mamabishop: First Sunday of Lent

Saturday, February 17, 2024

First Sunday of Lent

First Sunday of Lent 2024

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." Mark 1:9-15

We often find ourselves between rejoicing in tender moments and hungry and starving in the wilderness. They may be wilderness and isolation of our own making or surprising times when we are thrust outside in the cold. The spirit speaks truth to Jesus in both places and to us as well. God’s spirit is found in both our high and low places and everywhere in between. As we begin our deep dive in Lent, may we be buoyed by the promise of God’s spirit present with us in all of our very human, confusing and chaotic times.

A Litany for the First Sunday of Lent

Divine Creator, we depend on you

In our hours of sleeping and waking

In our fullness and our deep hunger

always present in this humble chaos.