READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of Genesis 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. 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 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.”
PSALM 25 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.
2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
Second reading from the First Letter of St. Peter 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. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient 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. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body 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.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Mark 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.
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.”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER On this First Sunday of Lent, the Gospel recalls the themes of temptation, conversion and the Good News. Mark the Evangelist writes: “The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan” (cf. Mk 1:12-13). Jesus goes into the desert to prepare Himself for His mission in the world. For us too, Lent is a time of spiritual “contest”, of spiritual struggle: we are called to confront the Evil One through prayer in order to be able, with God’s help, to overcome him in our daily life. We know that evil unfortunately is at work in our existence and around us, where there is violence, rejection of the other, closure, war, injustice. These are all works of the Evil One. Immediately following the temptations in the desert, Jesus begins to preach the Gospel, that is, the Good News. And this Good News demands our conversion — every single day — and the Church invites us to pray for this. In fact, we are never sufficiently orientated towards God and we must continually direct our minds and our hearts towards Him. (Angelus, 18 February 2018)
FAUSTI - "The Spirit drives Him into the desert" says Mark of Jesus. His Baptism, like the crossing of the Red Sea, marks the end of slavery. Now, however, it remains to cross the desert, snared by the enemy who wants to disperse us, blocking us or making us turn back. Once the choice has been made, the cost of maintaining it until the end must be paid. Adam had not listened to the Word of God and was driven out of Eden into the desert. The Spirit now casts there the new Adam, the Son who listens to the Word. There He meets all His brothers and sisters, and leads them back to the lost paradise. The Baptism of Jesus presents us a God in solidarity with our evil and our death. Christ, who emerges from the water dripping with the Spirit in inner, recalls Moses, the shepherd who led God's flock in Exodus (IS 63:11). Like him, He walks the path of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, when they were all tempted and fell, and victoriously retraces the history of every man, who has always fallen and therefore does not reach the homeland of his desire. Jesus is tempted in the desert to realize the Kingdom of the Father in a more effective and comfortable way. For the other synoptic Gospels, temptations are part of the "hunger" (Mt 4:2- Lk 4:2), that is, the need that man has in relation to things, people or God. There is a constant danger of satisfying this hunger with possession instead of gift - the only food that satisfies - and of not discerning priorities and false alternatives from the true ones. Matthew and Luke also expressly say that He is tempted, as Son of God, to use those instruments that our common sense considers obvious: having, power and religious prestige.But this would mean taking back his solidarity with his brothers and sisters - the only choice of the Son approved by the Father. Jesus was tempted, like each one of us since Adam, for the sake of good. But it is not necessary to act for the sake of good, but to act well. Because good is good only if it is good at the beginning, in the middle and in the end. It is never true that the end justifies the means! In Jesus tempted, all humanity was tempted. In Him Victorious, all humanity has already c overcome evil. He is the new Adam. The Gospel is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Jesus, therefore, by proclaiming the Gospel, proclaims Himself. He speaks the Word and is at the same time the Word spoken. For this reason it is alive and effective, capable of moving us as the first disciples did. The decisive moment in history has come, because the Kingdom of God has appeared. The Kingdom of God, overturning the kingdom of man, which we already know well, as it arouses our hopes, also challenges our freedom. Jesus' proposal immediately becomes the responsibility of my response. The Kingdom has already come by His initiative, but the entrance is reserved to my freedom. Conversion is turning to Him, starting behind Him on His own path. In all religions man seeks God, but in Christianity it is God who seeks man. His proposal is direct and personal: He Himself, through the initiative of His Love, asks me to follow Him. His question and our answer are the two constitutive elements of faith, both immediate and non-delegable. No one can call me in His place and no one can answer in my place. He commits Himself first to be with me, and I commit myself to be with Him. Others can be of help or prior mediation, the same announcement must lead me to meet Him. This is why we must beware of Christianity as an ideology. Faith is a concrete relationship with Him, a loving mutual belonging, a joyful being of one another.
