017 First Sunday of Lent
Readings
Cycle B First Sunday of LentOld Testament: Genesis 9:8-15
New Testament: 1 Peter 3:18-22
Psalm: Psalm 25
Gospel: Mark 1:12-15
Homily Theme
God’s Wedding Ring
Every normal young girl dreams of the day that a young man will fall in love with her and place a ring on her finger as he asks her to marry him. Her eyes sparkle like the diamond on the ring as she shows it to all her friends. This is the sign of her lover’s promise of a future marriage when he will place the wedding ring on her finger and ask her to live with him forever until death. Every sacramental marriage is a solemn covenant between a bride and a groom who pledge unconditional love for each other and bind it in the presence of the Church as witnessed by the priest. After the rings are exchanged the priest proclaims it to be a covenant, ‘What God has joined together let no man on earth put asunder’.
In today’s first reading God places His engagement ring, the rainbow, in the sky as a sign of a future final covenant with mankind. Jesus is the fulfillment of all God’s previous covenants. He is God in the flesh and He is the bridegroom of His bride, the Church, with whom He made an everlasting covenant at the Last Supper. This covenant is renewed at every Mass every day.
In today's Psalm response, several times we will pray, ‘Your ways, O Lord are love and truth to those who keep your covenant’.
Every bride dreams of the perfect man as her future bridegroom. Jesus is the only perfect man ever to live. His love for you is unconditional and infinite and He prepares to court you today as He begins his public life with a retreat in the desert where He is tempted but does not sin. We are not perfect and our love is not infinite, so many of us will sin. We will need to seek forgiveness and reconciliation as today’s gospel suggests when it says Repent and believe the gospel.
As we begin Lent this week, let us meditate on the infinite love of Jesus who prepares to lay down His life for us so that we can be with Him forever in heaven. Let us strive to love Him more and more each day by doing little things to show our love for Him. Let us be ardent in prayer, fasting and generous in our almsgiving to the less fortunate as we wait like a bride who is anxious to seal the eternal covenant and receive…
God’s Wedding Ring.