HOMILY  /  1ST SUNDAY OF LENT, YR B

HOMILY  /  1ST SUNDAY OF LENT, YR B

BY: Fr. Jude Nnadi

Readings: Genesis 9:8-15; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15

Brethren, the small passage from Mark 1:12-15 (four dense verses which connect the conclusion of the prologue of the gospel and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry), invites us to rediscover our faith in a new encounter with Jesus and his word.
The first two verses connect to what precedes Jesus’ baptism: “and coming up from the water, he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him”. With this, Mark begins the story of the Son of God by proclaiming that his entry into the human history is an event that anticipates Easter. With Jesus of Nazareth a new man is born, animated by the Spirit.

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“The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.” The “desert” here evokes the experience of the people of God on their journey of the exodus, a normal condition of the human existence in every way and situation. Jesus is led by the Spirit to enter without fear into the complex ambiguity of the human history instead of enjoying the privilege of His Sonship (Filius). Saint Paul captures this reality in his great Christological hymn (Philippians 2:6-11).
Mark in our short gospel today further describes the entire human existence of the Son: “he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.” This points to the fact that Jesus lived his entire life immersed in human experience, “tempted by Satan”. Being “among the wild beasts and the angels ministered to him” is realized by remaining in the concreteness of a fragile experience by welcoming the gift of the Spirit which has a regenerating force.
Led by this Spirit Jesus’ ministry begins in Galilee, announcing with his words and actions, the very content of the Goodnews that will be told in time: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” These are both wonders of what has taken place (the kingdom of God in our midst); and at the same time an invitation to act accordingly. The conversion required is not a new moral commitment, but a radical change in the old orders of viewing, thinking, judging, and living. It is seeing, welcoming and loving God in all people. Conversion is “believing in the gospel”, abandonment of the self to faith in Jesus Christ true God and true Man.
In this liturgy, Mark invites us to remain with Jesus in the concreteness of life, up to the drama of the cross, believing and experiencing him even in suffering, in our deepest darkness. The Lenten journey comprises of the entire life experience.

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