First Sunday of Lent

First Sunday of Lent
† Sunday 12th March 2000

Theme: Jesus - calls us, “Repent - believe the Good News!”

Reading from the Book of Genesis 9: 8 - 15
The sign of rainbow in the sky after rain is a beautiful sight, and for the People of God the rainbow is a sign of the lasting Covenant between God and the people who are faithful. For the Christian reader, here is also the underlying message that the destructive waters of the great Flood, will now be transformed by God’s power into the life giving waters of Baptism.

First Letter of Peter 3: 18 - 22
Noah, and those with him were saved, passing through the flood waters in the ark. Christians are saved by passing through the waters of baptism. This is not a washing, but rather a contract or pledge to the God, by which the disciple begins to share in the life of the Risen Christ. Baptism is frequently described by the early Fathers of the church as “Illumination”. Did they see the light of the rainbow in the sky after the storm, as a type of the enlightenment that comes with Christian faith at baptism?

Gospel according to Mark 1: 12 - 15
Immediately, following Jesus’ baptism by John in the river Jordan, and the manifesation of Jesus as “This is my beloved Son, Listen to him!” Jesus goes into the wilderness to be alone, to be tested. Now on his return from the desert place, Jesus proclaims, “the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believe the Good News!”