The Gospel reading for Quadragesima Sunday,
also known as the First Sunday of Lent, on
Cycle B (Mark 1:12-15) concluded with these words of Jesus.
The Gospel narrative describes what Jesus did upon
his Baptism: being tried by Satan with
temptations in the wilderness (vv.12-13) and starting to proclaim the Gospel of
God upon John the Baptist’s arrest (vv. 14-15). Prior to what this Sunday Gospel narrative
describes, Jesus was being baptized (vv. 9-11), while John the Baptist was
preaching on the baptism of repentance (v.4) in calling to prepare for the
coming of the Lord. In fact, the Baptism
of Jesus was not about repentance but to be commissioned to start his public
ministry, as it was the appointed time for the Gospel of God to be preached. It
was also what John the Baptist was expecting the coming of Christ – and recognizing
him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), as we
reflected during Advent Season. It was
the very time for Jesus to make the public appearance, as the Lamb of God, and
to start preaching the Gospel of God to fulfill salvific prophecies and the
laws from the Old Testament.
The time of fulfillment – this is what the
Gospel reading for Quadragesima Sunday on Cycle B proclaims to help us journey
through the 40 days of Lenten season so that we will witness and experience the
fulfillment on the Resurrection Sunday. In this sense, Lent is a time to
prepare for this fulfillment. Prayer,
fasting, and almsgiving – the three pillars of our Lenten commitment, as
reflected in the Ash Wednesday Gospel (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18), must be exercised
in light of Mark 1:15: Repenting our sins and believing in the Gospel (Good
News/Good Tidings) for the sake of the fulfillment with the Kingdom of God at
hand.
Mark 1:9-15 alludes to the fulfillment made by
Jesus, and Luke 3:1-4:21 offers a good picture of what Jesus came to fulfill as
he began preaching in Galilee, upon his baptism and being tested by Satan. In fact, Jesus was baptized and tested in
order to fulfill the following words:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring
glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a
year acceptable to the Lord (Luke 4:18-19).
Upon eloquently citing these words from Isaiah 61:1-2
and 58:6, Jesus proclaimed, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).
The Gospel reading for Quadragesima Sunday on
Cycle B, Mark 1:12-15, can be better appreciated with Luke 3:1-4:21, in order
for us reflect on our part of fulfillment toward the Resurrection Sunday, with
prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
As Jesus’ fulfilment came into reality upon his
baptism and trials with temptations, now we are called to humbly remember the
meaning of our First Sacrament: Baptism and our need to be tried with
temptations for 40 days, as Jesus spent 40 days of fasting and overcame
temptations set by Satan, before his fulfillment. For this reason, the First Reading on this
Quadragesima Sunday, Genesis 9:8-15 recalls the great deluge, which is
indicated as the “cleansing baptism” of the world in the Second Reading, 1
Peter 3:18-22. The First Reading also
reminds us that God established covenant upon the flood, as a fresh start with
a small number of humans he saved. To this, the Responsorial Psalm from Psalm
25, sings, Your ways, O Lord, are love
and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Recalling baptism and keeping the covenant must
precede our commitment for the fulfillment, as we proceed on our Lenten journey
with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – reflecting what Jesus came to fulfill
for: Preaching the Good News and bringing healing, proclaimed by Jesus in
Luke 4:18-19, in fulfilling Isaiah 61:1-2 and 58:6. Let us journey on during this Lent so that
our Lenten commitment to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is surely geared
toward the fulfilment of these: Good News and healing to be propagated. After
all, for this reason, we have received the Sacrament of Baptism and go through
our Lenten trials with temptations.
Lent, indeed, is a time of fulfillment. Let us
move on through this Lenten wilderness, fighting temptations set by Satan,
though our steadfast disciples of prayers, fasting, and almsgiving, so that we
may fulfill our part of the covenant with God.
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