The Animals were with Him
First Sunday of Lent—February 21 st , 2021 Since, I’ve been a priest, every year we’ve had a Lenten program that dealt with one or another of the environmental issues facing us, such as the soil, water, air and so on. Today’s first reading called me to a deeper reflection about animals. In today’s first reading, God makes, and promises to remember, the covenant being made between the Creator-of-All and every living creature—between God and the Earth. Mark’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is shorter than the accounts given by Matthew and Luke. Yet, Mark tells us something the other two accounts don’t, that is, Jesus was among wild beasts . Why did the Evangelist think this was worth noting in his account of the gospel? We can meditate on that. The first reading suggests that, in God’s eyes, the destiny of humans and the destiny every living creature are intertwined. If we look earlier in the bo...