February 22, 2021
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on 1st Sunday of Lent (Year B) on February 21, 2021, at St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25; 1 Peter 3:18-22; and Mark 1:12-15.
Throughout the world, we knew that Lent of 2021 was going to be difficult. But here in Texas in the middle of this humanitarian crisis, Lent of 2021 will simply be… extraordinary.
More than ever, let us approach this Lent as if it were our first Lent. Our readings today can be viewed through the lens of beginnings. In four short verses, Mark recounts what Jesus did in the weeks following his baptism. Our first reading recalls the new beginning for humanity after the great flood. And our second reading explicitly ties the flood and Jesus’ baptism together.
We’re a year into this trial of a pandemic that will likely grind on for quite a while longer. Today, let us ask: what can we do this Lent to have a sense of starting over? What can we do to make a new beginning in our relationships with God and with one another? Let’s start by repenting of the times we’ve fallen short.
What was it like for Noah and his family as they stepped off the ark onto dry land?
We face a paradox: water is absolutely necessary for life, but it is also incredibly destructive. In the ancient Middle East, every culture tied their creation myth to the story of a great flood. People believed that most of the cosmos was made up of water. The land – which they thought was flat – was propped up over the lower waters by what they called “the pillars of the earth.” The dome of the sky, often called “the firmament,” held back the upper waters from destroying the dry land.
We Texans currently face water’s contradictory life-giving and life-threatening qualities. As millions of us go without running water, and many of the rest of us have to boil our water, we realize how essential water is. Cooking and cleaning – even the simple tasks of washing our hands, brushing our teeth, or flushing our toilets – are nearly impossible without water. Yet, at the same time, many people are suffering extensive water damage to their homes and businesses. Those among us with the least, the people in domestic abuse and homeless shelters, have lost the precious few possessions they had because of burst water pipes at the shelters!
If we think about it, Jesus also experienced extremes with water as he began his ministry. He was baptized in the Jordan River, but immediately after that, the Holy Spirit drove him out into the desert. Apparently, the hardship caused by a limited water supply was part of how God prepared Jesus to begin his ministry in Galilee, a place teeming with life and fertile farmland due to the large lake there.
The First Letter of Peter connects the great flood with our baptism into Christ’s body. Both the flood and our baptism recognize the paradoxical qualities of water. Both: not only a cleansing from sin but also a dying & rising to new life w/ God.
In this surreal moment, we might feel a mix of emotions similar to Noah’s family after the flood. We face the increasing death toll of neighbors who did not survive this week, even while we cheer clearing roads and replenishing food supplies.
As we begin this Lent, we’re tired. We’re exhausted. We’re tempted to surrender to the chaos swirling around us. But Lent is our annual invitation to begin again –as people facing the consequences of both personal sin and social sin. I share again the lyrics of a song I’ve shared with you before. It’s the final song in the musical Children of Eden, as Noah’s family prepares to leave the ark. After our harrowing desert experience, may we go forward with God and with one another.
This step is once again our first
We set our feet upon a virgin land
We hold the promise of the earth
In our hands…No flood from heaven comes again
No deluge will destroy and purify
We hold the fate of man and men
In our hands…Now at this dawn so green and glad
We pray that we may long remember
How lovely was the world we had
In the beginning…Of all the gifts we have received
One is most precious and most terrible
The will of each of us is free
It’s in our handsAnd if we hear a voice
If he speaks again, our silent Father
All he will tell us is the choice
Is in our handsOur hands can choose to drop the knife
Our hearts can choose to stop the hating
For ev’ry moment of our life
Is the beginning…There is no journey gone so far
So far we cannot stop and change direction
No doom is written in the stars
It’s in our hands…We cannot know what will occur
Just make the journey worth the taking
And pray we’re wiser than we were
In the beginning
It’s the beginning
Now we begin…
“In the Beginning” from Children of Eden. Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by John Caird.