First Sunday of Lent, Feb. 21 (Year B) Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15

Sometimes the first attempt at a project fails. God created humans and all other living beings so that they could fill and subdue the Earth. But it did not go well. Violence and evil spread like a contagion following the expulsion from the garden of Eden and the murder of Abel at the hands of his brother Cain.

This year, I decided to read the Bible all the way through, starting at the book of Genesis.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics briefly used its official Facebook page on Aug. 26 to debate marijuana and the Bible. After two commenters posted references to the Bible in response to a story about the detrimental effects of marijuana on the brain, a bureau employee engaged them in a theological argument.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Monday (Oct. 27) waded into the controversial debate over the origins of human life, saying the big bang theory did not contradict the role of a divine creator, but even required it.