First Sunday of Lent C 

February 17, 2013

Reading I: Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Responsorial Psalm: 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
Reading II: Romans 10:8-13
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

The first readings for the Sundays of Lent are chosen to present significant stages in the journey that came to be called 'salvation history'. They are not in consecutive order. Today's is a little historical summary from Exodus to the enjoyment of the promised land. I take from this the key fact that is today expressed in schemas and theories of development under the umbrella of 'evolution'. Basic to the self-awareness of the Hebrew people was their memory of a journey from liberation to having a place of their own. Basic to my family's identity is migration from enslaving poverty in Ireland to this land where a life could be established through farming the Australian soil. Basic to the identity of humankind is a long journey as life develops and achieves greater complexity. 

I wonder whether, in the journey of the christians, it is a significant turning point when a pope steps down from office. Or will it be no more than another bend in the every-winding road. Are we to witness just another papal election dolled up with all the mystique of a holy spirit at work? Or will the whole community see in this an opportunity to take a new direction?

Reading the history of our understanding of 'redemption' in Fr Kevin O'Shea's paper (Ch. 2) made me realise how urgently we do need to turn into the wind and plot a new course. What would it take for a new leader to