1ST READING
A covenant can be understood as a commitment with consequences attached to it. If one side breaks the agreement, then there is punishment involved. With Israel’s covenant with God, there are always natural consequences for our sins. However, God does not impose punishment on His people — He forgives them and lets them start afresh.
Genesis 9:8-15
8 God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. 11 I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” 12 God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: 13 I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.”
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.
4 Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. (R) 6 Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your love are from of old. 7 In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord. (R) 8 Good and upright is the Lord; thus he shows sinners the way. 9 He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way. (R)
2ND READING
This baptismal homily links the sacrament with the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. Our slavery to sin is broken by the gift of Jesus’ forgiveness. Just as the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, so are we freed from the powers of sin. It is up to us to choose to live in this victory and to reject the temptations of the devil and his minions.
1 Peter 3:18-22
18 Beloved: Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. 19 In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, 20 who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. 21 This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
GOSPEL
Jesus knows the experience of temptation. But He resists it every time it comes. We need to pray for the grace to resist sin. Jesus has freed us and to return to the way of sin is to reject Him. Let us embrace the gift of freedom that He offers us so that we will also receive the new life He has won for us.
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.”
Credits to: www.kerygmafamily.com
No comments:
Post a Comment