February 21, 2021, Sunday
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (Violet)
NATIONAL MIGRANTS SUNDAY
CYCLE B - YEAR I
RDGS: GN 9:8-15/ PS 25:4-5. 6-7. 8-9/ 1 PT 3:18-22
GOSPEL: MK 1:12-15
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
GOSPEL REFLECTION:
The intention of the temptations of the devil was for Jesus to make himself ‘number one’ with a focus on himself. To feed his hunger with a miraculous conversion of stone to bread; to look for temporary power, and to trust in himself rather than God. However, the goal in the life of Jesus was that his Father would always be number one’. We are called to do this too in our lives, even when it involves suffering as it did for Jesus which led to the cross. We watch him during Lent putting others first, even after the resurrection.
What spirit drives me in the things I do? Is my heart a home for the Spirit? Could the Holy Spirit be inviting me to take a more quiet space? In the bible, the ‘wilderness’ is a place of revelation and of intimacy with God. I need to put secondary things aside to meet God. God is found in emptiness as well as in fullness. I can find him in the emptiness of sickness and old age and disappointment and failure and solitude.
PRAYER:
Lord, come with me into my wilderness. Speak to my preoccupied heart. Reveal to me where addiction to power, possession, and gratification choke my path. Only when I am free from these can I be good news to others. Only then do I become part of the solution to the world’s problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment