
Since we started Lent the word that’s been going through my mind is promise. I look this year Lent seems to be offering a promise, reminding me that God is calling us back into a covenantal relationship that is based on love in today’s first reading God makes a covenant with Noah, promising never again to sweep everything away in a flood:
“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.”
St Peter talks about the waters of baptism that lead us to the promise of resurrection. In the gospel we see Jesus driven into the wilderness by the Spirit. His time in the wilderness is a time of testing:
“The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for 40 days, and was tempted by Satan.”
As I look back at Jesus’ wilderness experience I find there is hope and promise as well as struggle. As he is driven into the wilderness he carries with him the promise of his baptism, when the clouds were torn open and God reminds him that he is God’s beloved son. Even in his experience of temptation there is hope and a reminder of the promise carried in those words of God. Jesus doesn’t only face temptation in his wilderness time, as Mark tells us:
“And the angels looked after him.”
Lent is a time for us to face our own wilderness and the temptations it brings. It can be easy to lose sight of the promise that is also there. Yet, as we face the temptations and challenges of Lent we are also offered the promise of God’s everlasting love.
As you begin your Lent journey where are you aware of the promise of God’s love sustaining you?