This Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent.
The readings tie together the story of God’s covenant promise to Noah, the water of baptism, and the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.
Mark 1:12-15
First Read
“The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert” and “John had been arrested“
Second Read
The Spirit Drove Jesus Out
Within the Trinity, Jesus is fully God while also in relationship with the other Persons, the Father and the Spirit.
The fact that the Spirit drove Jesus to act implies that they have a potential for separate wills. This reminds me of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane asking for the Father’s Will to be done. I won’t pretend to have any deep understanding of the Trinitarian mystery, but it helps to know that Jesus would have been able to fully unite his will with the will of the Spirit.
Although we are not entirely one with the Spirit this side of Heaven, we are by our baptism, and in a special way through confirmation, united to the Spirit. If the Spirit drove Jesus to go out to the desert, where is he calling us? How do we cultivate the ability to listen to that call so that we can be more united to his Divine Will?
Third Reading
John had Been Arrested
John the Baptist was led to prison, and later his beheading, for publically professing a message that was contrary to what the governing authority at the time wanted to hear.
I think it is easy to imagine someone getting arrested and immediately wondering what they did wrong. However, St. John the Baptist is one of the most revered saints even outside of Catholicism! He must have been doing something right, yet that is easier to say with hindsight.
In fact, many saints have been imprisoned for various reasons: All of the Apostles, St. Paul, St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Blessed Martyrs of Albania, the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, and so many more.
If we aren’t careful, it is easy to do what everyone else around us is doing. Then what if what others are doing is wrong? What beliefs would I be willing to go to prison for? What message would I put at higher value than my own life?
With hindsight, it is easier to see wrong and right more clearly, but what about right now? Maybe the Spirit is guiding some of us. We need to strive to unite ourselves to God’s Will.
Action
I hope to strive to unite myself more closely to God’s Will.
Further reading to help with Uniting with and Hearing God’s Will:
- Uniformity with God’s Will – St. Alphonsus Lagori (Free PDF or listen in an hour and a half on Youtube)
- He Leadeth Me – Fr. Walter Chizek
- In the School of the Holy Spirit – Fr. Jacques Philippe