This Lent begins with a rainbow (Genesis 9:8-15). On this first Sunday of Lent, an instrument of violence is the sign of peace and even of joy. How can that be?

But that is what every rainbow does for the heart, it signals peace after the storm. My heart rejoices and I smile every time I see one. Yet this bow is the instrument of violence of the mighty warrior God who fought on the side of the Hebrews and was used to defeat his enemies.

The ancestors of the Hebrews said that this warrior God, having destroyed the earth in the great flood of Noah's day, then hung his bow in the sky as a sign he would never again destroy the earth by flood. Thus the rainbow, an instrument of violence and death, is the sign to us of the peace and joy God decided to bring among us.

Tantalizing as the rainbow is we get another even more mysterious sign this week. Jesus, fresh from his baptism, is driven into the desert by the same Spirit of God that descended on him in the Jordan River. The sound of his Father's voice is still ringing in his ears, "You are my beloved Son, on whom my favor rests." But it is the very experience of this closeness and intimacy that demands he now experience the distance from God that is our common lot as human beings.

Many great spiritual writers speak of this mystery; the Son of God must experience the fullness of our human condition if we are to share divine life in him. The Spirit of Sonship leads him to the place where human beings experience the absence of God. Our temptations become his (Mark 1:12-15). To turn rocks into bread that never seems to satisfy is a great description of many people's jobs. Certainly the busy-ness our culture demands that we struggle so that others won't get ahead of us. Will Jesus remember who he is - beloved of God? Or will he try to satisfy himself through his own effort at getting the bread he needs?

Another great temptation awaits Christ at the end of Lent. It is our daily temptation and the one most cruelly apparent at the hour of our death. The temptation is this: to believe that God does not love us sufficiently to keep us from harm. What could be more distancing from God than death on a cross?

Still the great mystery is that God means to accomplish his decision to bring us peace and joy through this instrument of violence. This, too, Jesus suffers with us and for us, and remembers on the cross that he is the beloved of God. Try praying Psalm 22 and listen to the first verses describe his crucifixion. No wonder he prayed it as he was dying. Then keep on praying and listen to the hope, the peace, even the joy of the one who is suffering. How can this be?

This mysterious God who brings peace from violence and even joy through death has given us another sign to ponder, the Cross of Christ. Does it bring peace in the midst of your storms? Does your heart rejoice and do you smile when you see it?

Father Richard Chiola is a certified counselor, pastor of St. Cabrini Parish in Springfield and diocesan director for the ongoing formation of clergy.