Lent I B

1st Sunday of Lent B

Readings: Genesis 9:8-15  1 Peter 3:18-22  Mark 1:12-15
Lent is a time of preparation for the Christian community’s celebration of Jesus’ triumphant victory over Sin and Death through his cross and resurrection in the liturgies of Holy Week.  As catechumens prepare for full initiation into the rigors and joys of the Christian faith, the whole Christian community readies itself for the renewal of its baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil by again turning from sin to the joys and demands of the Gospel.  The readings for the Lenten season in the B cycle will lead us through God’s live-giving covenants in the course of salvation history and deepen our understanding of our baptismal commitment in an often pagan world.  In the spirit of renewal, let us pray the refrain of this Sunday’s psalm: “Your ways, O Lord are love and truth,/ to those who keep your covenant” (Ps 25).
The first reading from Genesis recounts God’s covenant with Noah and the whole created order after the purifying waters of the flood had cleansed the earth of sin.  It immediately puts our Lenten observance in a universal and ecological context.  God is committed to the restoration of harmony in the universe and calls us to live in peace with every living creature.  In contrast to pagan traditions which understood the flood as the action of capricious gods, the Genesis flood story represents God’s attempt at a new beginning, a second creation.  In the early chapters of Genesis (1-6), humanity’s sin disrupts the harmony of God’s original creation and unleashes the chaos of titanic pride, murder, blood revenge and violence.  Out of this hopelessly rebellious human family, God chooses the righteous Noah and his family to begin creation anew.  His commitment to the new created order after the flood is irrevocable and universal.  The sign of that covenant is in nature itself and is visible to all.
When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears
in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between
me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never
again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.
The second reading from 1 Peter applies the flood imagery to Christian baptism which is an entrance into Jesus’ life-giving death and resurrection.  1 Peter was written for Christians in Asia Minor who found themselves in a pagan Roman environment hostile to the values of the gospel.  It calls them to live “as aliens and sojourners” in this evil world, but also to give a defense of their faith to unbelievers.  In the section immediately preceding our reading, Peter exhorts his follow Christians.
Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you
for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence,
keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned,
those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves
be put to shame.  For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.  (1 Peter 3:15-17)

In suffering for doing good in a hostile world, Christians are living out their baptism which was prefigured in the saving of the innocent Noah and his family by water in the wicked flood generation.  More importantly, their baptism is a sharing in the saving action of Jesus the “righteous” One, who suffered for the “unrighteous” and now has triumphed through his resurrection and reigns at the right hand of God in heaven.
The Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent is always the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness at the beginning of his public life.  In Mark’s very short version, Jesus is led by the Spirit, which has just descended upon him at his baptism, to the desert, where he is put to the test by Satan during a forty day sojourn.  The scene is filled with symbolism drawn from the Old Testament.  Unlike his ancestors who failed the test of trusting in God’s providential care during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness as they came out of Egypt, Jesus trusts in God’s protective care.  The brief statement, “He was with the wild beasts, and angels waited on him,” is drawn from the imagery of Psalm 91, promising protection to the one who trusts God.
                       For to his angels he has given command about you,
that they guard you in all your ways.
Upon their hands they shall bear you up,
                        less you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the asp and the viper;
you shall trample down the lion and the dragon. (Ps 91:11-13)
Having endured his forty day test, Jesus then launches his attack on Satan’s dominion by going to Galilee and proclaiming: “This is the time of fulfillment.  The reign of God is at hand!  Reform your lives and believe in the good  news!”