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Jesus \u201cwas led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
\nto be tempted by the devil.\u201d
\nEach year on the first Sunday of Lent
\nwe enter into this significant moment at the beginning of Jesus\u2019 ministry.
\nHe has just emerged from his baptism in the Jordan river
\nonly to be sent into the testing ground of the desert.
\nAs we accompany him into the wilderness,
\nJesus shows us how to live a life of Gospel conversion,
\nhow to begin anew.
\nToday, as we begin the first full week of the Lenten season,
\nlet us begin by asking ourselves
\nwhether we are willing to embrace the grace-filled opportunity before us.
\nAre we prepared to be led into the desert with Jesus,
\nready to wrestle with our temptations?
\nOr are we fearful of change,
\npreferring to let this season pass us by
\nwhile remaining comfortably stuck where we are?<\/p>\n
Entering fully into Lent means leaving our comfort zone
\nand accepting the struggle of the wilderness.
\nLet us look at Jesus.
\nFirst, he\u00a0was led by the Spirit;
\nthen he\u00a0enters into the desert;
\nand finally he faces temptation.
\nThe Spirit, the desert, and temptation.
\nThese three words characterize the Lenten experience.<\/p>\n
It all begins with the Spirit.
\nThe Gospel passage begins by saying Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit,
\nthat he returns from the Jordan
\nand is led by that same Spirit that had descended upon him
\nin the form of a dove.
\nAfter his baptism, Jesus places himself under the direction of the Spirit.
\nThe Father has just told him,
\n\u201cYou are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.\u201d
\nWhy is he pleased with him?
\nBecause, among other things,
\nJesus is a son who listens to his Father\u2019s voice.
\nJesus does not go his own way.
\nHe is a faithful son who trusts in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
Lent is the season for us to place ourselves
\nunder the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
\nThe Holy Spirit cares for us, knows what\u2019s best for us;
\nthe Spirit loves us.
\nBut how often do we neglect the voice of the Spirit,
\nor follow the voice of our own ego instead,
\nor let the Spirit\u2019s voice be drowned out
\nby the competing voices of all the distractions in our lives?
\nJesus set his own interests aside,
\nput his faith in the Father,
\nand listened to the voice of the Spirit.
\nWhat do we need to do today to allow the Spirit of the Lord to guide us?<\/p>\n
This Lenten season is the time to examine the voices we listen to\u2014 But to get there, the Spirit first leads us into the desert.<\/p>\n And what is the desert? This Lenten season is the time to let the Spirit lead us to a place apart. During Lent we are led into a desert of fasting and focus, Lent is characterized by the Spirit, by the desert, and finally, by temptation. Lent is a time for us to return over and over to the Word of God Today\u2019s gospel is a powerful lesson for us.
\nthe lyrics of our music, the visuals of our TV shows and movies,
\nthe biases of the news sources and websites we frequent\u2014
\nand to turn our attention to the Spirit that always seeks our own good,
\nthat leads us to fullness of life.
\nWhat do those other voices seek?
\n\u201cBuy this; buy that.\u201d
\n\u201cCondemn this group or that group, this person or that person.\u201d
\nObeying the voices of our consumer culture
\nleads us into envy, self-centeredness, and isolation,
\nresulting in a perpetual state of fear, unease, and anxiety.
\nThe voice of the world leads to the tomb.
\nBut the voice of the Holy Spirit
\nleads us into generosity, fellowship, and community,
\nresulting in peace, in shalom<\/em>, in harmony.
\nThe voice of the Spirit leads to the empty<\/em> tomb, to resurrection.<\/p>\n
\nIt is a place apart,
\na barren wilderness away from the false world we have created
\nto hide from ourselves.
\nThe desert is the place of truth,
\nwhere all illusions are stripped away
\nand where we are confronted with our ego,
\nwith our own sins and failings;
\nwhere false desires are revealed.
\nThe desert is a place of potential chaos and danger,
\nbut it is also the place of solitude and focus,
\nof meditation and contemplation.<\/p>\n
\nThe Gospel tells us
\nthat, instead of plunging headlong into ministry after his baptism,
\nJesus was led into the desert for forty days, where he ate nothing.<\/p>\n
\nleaving behind those things that we think we need to be comfortable.
\nLet us ask ourselves honestly this Lent:
\nWhat can I leave behind for these forty days
\nso that I can focus more intently on what really matters?
\nEntering into Lent means going where Jesus went,
\ninto the desert, into the wilderness.
\nIt means following in his footsteps,
\ndiscovering that there are things in our current way of life
\nthat we can leave behind and do without.
\nIt is a challenging and maybe even fearful exercise,
\nthis leaving of things behind.
\nWe can become so addicted to certain patterns of living
\nthat we can\u2019t imagine life in any other way.
\nSo often our habits can put us in a rut.
\nThis Lent let us be creative and embrace new ways of living.<\/p>\n
\nFollowing the Spirit into the desert is not without its challenges.
\nOn the contrary, whenever we seek to follow Jesus,
\nwe are confronted with temptations to return to our former way of life.
\nAnd this is true no matter how long we have been a disciple.
\nWe have doubts, we have fears,
\nwe\u2019re surrounded by contrasting messages,
\nand all of these make us vulnerable to temptation.
\nThese temptations come in many forms:
\nphysical and emotional comfort;
\npower, prestige, and success;
\ndaring God to prove his love.
\nBut these are false promises,
\npowerful illusions that seek to separate us from our true home.
\nAnd in the end they have eternal consequences.
\nJesus sees right through the devil\u2019s temptations
\nand dispels them with what is written in Sacred Scripture:
\n\u201cOne does not live on bread alone.\u201d
\n\u201cYou shall worship God alone.\u201d
\n\u201cYou shall not put God to the test.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nto confront the temptations that try to rule our lives.
\nIn the first reading, Moses tells God\u2019s chosen people,
\n\u201cHe brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm,
\nwith terrifying power, with signs and wonders.\u201d
\nHe reminds God\u2019s people that God took care of them,
\nthat his mighty power saved them from their oppressors.
\nThat message is for us, too!
\nWe need to hear, over and over again,
\nthat God loves us, cares for us, and saves us.
\nThis is the message of God\u2019s sacred Word,
\nand the more we hear it,
\nand the more it becomes part of our very fabric of being,
\nthe more we are able to dispel the temptations that haunt us.
\nHow can we do that?
\nHow can we make Sacred Scripture a more integral part of our lives
\nduring the next forty days and beyond?
\nBy whatever means necessary.
\nBy carrying a little pocket edition of the New Testament with you
\nthroughout the day and reading a little bit from it every so often.
\nOr by finding that Bible app that you installed on your phone
\nthe last time you made a resolution to read Scripture.
\nOr easier yet, by going to the US Catholic Bishop\u2019s website
\nand subscribing to the Daily Mass Readings.
\nThey will be delivered to your email inbox every single day.
\nTemptations are powerful.
\nWe need the strength of Scripture to help us resist them.<\/p>\n
\nLent is a time to listen to the voice of the Spirit
\nas it leads us into the desert where we confront our temptations.
\nIt is a process of tuning out the competing voices,
\nof fasting from destructive patterns of living,
\nand of confronting the darkness of temptation with the light God\u2019s word.
\nMay we journey through this Lenten season with resolve.
\nLet us not miss out on this grace-filled opportunity
\nto turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.<\/p>\n