|
Exegesis
Texts of the Readings
March 1,
2009
First Sunday in
Lent (B)
Betty Jane Lillie, S.C
23: Gen 9:8-15
X
Ps 25: 4-9
X
1
Peter 3:18-22 X
Mk 1:12-15
Lent is a wonderful time of the year. It brings with it a kind of busyness
that can even be welcome. It is not the frenzied busyness of the Christmas
season which can distract us from the real focus of the season. Lent is a
time to step aside to a space where we can review the direction of our own
spirituality and look with gratitude to our redemption and final glorious
resurrection.
In our area, if we are lucky, the weather and Mother Nature help
us think of renewal. Things begin to green up, and every new blossom is an
inspiration. Now, how do our readings for this week help us steer our
thoughts in that direction?
Our first reading from the pre-history is set in the context of
Noah and his family going out of the ark after the flood. They were blessed
by God and set upon the earth to be fruitful and multiply. At that time the
Lord established a covenant with Noah and his family and descendants,
as well as with every living creature. God promised Noah that he would
never again destroy the earth by water. He also established a sign of that
covenant whereby he and humankind could remember their relationship. It was
an everlasting covenant (Gen 9:16) that would be a witness to God’s eternal
election and love of the people he had chosen for his own. The bow in the
heavens suggests that God’s wrath had subsided, as the flood waters had, and
now it was time for beauty again to be restored.
Our second reading from 1 Peter 3:18-20 latches onto the theme
of the salvation of Noah’s family through water. The mention of the flood
provides a way of comparison with Baptism. In the flood, water destroyed
wickedness; in Baptism water brings about saving grace. Over all, the
passage may be difficult to understand. However, what the writer may be
trying to say is that in being put to death in the flesh Jesus really did
die; and being made alive in the spirit may mean that death did not hold
power over him. Thus, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus placed him at
the right hand of God with power over all. Jesus having preached to the
spirits in prison may refer to those in the days of Noah who were not
faithful. The writer is not explicit about their salvation through the
redemptive act of Jesus, but it would be possible to hope that the
all-embracing power of Jesus’ redemptive death could also embrace them.
Finally, the Gospel reading is short and swift. In preparation
for beginning his ministry Jesus spent forty days of renewal in the desert.
Then he began to preach that the time of fulfillment for God’s promises had
come, and the kingdom of God was at hand. People were called to embrace the
kingdom through repentance and faith. This passage is the seedbed from
which the whole of Mark’s Gospel will expand.
With the Psalmist let us pray to the Lord, “Lead me in the
truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation.”
©Betty
Jane Lillie, S.C.
|
