It is hard to believe, but Lent is already here. This Sunday is the First Sunday of Lent. The readings this week remind of us of the season. When I was young, I remember once hearing that, “Lent is the Church’s springtime.” This was an idea that has stuck with me through the years. That Lent like springtime is a time of renewal. We see this in the branches of the trees that slowly come to life during this time of year. We watch them move from bare and empty to blossoming with flowers and leaves as we move toward Easter time. So to do we challenges our hearts to blossom during this season. We start out Lent with our hearts in the desert much as Jesus does in the Gospel this week. As we move through our Lenten journey our deserts begin to bloom as the Spirit of God fills us.

As I read through this week’s readings I was struck by how they tie together. The first reading is the story of the Covenant that God made with Noah. God had flooded the world, because of the sins of humans. However, as we read we also learn that God has made a covenant with Noah this will not happen again. This reminds us of the covenant made between God and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that He would send a Savior to redeem us from that original sin. Here again with Noah we see the sin of humanity brought into focus and God’s promise to keep humanity safe.

In the second reading from the First Letter of St. Peter we read about how Jesus’ resurrection saved us from that original sin. St. Peter connects Jesus’ death and resurrection with the Noah and the ark. He notes how only eight people were saved with Noah and the ark and how the whole of humanity is saved through Christ’s cross.

In the Gospel, we have a very short account of Jesus time in the desert. We have often read a much longer version of this in Luke and Matthew’s Gospels, but Mark gives basically a summary of the temptation in the desert. This helps us to focus in on the message “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” We focus not on the desert, but what happens after the desert. We focus on the fulfillment of the covenant. When through our repentance and our time in the desert we are raised up as true children of God.