SEASONAL NOTE
This is the first Sunday of the six-week season of Lent. Hymns in this period are typically more penitential / reflective – often in minor keys.
The Gloria is not sung, and the word “alleluia” is not used in hymns or prayers.
READINGS
First: Genesis 9: 8-15
God explains the covenant with Noah and his descendants and every living creature …. that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And the rainbow is a sign of this covenant..
Psalm: 24
- Your ways Lord are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant
- Lord make me know your ways
- Remember your mercy, Lord
- The Lord is good and upright.
Second: I Peter 3:18-22
Christ also suffered for sins once for all, in order to bring you to God. … Baptism now saves you … as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Gospel: Mark 1:12-15
Jesus spends 40 days in the desert being tempted by the devil. Than after John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee … saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe.”
THEMES
- The desert.
- Encountering God. Confront the temptations in our lives.
- Struggling to live a life of doing what is good and right.
- Repentance.
SUGGESTED HYMNS
- Be Still and Know
- Forty Days and Forty Nights
- Jesu Lover of My Soul
- Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley
- Lead Us Heavenly Father, Lead Us
- Lord Jesus Think on Me
- Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days
- O Cross of Christ
- Songs of Thankfulness and Praise
- Take up Your Cross
- The Glory of These Forty Days
- From the River to the Desert – Duck
- Jesus, Tempted in the Desert – Stuempfle
- Keep we the Fast – Knox
- On Eagles Wings – Joncas
- Who put the Colours in the Rainbow – Booth
It pays for proper preparation of the Liturgy