Dear brothers, when we experience our flood, through immersion in baptismal waters, we die to sin and receive new life as children of God.
Father Cesar Augusto; SJ – Vatican News
It is possible in a corrupt, chaotic environment, in moral and physical ruin, to have restoration, as long as there is someone in their midst who chooses life and permanently rejects death. This is what this Sunday’s first reading tells us, as it tells us the story of Noah and the flood.
God, after the apparent triumph of evil, with the emergence of the flood, makes an alliance with all creation, through the promise made to Noah, a good and God-fearing man. The Lord undertakes to never allow the destruction of his creatures and, as a memory, he places an eloquent sign in the firmament, the rainbow.
In the Gospel, Jesus lives his Lent, that is, his time of closest preparation to definitively defeat his adversary. There are forty days that remind us of the forty days of the flood, the 40 days that Moses remained on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the 40 days that Elijah remained hidden on the mountain. There are forty, but not exactly 39 plus 01 but rather a biblical time of reflection and preparation.
Jesus was led by the Spirit into this time of struggle. He had received strength from God and was prepared to confront his adversary. He announces that the time has already been fulfilled and that the Kingdom of God is near. And he says: “Convert yourselves and believe in the Good News”. In fact, this Lent of Jesus, this time of struggle, will last his entire life.
In the second reading, Paul makes a comparison between the ark built by Noah and the baptism acquired by the blood of the Lord. Ark saved people from destruction, baptism, more than saving us, makes us new people, gives us a new identity, that of children of God.
Dear fellow listeners, when we experience our flood, through immersion in baptismal waters, we die to sin and receive new life as children of God.
The eloquent sign that God gave us was the death of his son on the cross and our adoption as sons.
The redemption of creation occurred when, through this fact, everything stopped being profane and became sacred, because the Lord of Life, Kyrios, took on our mortal flesh and eternalized it. Matter was deified.
Let us do good, let the blood of the Lord flood our entire being and destroy that which manifests our obsolescence. May our life, our entire being, be filled by the Spirit who prepared Jesus for the fight.