First Sunday of Lent. Year B - Sunday, February 21, 2021 (EPISODE: 280)

First Sunday of Lent. Year B - Sunday, February 21, 2021
(EPISODE: 280)

Readings for First Sunday of Lent. Year B
FIRST READING: Gen 9: 8-15
Ps 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9. "Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant."
SECOND READING: 1 Pet 3: 18-22
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Matt 4: 4b). Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. No one lives on bread alone. But on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
GOSPEL: Mark 1: 12-15 - Temptation

Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. ID: 150965762. Our Lord in the Wilderness. By Motortion Films.
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Please listen to the audio-recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for First Sunday of Lent. Year B - Sunday, February 21, 2021 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ep-280-lent-1-b-2021/s-aaUjsvbAVg9

(EPISODE: 280)

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* (Prologue:  Fr Paul Kelly)
"The Spirit impelled Jesus 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 fulfilment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:12-15).

"As Lent begins, the Church enters a period of spiritual renewal leading to Easter. Lent is a time of retreat. We journey inward to places of solitude and silence to rediscover God's love for us. To refocus and re-connect to God's priorities, and allow God to re-order our habits and choices according to God's values.

In the passage prior to this Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, Mark writes that Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan and heard the voice confirming that his future mission was blessed by his heavenly Father.

Then, we read that Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to prepare for his public mission.

The words are very powerful.  They are strong words:   Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. He was impelled, obliged, pushed with a sense of urgency and necessity!

"He lived among wild beasts,"  - We may all have heard the saying: "humans are just animals, so it's only natural to respond to our base inclinations" But Jesus shows us that we might be surrounded by wild animals, but it doesn't mean we have to act like one.

We humans have been given the rare gift of discernment; the ability to tell right from wrong. We have freedom and choice, so we are unique in being able to adapt our lives, our choices and our priorities so that we are not merely stuck in reacting only on instinct or inclinations, to any of life's events.  We have been given the human grace (by God) to rise above might otherwise have us responding at the same level of response as animals.   Having said that, I do acknowledge that some commentators on human behaviour have rather ruefully observed that many animals can act better than the way some humans treat one another.

Our lives are filled with temptation, and Jesus' life was also filled with temptation, since he was not only God, but also fully human:

The temptation to take an easier but not best path;   temptation to lose hope in difficult situations,  temptation to put ourselves and our needs,  (legitimate or not), before others,  tempted to respond to our desires rather than our duties.  And so on.  In so many ways we are assailed by temptations to take a less loving, more selfish and less compassionate path. A path that denies that God is the centre of our lives and existence.

But "angels ministered to him" as he fasted and prayed during those forty days.

Do we accept the strength of the sacraments, the support of parishioners, family and friends, and the encouragement along the difficult path that is offered at different times? Hope is one of the best defences against the temptations that weigh us down. Hope need not be over-idealistic, but can exist even under the full weight of the reality of how bad things can be for many people.  Hope is never losing sight of God's faithfulness and love, and hope is continuing to love and show the values of the gospel of Jesus even when everything around us may be going wrong.

For most of us, there is no physical desert. Our deserts and 'wildernesses" are often real, but symbolic. They are moments of dryness in our lives that come from tensions in family life, arguments with significant others, anxiety about economic distress, world conflict, and many other sources.

This Gospel passage invites us to recognize those times when we experience our own "temptations" and "temptation to despair," not taking desolation, and fear as times that reveal the face of God to us in a very close way. These are the times in which we discover our utter reliance on God. And this opens up the path to new and greater life.

Perhaps patience should be seen as one of the most powerful of the virtues… Forbearance, restraint, pause,  and "waiting in silence for God to save" are surely remedies to what would, otherwise, be a huge list of possible mistakes and dead-end pathways.

What have been "desert" moments in our lives that have caused us tension, stress, or despair? How has God been a part of these moments?  Can we let Jesus, who lived in the wilderness for forty days, (and who was assailed by the temptations that would later surface in other ways during his ministry and knowing that he faced suffering and eventually the cross; because he was taking the path of love and forgiveness. Can we let Jesus lead us in this journey as we face so many different aspects of spiritual wilderness in our lives and allow His Spirit to fill us up with all the virtues that crowd-out sin…

That is:  Love, faith and hope, and also patience, goodness, and  chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, and humility.

