“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true,” so goes a song evoking a message of hope and rightly so. In today’s first reading God uses a rainbow as a reminder of Yahweh’s covenant, God’s promise to his people. And what is this promise? We are familiar with the story of Noah, how God seeing the sinfulness of humanity, sent a great flood to cleanse the earth. Today’s first reading presents the second part of the Noah story. Though it started with human betrayal, sinfulness and destruction, the ending is a happy one; for God promise Noah and his children: “See, I am now establishing a covenant with you and your descendants. Never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood. And this is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, I set my bow in the clouds…”
What relevance does this hold for us? It reminds us that even when God’s plans get frustrated due to our sinfulness and disobedience, God never gives up on us. Through Noah God gave us “rainbow,” a new hope, a new beginning, a new chance. And if God isn’t giving up, we in turn should keep on trying.
The first reading message of “redemption and renewal” finds a more powerful expression in today’s second reading. Like in the days of Noah, again we see God liberating the world from sinfulness. But as promised, destructive flood is no longer used; instead God sends his beloved Son. Furthermore, the covenant relationship is elevated from that of God and his people to a relationship between a father and his children established through the water not of flood but of baptism. Faithful to the promise of the rainbow, God still holds on to the basic goodness of us humans, and that we can change for the better and be faithful in our relationship with Him. As Peter says, “Beloved, Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.”
Lastly, in the Gospel, Mark relates: “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained the desert for 40 days, tempted by Satan. He was among with wild beasts, and angels ministered to him.” How is this connected with what we’ve mentioned above? Like Jesus, we all experienced temptations, and during such moments of testing, sometimes it is easy to despair and give in, saying: “It is useless striving to be good. When temptations come we will never be strong enough to refuse sin any ways.” But through the readings, God is telling us: “I’ve never given up on you… so don’t give up on yourself.” This Lent, a season of hope, renewal and redemption, the Lord reminds us not to limit our focus on the pain and sorrow of the cross but encourage us as well to appreciate better, and hopefully respond positively to the cross’ manifestation of great love - a love that says: “I’ll never give up on you!”
Today we also celebrate “Migrant Sunday.” As we consider our OFWs our “Bagong Bayani” (new heroes) because of the hope they bring to our country through the fruits sweat, labor and tears, let us also pray for them, for they are like the proverbial rainbow that symbolizes hope. And just as we are called to cooperate with God’s plans, may the fruits of our migrants’ sacrifices not to be waste, but rather be appreciated, treasured and used appropriately.

Fr. Midas Tambot, SVD
Hong Kong
The Word in Other Words