This year we are reading from the Gospel of Mark. He moves quickly in his telling of the Jesus story. The adult Jesus is introduced within the first 9 verses of the first chapter along with John the Baptizer. Within these early verses Jesus is baptized, and the Holy Spirit descends upon him; then the next verse shows God the Father being well pleased. The next three verses make up the Gospel of the First Sunday of Lent. This gospel passage presents Jesus in the desert for 40 days. Satan challenged Him and gave Jesus insights into the evil in the world. Jesus was also ministered to, and he came back from this time away refreshed and able to proclaim: “the Kingdom of God is at hand”.

This is how we start Lent this year; we listen to Mark telling us that Jesus needed time away and would be stronger for it. The challenges would be great, and Jesus required time to prepare and obtain spiritual nourishment.

There is much for us to learn from these early verses of the Gospel of Mark. Our 40 days of lent should be viewed as a challenge and a time of improvement. This is a time for us to seek our spiritual nourishment. The source of this nourishment is present in our faith. The idea that each of us is a believer means that we are in a relationship with God. We should take the opportunity to build on this relationship. Prayer, study, and action support the improvement of our relationship with God. They are the source of our spiritual nutrition.

God made us for greatness, and he made our minds powerful so that we can achieve this greatness. We should think of Lent as time away to feed our brains and our minds so that we can grow in this greatness. God is with us as we pray and God is with us as we study our scriptures and God is with us as we touch one another.

De Colores!

Paul