First Sunday of Lent
The Ark that saved Noah symbolized the Church for the early Christians. The great flood prefigured Baptism as Christians entered the Paschal Mystery: Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. The time in the ark paralleled Jesus’ 40 days in the desert. We renew and reaffirm our baptismal call during Lent.
Why was Noah saved? Noah was saved because he obediently built an ark and trusted God. The storms of life can destroy us unless we place ourselves in the ark. In the ark, we experience God’s protection and presence.
Are we building God’s vessel? Do we trust God? Are we entrusting our lives to God? Those are questions at the heart of Baptism.
Besides Noah’s Ark, the most sacred religious symbol for God’s people was the Ark of the Covenant, which housed the Ten Commandments. They expressed how God’s people should live. That Ark led God’s people to the Promised Land.
More accurately, their relationship with God and one another enabled them to enter the Promised Land. In Solomon’s Temple, the Ark rested in the Holy of Holies, where God’s divine presence dwelt.
In Mary’s Litany, we recognize her holiness with the titles: spiritual vessel, vessel of honor, singular vessel of devotion, and Ark of the Covenant. Those titles recognize her as “bearer of Christ.” Baptism calls us to be God’s vessels, too.
Do others see us as God’s vessel? When others encounter us, are we bearers of Christ?
Prayer
Ever-loving and ever-present God, help me build my life into a vessel of honor. Enable me to be a singular vessel of devotion as a bearer of Christ who shows the way, knows the truth, and experiences your abundant life. Amen.
Father Dick Myhalyk, S.S.E.
Class of 1966 – B.S. in Chemistry
First Reading: Genesis 9:8-15
Psalm 25:4-9
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22
Gospel: Mark 1:12-15
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