DIACON LODOVICO Eng.GIARLOTTO Gospel. We notice that the Spirit, immediately after having descended upon Jesus like a dove, pushes Him into the desert, where He will be tempted by Satan, because God tests those who are pleasing to Him (Sir 2,5). The whole life of Jesus is depicted in the forty days passed in the desert because during His whole life He was subjected to the test. He entered the desert immediately after the baptism that He had received from John: He began His exodus, He undertook the struggle against Satan (the personification of all the forces of evil), a struggle that lasted until the moment when He emerged victorious from the desert, that is, at the moment of His death. In the narration, which has a clear symbolic value, the evangelist introduces two other figures: the beasts and the angels who are at Jesus' side throughout his stay in the desert. Mark alludes to the Book of Daniel (ch. 7) where the beasts represent the oppressive powers of the world (the Babylonians are represented by the lion, the Medes by the bear, the Persians by the leopard, the Macedonians by an undefined beast). The beasts with which Jesus was confronted are the holders of political, economic and religious power (Sadducees, high priests, Sanhedrin), the spiritual guides (the scribes), the preachers of a justifier God and enemy of sinners (the Pharisees). Angels are the mediators of God's salvation (Moses is called an angel in Ex 23:20,23 as is the Baptist in Mk 1:2) and all those who cooperate with God's plan. Jesus met several "angels" during His public Life: the apostles, the disciples, the women who served Him by collaborating in the work of salvation ....Jesus did not stop in the desert but moved to meet anyone who needed His understanding and help. He did not go directly to Jerusalem but stayed in Galilee, a land of pagans and therefore despised. He met the fishermen, Matthew at the tax booth, He entered the house of the publicans. He had Words of consolation for all the marginalized, announcing that the Kingdom of God is near. Not a kingdom of domination but of service, not for self-interest but for sharing, not for revenge and implacable justice but for unconditional forgiveness and love for the enemy.
RispondiEliminaREADING OF THE DAY
First reading from the Book of Genesis
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.
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 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.”
PSALM 25 In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
2 I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
Second reading from the First Letter of St. Peter
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.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.
In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,
who had once been disobedient
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.
This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.
It is not a removal of dirt from the body
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.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Mark
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.
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.”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
On this First Sunday of Lent, the Gospel recalls the themes of temptation, conversion and the Good News. Mark the Evangelist writes: “The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan” (cf. Mk 1:12-13). Jesus goes into the desert to prepare Himself for His mission in the world. For us too, Lent is a time of spiritual “contest”, of spiritual struggle: we are called to confront the Evil One through prayer in order to be able, with God’s help, to overcome him in our daily life. We know that evil unfortunately is at work in our existence and around us, where there is violence, rejection of the other, closure, war, injustice. These are all works of the Evil One. Immediately following the temptations in the desert, Jesus begins to preach the Gospel, that is, the Good News. And this Good News demands our conversion — every single day — and the Church invites us to pray for this. In fact, we are never sufficiently orientated towards God and we must continually direct our minds and our hearts towards Him. (Angelus, 18 February 2018)
FAUSTI - "The Spirit drives Him into the desert" says Mark of Jesus. His Baptism, like the crossing of the Red Sea, marks the end of slavery. Now, however, it remains to cross the desert, snared by the enemy who wants to disperse us, blocking us or making us turn back. Once the choice has been made, the cost of maintaining it until the end must be paid.
RispondiEliminaAdam had not listened to the Word of God and was driven out of Eden into the desert.
The Spirit now casts there the new Adam, the Son who listens to the Word. There He meets all His brothers and sisters, and leads them back to the lost paradise.
The Baptism of Jesus presents us a God in solidarity with our evil and our death.
Christ, who emerges from the water dripping with the Spirit in inner, recalls Moses, the shepherd who led God's flock in Exodus (IS 63:11). Like him, He walks the path of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, when they were all tempted and fell, and victoriously retraces the history of every man, who has always fallen and therefore does not reach the homeland of his desire.
