Readings: Genesis 9: 8-15; 1 Peter 3: 18-22; Mark 1: 12-15
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Have you ever visited Niagara Falls? Did you spend time standing above the powerful incessant rush of the water, leaning over (well, not too far over) the rail and letting the thunderous currents fill you with the grandeur and brilliance of the God who created it? This God of frightening, potentially destructive power, this same God of refreshment, renewal and regrowth, rushes relentlessly onward in the torrent just below your feet. Mysterium tremendum, mysterium fascinans—a mystery at once terrifying and unspeakably beautiful.

Our readings for this First Sunday in Lent invite us to move beyond the imagery of grimy ashes and the grumbling of empty stomachs toward one of the most ambivalent symbols of our faith, the vector of our identity as Christians: Baptism, in water and in the Holy Spirit. Our First Reading, the story of Noah and the Ark, reflects both sides of the mystery: ......Read More Here