01/03/2009 - 1st. Sunday in Lent
- B
1st. Reading Gen 9,8-15 Psalm 24 2nd. Reading 1Pt 3,18-22 Gospel Mk 1,12-15
When I start to pray by saying "Father", in as much as I might feel
alone on this earth, I am not anymore. Jesus too, in the moment when he knew
that he was abandoned by those who were to be is faithful followers and that
even his own disciples did not understand him, said: "I am not alone, because
the Father is with me" (Jn 16, 32). How beautiful is our faith in comparison
with other beliefs of other religions that leave one really alone! The Asian
religions give one the joy of believing that he is 'a spark' of God, that is,
a piece of the divinity that is all what one sees! For these religions God is
not a person, that is, he is not someone with whom you can enter into a relationship:
one has no way to speak to him, or to be listened by him; one is really alone.
Other ancient religions can convince one of several divinities, proposed in
various stages of one's life or to the various places in which one finds himself.
These divinities have a way how to terrify one and satisfy the desires: with
these one is never in communion and one does not want to be. In Islam God is
held far away and so different, that you cannot say anything to him or wait
for a word from him: he refuses to be called Father as much as he refuses that
you hold yourself as his son! We are to be grateful to Jesus who revealed to
us the face of God, as the one who is provides for our lives and sees that we
are joyful, committed to give us signs of his presence among us as a sign of
his love. Even so we thank God because in Jesus he gave us his love, the assurance
that he is near us. Jesus confirms and fulfills all the truths that came to
us already in the revelation done to the Jewish People from Abram to Moses,
from David to Elijah, from Elisha to John the Baptist! All the stories of the
people of Israel and in particular the prayers, the Psalms, are a treasure that
help us taste and see the presence of that God who is in touch with us because
his mercy is true and his faithfulness is real. Lead by Jesus we therefore say:
Father! We can pass a lot of time in prayer saying simply: Father! We can imagine
him enjoying the beat of our heart as we pronounce this word with love and with
the desire to be united to him.
St. Peter, writing to his faithful, speaks of the water of the universal as
a water that saves. That water in fact, while it cleansed and brought death
into the world, saved from the destruction and death Noah and his family: this
man had listened to the Word of God and obeyed it, even though he had to suffer
the rejection and the laughs of all the others. The same water that was destroying
and purifying from all evil the disobedient land was an instrument of salvation
for the obedient man. He was able to enjoy the friendship with God, even so,
thanks to him, all men today can be sure because of the promise made to him
and through him to all. Peter refers to the same water when he speaks of Jesus
who went into Hell to announce his coming even to the sinners that at the time
of Noah refused to believe. These represent all those who never received the
good news of the Father's love for them, the followers of the religions of the
world, and all those who died before they were baptized. If God will have mercy
of sinners and save them, he saves them because of the sacrifice and the offer
made by Jesus Christ.
He is the one who picked up the way of obedience to God, the way left by Adam
and Eve the day gave a listening heart to the serpent. Jesus remained 40 days
in the desert, tempted by Satan: this one was trying to bring him out of the
desert to follow the glory and the power among men, to abuse for his advantages
the richness of the earth, to the point of wanting to exercise kind of magic
power. But Jesus remains in the desert, persevering in searching God, his Word
like Moses and his strength like Elijah. The temptations to disobey God were
won by the Lord, who had entered into the waters like in a tomb of evilness
of men and came out after he had sanctified them and made out of it the womb
that give life to the sons of God.
Jesus remained in the desert to fight our fight, persevered in the difficulties
represented by the enmity and the danger of wild beasts, won the lie and the
deceit of Satan. He picked up the way back to the Father, and became a shepherd
and a guide to us, who can join him on this way of returning back home. He is
the only one who can lead us. Because of this one can proclaim with humility
and freely that we are to believe his Word for our conversion and to arrive
to the kingdom God prepared for men. To believe the Gospel is to enter into
a new dimension, from within: we are not to gain salvation by our own forces
or initiatives, but welcome it as a free gift of the Father and receive it by
accepting Jesus, whom he sent as the way, the life and the truth!
Led by Jesus we go through this Lenten Season with openness and a commitment
to listen to the Word of God and to answer to it with fasting and worship prayer.