Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, where he fasted for 40 days. We, too, are in the desert with Jesus during these 40 days in Lent. I think back to the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday when we received the smudge of ashes on our foreheads, and when it was proclaimed to us: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” In the desert where Jesus was thrust, where he spent time praying and fasting, there was a lot of silence. The silence is one place we are to seek God on this Lenten journey. Unfortunately, silence can be so uncomfortable in our modern world – a world where there is so much noise and activity around us.
Normally, at the beginning of mass, we have a grand entrance hymn as we joyfully enter into our Eucharistic celebration. We normally sing the Gloria at the beginning of mass – an exulted hymn that adds a celebratory character to our liturgy. However, as we entered mass in silence on our knees today on this first Sunday of Lent with no entrance hymn and no Gloria, we know that we are in a very different season, we know that our mass has a very different context today. Think about how often we kneel in our modern world today – not very often. One instance is when a man kneels when he proposes marriage to his intended bride. Kneeling in that instance is a sign of love, respect, reverence and honor. We hold those same attributes dear to us as we kneel at the beginning of mass on our Lenten journey, as we begin our Lenten Eucharistic celebration and put ourselves in the presence of the Lord in a special way.
Thinking about the silence at the beginning of mass today, we recognize that If we just surround ourselves with noise all the time, if we talk all the time and refuse to be quiet and listen, then we might not hear God in the subtle ways that he speaks to us. In Lent, we need to be open to new ways of looking to things, to seek God in the different ways he is present to us in the world. One thing I might invite you to do during Lent is to come to Eucharistic adoration or to come to our daily mass chapel which is open 24/7 and to spend time with God in silence. Bring to the experience whatever you are experiencing in your life: your joys and your sorrows, your struggles and frustrations, your accomplishments and your disappointments. In that experience of silence, God will meet you in your reality.
Being in the desert with Jesus during these 40 days helps us examine our lives and look at our reality. Forgiveness is a reality that we are called to in our lives, something we want to explore throughout our Lenten journey. C S Lewis wrote: “Everyone says that forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” That is so true, isn’t it? When we have been hurt by someone, forgiving that person may be the last thing on our minds. As that point, we may be consumed with anger. We may think that forgiveness is not fair. We might not think that person deserves forgiveness.
But the forgiveness that God calls us to a decision, it is a process, and it is a gift. We make a decision to forgive because we choose to let go of any ideas of revenge or retribution. We decide to free ourselves from the bitterness and anger that can harden our hearts. It is a process, because forgiveness is something that usually takes time. It takes time to let go of resentment and hard feelings. Forgiveness often comes in steps and stages, and it may take time just to get through the initial decision to forgive. But above all, forgiveness is a gift of love. We are called to forgive without expectations, without limits, out of our free will. It is a gift to us and a gift to the person we forgive.
We seek out God in many ways on our Lenten journey. We seek out God in silences during these 40 days. We seek out God in forgiveness. But we do not seek out God the way we would seek out a lost object, according to Trappist monk Thomas Merton. As we seek out God in new ways, we recognize the ways he is already present in our hearts, the ways he is already present in the world around us.
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