Jesus is ably suited to leading and guiding us through this and all other experiences of wilderness.


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Homily:  Fr Peter Dillon:   1st Sunday-Lent-Year B-2021

Have you ever been tempted to do something wickedly outrageously good? It is unfortunate that temptation only seems to lure us into doing things that are bad or wrong or unhealthy. As the journey of Lent begins again we are asked to have a serious look at how we are travelling on the road to a good moral life. A spiritual audit that might give a clear direction as to where we need to make adjustments in our thoughts, words and actions.

As children, we used to call this "the giving up time" without any real understanding of why we needed to make any sacrifices. Why do we give up or take on things specifically for these forty days? What's the point? Put simply, it's to remind us of our humanity, as if we needed reminding. It's meant to highlight both the giftedness and the fragility of our daily existence, with its choices and struggles, its celebrations and its burdens.

Today as we hear of Mark's very brief account of the temptations of Jesus, it is somewhat consoling to think that he might at least be lured by a promise of a better, more attractive life. Here again, we find Mark reminding us that the mind of Christ is not so removed from our own, such that if Jesus can resist these substantial temptations, then we too have a similar power to resist much less demanding ones.

Like Jesus, we sometimes feel as though we are living among those wild beasts that we feel are too powerful to fight off or resist. They are subtle and disguised and very alluring. They get inside our minds and convince us that we will be happier, more successful, and more popular and generally more liked. They appeal to our basic human needs for comfort and power and it doesn't take much convincing to get us to follow them or give in to them.

When you struggle over time, you start to believe that you cannot resist or change or be stronger. We accept our weakness and call it "just being human", as though that was synonymous with being powerless. It is at this point that Jesus suggests that rather than simply believing in the Good News, we become Good News.

By that I mean, that Lent is an excellent time to regain some of that strength that we have surrendered. Starting simply we should begin to do the noble and generous thing, no matter how small. Don't question its effectiveness, because it is not up to us to ensure the outcomes, but rather to do the better, kinder action. It's about making the first approach, welcoming the stranger, sitting next to a complaining co-worker, chatting with the shy neighbour, sending a kind note to a grieving parishioner, giving a compliment, visiting an aged relative. Doing the noble deed. Giving to a charity like Project Compassion, but not making a big deal about it, unless it really is a big deal – no matter what the deed, it will be noticed by you and by God and your relationship will deepen, which is the real purpose of all of this activity. In doing so you will keep the presence of God alive in the world and you will emerge stronger to tame the wild beast.

Allow yourself to see the imperfect parts of your nature and learn what needs to change, where you need to get stronger. So instead of fearing the temptations see them as meeting points of our humanity with Christ. A time of learning.
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References:

Homily by Fr Peter Dillon

Prologue - Fr Paul W. Kelly

Word on the Go, a downloadable resource from RENEW International


Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. ID: 150965762. Our Lord in the Wilderness. By Motortion Films.

First Sunday of Lent. Year B  (Sunday, February 21, 2021)  (EPISODE: 280 )
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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{{Love and joy be with everyone}}. Welcome. everyone, we gather -  Listen to God's Word and contemplate the sacraments.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord is full of love and mercy. And so, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us acknowledge our sins. 
Lord Jesus, you are mighty God and Prince of Peace. Lord have mercy// You are Son of God and the Son of Mary. Christ have mercy// You are Word made flesh, the splendour of the Father. Lord have mercy.
May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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PREFACE: Sunday Lent I
Ep II
(theme variation: have Mercy  )

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{Cheers and thanks everyone for this time of prayer and reflection - I hope you have a blessed week. }

Go forth, the Mass is ended.

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Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here:  https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by sending an email to this address: paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul Kelly

Prayers and chants  — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)

Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)

"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009,  The Grail - Collins publishers.

Prayers of the Faithful -   " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'.   E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney Australia).


"Quiet Time."  Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.

Lenten Hymn: "Have Mercy," inspired by Psalm 50(51). Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2020. https://www.airgigs.com/user/stefankelk

[ Production -  KER -  2021]

May God bless and keep you.
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