WEEKEND LITURGY

GENESIS 9:8-15     PSALM 25     1 PETER 3:18-22     MARK 1:12-15

The short excerpt we have from the Gospel of Mark shows the way the ministry of Jesus began.  Mark is not long-winded.  His gospel starts  (1:1-11) with remarks about John the Baptist and his work in baptizing and telling all that a savior was coming.  Then it happens that John baptized Jesus.  At this point, Jesus was about to begin his public work.  The passages we hear today follow that.

Before He could do anything else, He went off into the desert for forty days.  There, He was tempted by Satan, fasted and lived with the dangers of the area and was ministered to by angels.  It was only after this austere and dangerous existence that He was ready to go on.  When He left the desert, He went into the cities and began preaching the 'Good News.'  It was then that He began selecting His Apostles.

I guess you know what Lent is all about, now.  It is our time in the desert.  Live austerely, resist the temptations of the devil and the world and surely, angels will minister to you.
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