First reading Genesis 9:8-15
‘There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again’
God spoke to Noah and his sons, ‘See, I establish my Covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; also with every living creature to be found with you, birds, cattle and every wild beast with you: everything that came out of the ark, everything that lives on the earth. I establish my Covenant with you: no thing of flesh shall be swept away again by the waters of the flood. There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again.’
God said, ‘Here is the sign of the Covenant I make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all generations: I set my bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth. When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the Covenant between myself and you and every living creature of every kind. And so the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all things of flesh.’
Responsorial Psalm 24(25):4-6,7b-9
R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
Good and upright is the LORD,
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and he teaches the humble his way.
Second reading 1 Peter 3:18-22
The water on which the Ark floated is a type of the baptism which saves you now
Christ himself, innocent though he was, died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison. Now it was long ago, when Noah was still building that ark which saved only a small group of eight people ‘by water’, and when God was still waiting patiently, that these spirits refused to believe. That water is a type of the baptism which saves you now, and which is not the washing off of physical dirt but a pledge made to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has entered heaven and is at God’s right hand, now that he has made the angels and Dominations and Powers his subjects.
Gospel Mark 1:12-15
Jesus was tempted by Satan, and the angels looked after him
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.
After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’
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Overcoming temptation with God
What can we find in the wilderness? The gospel only mentions that there were wild beasts. Why did Jesus go to the desert? Before He started His mission, Jesus needed time and space where He could be alone with God the Father. He wanted to learn from Him what and how the mission that was entrusted to Him should be done. In the wilderness, Jesus prayed, receiving strength to follow God’s will. However, He was also tempted to use extraordinary powers to be more successful in the eyes of the world. Despite the struggle, He did not listen to the voices of the temptations and chose to submit Himself to the Father’s will.
That is why He taught us, in the Our Father prayer, to ask God not to let us fall into temptation, to give us the strength to be faithful to Him, and not to follow the alluring values of the world. Jesus knows by experience what it is to be tempted and how to persevere in God’s ways by being united to Him in prayer.
Reflective question:
Do I hold on to God and listen more to Him than myself in moments of temptation?
Do I hold on to God and listen more to Him than myself in moments of temptation?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
