1st Sunday of Lent

“You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him.” (cf. Col 2: 12)

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen the sacrament of baptism as this years Lenten theme. "Baptism is not a rite from the past, but the encounter with Christ, which informs the entire existence of the baptized imparting divine life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by grace it permits the baptized to reach the adult stature of Christ."

Water is a theme then that will flow through the entire season this year; water that cleanses us, refreshes us and quenches our thirst. In this first Sunday of Lent, Jesus has just been baptized in these life giving waters. From there he is driven into the dry, desert, wilderness for forty days, after which he, of course, is famished - and probably very thirsty.

This forty day dry desert fast of Lent allows us to thirst for God. We must relearn to yearn for the life giving waters of the Holy Spirit. Because our desert is difficult we try to get our water from other sources: tv, work, etc. This is why we fast during Lent, to make room for God. Fasting uncovers our weakness and sinfulness. Unlike Adam and Eve we must not feel shame, rather allow God to transform our weakness and our sinfullness, washing them clean in the Holy waters of baptism. God's compassion is greater than any of our struggles. God's waters have more life to offer than anything we can find in this world.

With the natural devestations happening around the world all the time, most recently in New Zealand and Japan, we must realize how fragile our earthly kingdoms are. Let us invest then in a much more stable kingdom, that which we find in the presence of God.