We start off the first Sunday of Lent with Jesus being thrown into the desert, where he is tempted and tested. Temptation is something all of us have to deal with in our lives of faith in one form or another. Doesn’t it seem like we are tempted in a special way during Lent?We can give up something like chocolate during Lent, and during other times of the year, we can go for weeks and weeks without eating chocolate or thinking about it, but then Lent comes around, and it seems like what we give up is everywhere we turn, calling our name and leading us into temptation.
Mark’s Gospel tells us that God’s Spirit drives Jesus into the desert where he is tempted by Satan. Yet, we know that Jesus is not alone in the desert wilderness. Wild beasts are there, threatening to destroy him. However, the angels are also there, ministering to him. We all have wild beasts or demons in our lives that threaten to destroy us, but we also have angels who help us and minister to us. Although we have to deal with temptation during Lent just as Jesus dealt with temptation in the desert, Lent is also a time of transformation and renewal.
Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was driven into the desert right after his baptism in the Jordan River. Jesus was called to this time of trial, testing, and transformation before he started his earthly ministry. We need to be driven into a time of conversion, transformation, and renewal as well. All human institutions and organizations are in need of transformation, change, and renewal, because by its very definition, anything human is flawed and not perfect. Our Church, our society, and our lives are in need of change and renewal.
Back in the winter of 2017 when I was hiking the pilgrimage of the Way of St James in Spain, I heard another pilgrim say this: If you do not carry St James in your heart as you walking the Camino each day, if you do not bring him into your heart and in your mind, then you will not find him when you arrive in his Cathedral at the end of the pilgrimage route. I found that to be so true. The moment I landed in Spain for my pilgrimage, I felt that I had entered the land of St James. I prayed with him each day on the Camino, lifting up all my parishioners, my family, my friends, and all my prayer intentions to the intercessions of St James. When I entered his Cathedral at the end of the hike, when I went up to hug his statue and thank him for helping me arrive safely, as is the pilgrimage tradition, I felt so much emotion and joy. Tears streamed down my face. I really felt his presence and his welcome. And that is how we are to approach Lent as a special time in our liturgical year. In our prayers, our fasting, and our works of charity; in our time during Lent at mass; in the sacrament of reconciliation; and in praying the stations of the cross; we are to feel God’s presence and are to walk with Jesus on our Lenten journey. If we take Lent seriously and try to honor our Lent promises, then we will truly feel the joy of the resurrection at Easter.
Mary Oliver, who died in 2019, is one of my favorite American poets. Her poems are filled with honesty and a sense of a spiritual journey. A few years back, I heard Mary Oliver recite this short prose poem in an interview with Krista Tippett on the radio program ON BEING on NPR: “Things take the time they take. Don’t worry. How many roads did St. Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?" What a wonderful quote! We all need patience on our Lenten journey. We need commitment, steadfastness, and courage on these 40 days. Like St Augustine, we may need to purge, change, and transform a lot in our lives in order to become the person God calls us to become. Catholic author Matthew Kelly calls this “becoming the best version of yourself.” We may need to take a lot of radical steps to become that best version of ourselves.
As you know, I have chosen gratitude for our theme during Lent. Carmelite nun Therese of Lisieux, who died at the age of 24 at her monastery in France from tuberculosis wrote this: “Jesus does not demand great action from us, but simply surrender and gratitude." In the midst of our challenges, in the midst of the ups and downs of our journey, we are to discern and follow the will of God and to give thanks in all things. Blessings to all of you on this first Sunday of Lent.
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