Fr. Phil's Sunday Scripture Reflection
In the Gospel reading for today we have Mark’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Mark’s Gospel does not have a dialogue between Jesus and Satan that Matthew and Luke have. In a way, that lets us imagine what form the temptation may have taken.
As I imagine it, I can see Satan taking Jesus to the present day, 2012. I can hear him say to Jesus, “Look at these people! They are not worth your sacrifice! Some of them have convinced themselves that they can be as greedy as they wish, because you want them to be happy! Some of them do violence to each other in your name! Look at the lengths they will go to destroy each other! Some of them think they are the only ones who know what is right, and spend their time condemning everyone else, just like the Pharisees will do to you. Some of them could care less about what you said or did. They think somebody, anybody but you, can tell them what they need to know. Look at them! They are greedy and selfish and weak, and you want to save them? What for? Why go through all that pain? Give up, Jesus! I know how to handle them. I know how to give them what they really want. All you need to do is step back, and leave them to me.”
Perhaps Jesus was tempted to give up on us. Is that not a strong temptation? When we see what is going on in the world and perhaps in our lives, it can be easy to despair. But, thanks be to God, Jesus did not despair! He did not give up on us, and leave us to Satan, or to ourselves!
In Jesus we have hope! We see hope in all of our Scripture readings for today. In our first reading from Genesis, God promises not to destroy the earth by flood again. Instead, a rainbow shall appear as a confirmation of that promise! In our second reading, St. Peter reminds us that in His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus has given us hope: “Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit.” God loves us, even though we are sinners, and the Son of God has died for our sins and rose from the dead so that we could be saved!
And in our Gospel reading, we see hope. Jesus leaves Satan and his temptations, and goes out from the desert into Galilee proclaiming good news: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Repentance involves hope! Why? Because when we repent, that is, turn back to God, we are declaring our faith in a loving God. We state our conviction that our sins are not the last word about us! We proclaim our belief that there is One bigger than our sins, and that there is nothing nor no one that can stop God from loving us, and seeking to heal us! That is why Lent is not a time of despair, but a time of hope. If we are honest about what has kept us from God, we need not give up. Instead we can put our trust in a God who loves us enough to bestow grace and love upon us, and calls us back to Himself.
It is true that we seem to be far away from the coming of the kingdom, but we can still see that now is the time of fulfillment. Now is the time when we can be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ, and strive to fulfill our vocation as individuals, and our mission as a church. God does not abandon us, but calls us. He calls us to hope. He calls us to trust, even though He may seem to be slow to answer our prayers. He calls us to follow Jesus, who did not give up on us, and we are not to give up on ourselves or on each other. Turn back to God, and believe that He has Good News for you and for all of us!
May God continue to bless us all, and fill us with hope!
In Christ,
Fr. Phil, CP
