Pages

Background Music

Now Playing:

Easing from Journey

By Jamendo (track 16)

https://www.jamendo.com/en/track/643145/easing

Nature

Heartsong from Inner Music

By Madeleine Doherty (CD1 track 2)

Instrumental harp music based on Madeline's meditations. www.madeleinedoherty.ie

Shen Khar Venakhi from Crux Vocal Ensemble

By Crux Vocal Ensemble

Crux is a gathering of voices on the Atlantic fringe of Europe in the historic city of Dublin. www.cruxvocalensemble.com

Easing from Journey

By Jamendo (track 16)

https://www.jamendo.com/en/track/643145/easing

No music playing

Fade Speed

Text Size

Privacy Cookies Terms of use

Home Mark 1:12-15 NRSVue

Mark 1:12-15 NRSVue

12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”,

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

“Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.”

Reflection on Mark 1:12-15

Inspiration from 2027-02-14 Daily Prayer

In the short passage we read from Mark today, we see that this episode is Spirit-led; it is the same Spirit that descended on Jesus at his baptism that drove him out into the wilderness. In the wilderness we can become vulnerable; thoughts and feelings can attack us like ‘wild beasts’. But we should not be afraid. We also read that angels ministered to Jesus; he was not alone.

Lent invites us to embrace this wilderness time. As we fast from things that are not life-giving for us, we are also actively making space for God to breathe life and love into our hearts once more. We do this in the trust that God, who loves us, wants us to choose life and to clear out the blocks that stand in our way.

Further reflection

I too have known times of temptation when I felt on my own except for the wild beasts, the irrational forces that were messing up my life. Lord, you felt the influence of evil, and were tested. You were purified as you came through a difficult time. When I was in the middle of such a time, it did not feel like God's hand, but like desolation and despair. When I look back, I can see how God was shaping me

The wilderness is the place of destruction and danger, of being tempted off one's path and also of meeting God. Jesus finds God's path for him in the wilderness. Prayer is a wilderness time. It can be dangerous for it brings us in touch with the evil as well as with the good in ourselves. With practice, it introduces us to the peace of God in Christ - the harmony of the desert of Jesus. It is also the place of rededication to God and of finding the strength of God.