Daily Readings - February 22, 2015

First Sunday of Lent

Lectionary: 23

Reading 1 GN 9:8-15

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.

If you remember, God has just brought about a global destruction by means of a flood, because of the sinfulness of mankind.  The thing I find intriguing is that God is not just making the covenant with Noah, but also with all the creatures that were with him on the ark.

I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.”

God promised Noah that He would never destroy all of mankind nor all creatures, by means of a flood, again.

God added:
“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth,
and the bow appears in the clouds,
I will recall the covenant I have made
between me and you and all living beings,
so that the waters shall never again become a flood
to destroy all mortal beings.”

The Rainbow.  What a wonderful teaching tool.  I remember from a child that my parents and all adults would tell me what it meant.  And my parents did not know Scripture.  But who doesn't know the story of the Flood?

Responsorial Psalm PS 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9.

R. (cf. 10) Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

It is upon those who keep His commandments that God sheds His mercy (Exodus 20:6).

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.

Those who keep God's commandments are they who love God (John 14:15).

R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.

And God will come to them and live with them (John 14:21).

R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Good and upright is the LORD,
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and he teaches the humble his way.

God loves us and guides us to repentance.  Those who repent, He exalts to eternal life (Matthew 23:12).

R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Reading 2 1 PT 3:18-22

Beloved:
Christ suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.

Jesus sacrificed Himself on the Cross, not just to pay the penalty for our sins, but also to give us an example to follow.

Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.

He died in the flesh in order that He might be the Firstborn to eternal life.

In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,
who had once been disobedient

Jesus descended into hell.  Hell, in the Creed, is a reference to Limbo, where the Patriarchs were awaiting that Jesus would lead them into heaven.

while God patiently waited in the days of Noah
during the building of the ark,
in which a few persons, eight in all,
were saved through water.

The Flood washed away sinful humanity from the earth.

This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.
It is not a removal of dirt from the body

In that sense, it foreshadows the Sacrament of Baptism, the sign which Jesus instituted to show that the Holy Spirit, TRULY, washes our sins away from our soul.

but an appeal to God for a clear conscience,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God,
with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

Thus, when we are reborn in Baptism, this is a foretaste of our resurrection at the end of days.

Verse Before The Gospel MT 4:4B

One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

No alleluia before the Gospel during Lent.  But a reminder that the Eucharist is the food of eternal life.

Gospel MK 1:12-15

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.

Lent is here.  And we shall join Jesus in the desert for 40 days.  Voluntarily fasting and suffering for the Kingdom of God that we might be glorified with Christ (Rom 8:17).

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.”

Therefore, let us repent and turn to God, that we too, may be saved.