First Sunday of Lent

This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

The Noah’s ark prefigured the sacrament of baptism, which saves all Christians, who accept its cleansing and live out its spirit with a clean conscience. Jesus offered all of us this blessing and grace through his life and death. He died for us so that we might live. He took our sins upon his sinless self in order to give us hope in a new life. He accepted the abuses of his passion and death so we might be freed from the chains of sin. He has built for us a bridge to heaven through his cross. He has gone to heaven before us to prepare a place for us... if we are willing to allow him to do so and live our lives in accordance with God’s Will.

How often do we thank God for the saving grace of our baptism? How can we live out our baptismal promises more faithfully? In what ways can our lives embody the sacrament of baptism and its graces?

O Lord, grant us the grace of a clear conscience and a baptismal life.

Amen.