First Sunday of Lent

Homily Video

First Sunday of Lent Homily Transcript

When I was a little boy growing up in Mount Prospect, I had two older sisters and a younger brother. And I can remember every time the family would get into the car with my mom and my dad, before my dad would turn on the car, we all made the sign of the cross. And that’s always stayed with me, that thought of making the sign of the cross before going out on a journey. On Ash Wednesday, this past Ash Wednesday, we all received the sign of our faith, the sign of the cross in ashes on our foreheads.

It meant that we were to begin a journey, a journey with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, to accompany the Lord during this holy season. And during this holy season, the church gives us three disciplines to follow. We’re asked to pray so that we might draw closer to the Lord in our lives of prayer. We’re asked to fast, to have and to acknowledge that the deepest hunger in ourselves, the deepest hunger is to draw closer to the Lord. And then, to go out of ourselves and to do acts of kindness and charity, traveling with the Lord over these next 40 days.

One of the most important thing in Saint Mark’s Gospel is that Mark’s Gospel is short. In the gospel, we’re on a journey, a journey that leads us to Jerusalem and leads us to the cross. And ultimately, to the resurrection, to journey with the Lord. Did you notice in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus is led into the desert by the Spirit? The Spirit of God leads him into the dessert. And did you notice that the angels minister to him in the desert, that Jesus is not alone in this journey these 40 days? But God, God the father, Abba, the one who said, “This is my beloved son,” at the time of his baptism, is with him in every single moment.

Readings

First Reading:

Genesis 9:8-15

Second Reading:

Peter 3:18-22

Gospel:

Mark 1:12-15 (23)

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