Greg Friedman, OFM

In Lent we examine our lives in order to restore our part of the baptismal covenant–our relationship with God in Christ.

The Ten Commandments–what one Scripture scholar calls the “Bill of God’s Rights in the covenant”–spell out the responsibilities of God’s people–their part of the covenant agreement.

Abraham and God made a commitment. God would make Abraham the father of a great nation. Abraham would be faithful to God in return.

With the [20th century] renewal of the catechumenate the Church sees Lent as a time of preparation for those to be baptized at Easter, and a time of renewal of baptism for all the rest of us.

The Gospel story of the healing of the leper is full of emotion. The man is invited to re-connect with the community, signaling the end of his isolation. The power at work in Jesus cannot be kept secret.

If we read more of the Book of Job than today’s passage, we discover that it doesn’t try to resolve the question of human suffering. Rather it ends by bringing us face to face with the very mystery of God.