We have entered Lent, and today is the First
Sunday of Lent. In all three year
cycles, the First Sunday of Lent has Jesus enter the desert to be tempted by
Satan. Matthew’s and Luke’s versions of
Jesus’s forty days of temptation similar in that they detail Satan’s forms of
temptations. In Mark’s version we have a
general summary of temptations, but he offers two amazing details: Jesus lives
among the wild beasts and that angels minister to Him.
The Spirit drove Jesus out into
the desert,
and he remained in the desert for
forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming
the gospel of God:
"This is the time of
fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the
gospel."
~Mk 1:12-15
It’s noteworthy to observe that Matthew’s
version does include the detail of the angels ministering to Jesus but no wild
beasts, and Luke has neither detail.
This week Fr. Geoffrey Plant has a fine homily that explains Lent, the
forty days in the desert, Satan. the temptations in the desert and the
association with the temptation of Adam and Eve, and the wild beasts which
allude to the beasts in Isaiah.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
together their young shall lie down;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the viper’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea. (Isa 11:6-9)
Meditation: "He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.”
Seek
out Bishop Barron’s homily on this week’s reading. He’s got a different and perhaps more
meditative understanding of the wild beasts and the angels.
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