Today's Gospel -February 26, 2012 with Reflection

1^st READING - Genesis 9:8-15 

P S A L M - Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R: Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

2^nd READING - 1 Peter 3:18-22

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

Mark 1:12-15

12 The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, 13 and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. 14 After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: 15 “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

SABBATH

THE TIME OF FULFILLMENT Mountain trekkers and climbers are familiar with the experience — that moment when one either retraces his steps back down, or decides to make that “final assault” to conquer the peak. But in order to face the “time of fulfillment,” one needs to make difficult decisions and hard choices. One has to travel light, to say the least. One has to leave behind all other accoutrements and pare oneself down to the bare essentials. And there is no tarrying, no bargaining, no ifs and buts. One simply has to choose and decide wholeheartedly. In my much younger years, I remember a time we took the longer and more difficult route from Pulag, via the Kabayan trail. We had a guest climber from abroad who hoodwinked us into believing that he had training and experience. At a particularly precipitous and dangerous part of the climb down, he panicked. He froze. And he wouldn’t budge, shaking with fright. The fear was contagious and paralyzing. As team leader, I knew I had to act swiftly and decisively, as there was no turning back at that point. I would like to think that after the massive floods that Noah experienced, there was also no turning back. They just had to move on with life and move up to a higher plane. They were being invited by the Lord Yahweh to a covenant. It was a moment of fulfillment, something akin to what anthropologists refer to as a liminal moment, a threshold experience that leads one to something bigger, better, nicer and nobler. God did His part of the bargain. He promised no more floods ever. But Noah and his companions were taken to task, with a huge reminder for everyone to see — a “bow in the clouds to serve as a sign.” That sign gives way now to a bigger one — that of the Son of Man who came down from the clouds, bringing a multiplicity of other signs. It is now the “time of fulfillment,” He says. And our end of the bargain is: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB REFLECTION QUESTION: Where do you find fulfillment? Lord God, my soul longs to find fulfillment in You. St. Porphyry of Gaza, pray for us. Do you want to receive this in your email?  To get Bo Sanchez to send it to you personally, log-on to http://kerygmafamily.com. Lots of surprises await.