited to be made new again. Lent is part of this process of renewal.

The readings proclaimed to us today express this hope. In the first reading, from the book of Genesis, we hear what God did after the flood. The flood was a figure of the devastation that sin brings to us and to the world. Sin can, and does destroy not only our souls, but our whole selves, our relationships, our culture, the moral fabric of society, social, economic and political institutions, and even the environment, and the whole of creation. Sin brings destruction – and at its worst, total destruction. The flood, which symbolizes destruction is not God’s punishment. God does not want to destroy us and creation. Remember, he created us all and he saw and affirmed that was all good. It was our sin that destroyed our original goodness, and the original harmony of all.

But God does not mark us with an “X”. God did not give up on us. He delivered those who obeyed him – symbolized by Noah and his family, who made and boarded the ark. After the flood has subsided, God renewed his covenant with Noah and with all of creation. Creation has been made new. The promise of God, that never again will a flood destroy humanity and all creation, is actually both a promise and a challenge. God renews his love, gives it again to man, hoping that man will not turn away again, disobey God and sin, and bring destruction again to himself and all creation.

Now, it is interesting that all kinds of animals were with Noah and his family in the ark. Would not the animals fight against each other – prey and predator? Would not the wild animals pose a danger to the humans? They were in one ark, and nothing bad happened! Sin brought the disorder, chaos, violence to the world. Sin brought the flood, destruction to the world. But being in the ark somehow restored order, harmony and peace in creation. Being in the ark saved Noah and the animals.

Now, was there anybody too who was with wild animals but was not hurt, instead was even attended to by angels? The Gospel tells us that Jesus was in the desert, and he was with the wild animals, but there was no mention of conflict. Instead, it was just related by Mark as a matter of fact, and that he was attended to by angels. Mark tells us that Jesus is the new ark. Amidst the floods of chaos, violence and destruction caused by sin, in Jesus, order, harmony and peace are restored. In Jesus, we are saved.

Lent is a call to enter the ark. Lent is a call to return to Jesus. Peter in the second reading tells us that in Jesus, the waters that destroyed humanity and creation is transformed into the saving waters of baptism, by the love of God revealed in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Unlike Noah, we do not need to build the ark. We need only to enter the ark. We need only to return to Jesus.

What does returning to Jesus entail? Jesus himself tells us – “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” First of all, we need to repent – to recognize our sins, ask for God’s forgiveness, and resolve not to sin again. And then we need to believe – to believe with our minds and hearts that God’s will is best for us, that God’s will alone can bring us true happiness, and to live in our lives what we believe.

This season of Lent, let us enter the ark. Let us return to Jesus. Let us obey the call of Jesus to repent from our sins, and believe in the Good News of God’s love. And hopefully, by the end of Lent, and as we take part in the celebrations of the Paschal Triduum, we may become a renewed person, renewed in our covenant with God, in our relationship with one another, renewed in our relationship with all of creation.

We pray for the grace of obedience. And let us this first week of Lent, consciously practice the virtue of obedience.

Lord God, teach us to turn from our sinful selves to your saving grace. When we pray, “thy will be done,” may we truly let go of our false independence and obey only your most holy will.” Amen.

Have a holy Lent.