LENT ’09: 1st Sunday – By Fr. Gordon, imc.

Mark 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."

Maybe our minds could be running into the imagination of what a desert would be like… Mentally going to Sahara etc, not actually to contemplate the sand dunes but rather to situate ourselves next to what Jesus would have experienced on this occasion. And something comes to my mind, the first monks who would withdraw themselves to the caves and to the desert to be alone with non but God… A different experience… I will mention it again.
A desert is terrible place to be in. It is a place of nothing. It is a place of death. It is a place of danger and fear. No wonder, the Gospel of Mark presents us with these images like Satan, wild beasts… These are nothing good as far as human integrity is concerned. But, we have to discover the secret here. Jesus did not go in search for these dangerous moments but rather driven by the spirit – to be with non but His Father (alone with non but thee my God). Consequently, we can say that we as Christians we are called during this Lenten period to let ourselves be guided by the Spirit of God to be where He wants us to be; to listen to Him and to trust in Him as our ALL (in thee I trust).
In this situation, Mark puts Jesus in the midst of two extremes: With wild beasts and Angels. Wild beast we can say are the most dangerous beings created by God – representing the difficulties Jesus would face in his mission as messiah as compared to the angels which are on the other hand, the most friendly beings amongst the creatures – sign of the closeness of God who takes care of Jesus and his mission. And to us Christians? This means that in the journey of our faith, we may meet many dangers but we have to be convinced and trust always in our God who will always send us His Angels to make our mission/journey a success. These angels maybe you and me… Sent to rescue that needy son or daughter of God in danger, in pain, in suffering, in fear, in solitude, in want. Look around, you have a lot to do as an angel sent by God… And to the needy, in whichever way they maybe in, let them have courage because the Lord will not leave them alone without sending His Angels at an appropriate time – Fish Action!
Lent is a time of grace, appropriate time to return to the Lord, to renew our Christian commitments and to offer the best of ourselves as we prepare for the great Feast of our Lord – Easter. This journey must begin immediately in each one of us. All our Lenten intentions must be set rolling now for the message of the Lord is clear to us as it was then… “This is the time of fulfillment… Repent and believe in the Gospel”.

For Personal reflection:
1. As we begin this new Lenten season, what are the new things starting to flourish in me? What are my temptations and in what areas am I failing?
2. What can I do this lent to increase my trust in God and my readiness to help others?