Jesus is tempted in the desert to realize the Kingdom of the Father in a more effective and comfortable way. For the other synoptic Gospels, temptations are part of the "hunger" (Mt 4:2- Lk 4:2), that is, the need that man has in relation to things, people or God.
There is a constant danger of satisfying this hunger with possession instead of gift - the only food that satisfies - and of not discerning priorities and false alternatives from the true ones.
Matthew and Luke also expressly say that He is tempted, as Son of God, to use those instruments that our common sense considers obvious: having, power and religious prestige.But this would mean taking back his solidarity with his brothers and sisters - the only choice of the Son approved by the Father. Jesus was tempted, like each one of us since Adam, for the sake of good. But it is not necessary to act for the sake of good, but to act well. Because good is good only if it is good at the beginning, in the middle and in the end. It is never true that the end justifies the means!
In Jesus tempted, all humanity was tempted. In Him Victorious, all humanity has already c overcome evil.
He is the new Adam.
The Gospel is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Jesus, therefore, by proclaiming the Gospel, proclaims Himself. He speaks the Word and is at the same time the Word spoken. For this reason it is alive and effective, capable of moving us as the first disciples did.
The decisive moment in history has come, because the Kingdom of God has appeared.
The Kingdom of God, overturning the kingdom of man, which we already know well, as it arouses our hopes, also challenges our freedom. Jesus' proposal immediately becomes the responsibility of my response.
The Kingdom has already come by His initiative, but the entrance is reserved to my freedom.
Conversion is turning to Him, starting behind Him on His own path.
In all religions man seeks God, but in Christianity it is God who seeks man.
His proposal is direct and personal: He Himself, through the initiative of His Love, asks me to follow Him.
His question and our answer are the two constitutive elements of faith, both immediate and non-delegable. No one can call me in His place and no one can answer in my place.
He commits Himself first to be with me, and I commit myself to be with Him.
Others can be of help or prior mediation, the same announcement must lead me to meet Him. This is why we must beware of Christianity as an ideology.
Faith is a concrete relationship with Him, a loving mutual belonging, a joyful being of one another.
DIACON LODOVICO Eng.GIARLOTTO Gospel. We notice that the Spirit, immediately after having descended upon Jesus like a dove, pushes Him into the desert, where He will be tempted by Satan, because God tests those who are pleasing to Him (Sir 2,5). The whole life of Jesus is depicted in the forty days passed in the desert because during His whole life He was subjected to the test. He entered the desert immediately after the baptism that He had received from John: He began His exodus, He undertook the struggle against Satan (the personification of all the forces of evil), a struggle that lasted until the moment when He emerged victorious from the desert, that is, at the moment of His death.
RispondiEliminaIn the narration, which has a clear symbolic value, the evangelist introduces two other figures: the beasts and the angels who are at Jesus' side throughout his stay in the desert. Mark alludes to the Book of Daniel (ch. 7) where the beasts represent the oppressive powers of the world (the Babylonians are represented by the lion, the Medes by the bear, the Persians by the leopard, the Macedonians by an undefined beast). The beasts with which Jesus was confronted are the holders of political, economic and religious power (Sadducees, high priests, Sanhedrin), the spiritual guides (the scribes), the preachers of a justifier God and enemy of sinners (the Pharisees). Angels are the mediators of God's salvation (Moses is called an angel in Ex 23:20,23 as is the Baptist in Mk 1:2) and all those who cooperate with God's plan. Jesus met several "angels" during His public Life: the apostles, the disciples, the women who served Him by collaborating in the work of salvation ....Jesus did not stop in the desert but moved to meet anyone who needed His understanding and help. He did not go directly to Jerusalem but stayed in Galilee, a land of pagans and therefore despised. He met the fishermen, Matthew at the tax booth, He entered the house of the publicans. He had Words of consolation for all the marginalized, announcing that the Kingdom of God is near. Not a kingdom of domination but of service, not for self-interest but for sharing, not for revenge and implacable justice but for unconditional forgiveness and love for the enemy.