Reform and Believe in the Gospel

First Sunday of Lent (Year B)

Mark 1: 12-15    “Reform your lives and believe in the good news!”

February 26, 2012

            Why did Jesus go into the desert? Scripture says the Spirit “drove” him there. Why did the Spirit not plunge him into his preaching at once? Why delay Jesus with an experience that could only weaken him physically? What then can we learn from Jesus?

            From all this, we see the importance of occasionally moving out of the world of our daily life to do what Jesus did --- to reflect, to pray, to plan. If a man like Jesus needed time alone to get ready for his mission in life, surely we need time to get ready for whatever task God has for us. This is the reason why many Catholics make a yearly retreat – to listen to what God has to tell them. We need to find out what we can do to bring God more into our world and a good time to do this is during the season of Lent. What Jesus did in the desert prepared him for his mission. What we do in our retreat will also prepare us for the task God has for each one of us.

            As we enter the season of Lent, we ask God’s help in our struggle with the forces of evil – 

“LOVING FATHER, CONTINUES TO SHOW US YOUR LOVE AS WE NOW RESPOND TO YOUR CALL NOT ONLY TO CLEANSE OURSELVES BY SELF-DENIAL BUT ALSO TO DEEPEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. WE ASK THIS THROUGH JESUS YOUR SON OUR LORD. AMEN.”