~~~SisterSea~~~

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 book of Genesis, we see that all of creation w

 Reflection on Job 7:1-7 Eve of the Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita (February 8 th )   When I reflect on what some of us are going through at this time and when I look at what people around the world are going through, I can’t help but relate our cries to the cry of Job in the first reading.   Covid-19 has revealed a lot about the state of our world.   Some may ask, “why has God abandoned me?”   While others may ask, “why is God still abandoning me?” Some of us have lost loved ones. Some of us are struggling with various health issues.   Most of us are weighed down by the inability to meet in-person with family and friends and many of us are just personally weighed down with the current state of our world.   Whatever our personal struggles, we struggle with being angry with God and the guilt that comes along with being angry at God. But here again, Job gives us a clue, later in the chapter that today’s reading was taken from, Job says, 20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you w