Each year on this first Sunday of lent, we follow Jesus into the desert where he is tempted by Satan for 40 days. The bare bones account which St. Mark gives does not contain the detail found in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. It’s as if Mark is impatient to get on with the story of our Lord’s ministry. Indeed, our reading today ends with Jesus beginning his proclamation of the gospel: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." This should remind us of what many of us heard this past Wednesday as the ashes were placed on our foreheads: "turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel."

Our whole life, if we live our Christian vocation faithfully, could be characterized as a constant turning away from sin—a constant Lent. It all begins with Baptism—that very first time we turned away from sin—and it continues throughout our life as we make use of the Sacraments and all the means of grace which the Lord provides through his Church to help us to avoid sin and to follow Christ. But our readings today especially direct our minds toward Baptism, and this is for a very good reason. In addition to being a penitential season prior to our celebration of the Lord’s resurrection, Lent is also the time of intense preparation for those who are catechumens—adults who are preparing to receive Baptism and become Christians at the Easter Vigil. In fact, this evening in the cathedral parish, adults from all over Western South Dakota will come to the cathedral to receive the Rite of Election—the Church’s official recognition that these men and women are in their final stages of preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism.

For us who are already Christians, Lent is an opportunity to reconnect with our Baptism and the promises we made (or which were made for us) on that day. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in today’s Gospel, we know that immediately before Jesus went into the desert he himself was baptized—not because he needed to turn from sin, but in order that he might fully identify with us sinners. The first reading speaks of how Noah and his family were saved through the waters of the flood by following God’s will and taking refuge in the Ark. St. Peter tells us, in the second reading, that this prefigures Baptism, which is our means of salvation. Just as God made a covenant with Noah never again to destroy the earth by water, so he makes an even more profound covenant with each one of us at the moment of our Baptism—a covenant sealed with his own blood. Through his suffering, death and resurrection, he has provided the Ark by which we can escape from sin, and embrace the life which can never end.

Lent is a time when we make resolutions—when we commit ourselves to voluntary works of prayer, self-denial, and almsgiving. These are all good and very important. But today’s Mass reminds us that our first and overriding resolution must be to renew our baptismal promises to turn from sin and to reject Satan, the father of lies. Then our other resolutions will truly be beneficial and bring blessings upon ourselves and others. And when we formally renew our baptismal promises on Easter Sunday, this will not be an empty gesture, but a profound and personal testimony of our faith. May the Lord strengthen us to keep a good and holy Lent.