Before he starts his ministry, Jesus goes out into the desert to pray and fast. We are called to do the same during this Lenten season. In Christian spirituality, the desert has always been a symbol of spiritual purification. We will most likely not spend time in an actual desert praying and fasting, as Jesus did, but we can enter into the desert experience by pushing aside the many things that distract us from our relationship with God.
What are the things we use for comfort? Do we go from one source of digital distraction to another? Do we reach for food or coffee or another source of pleasure when we are stressed? We should identify and name the crutches we use to deal with the ups and downs of daily life. Some of these crutches are deeply destructive, while others might be okay in moderation. But we need to examine the role they play in our lives.
Do they take the place of God? Do we reach for them in place of inviting God's grace into the day to day rhythm of our lives? Our Lenten discipline, our sacrifices and self-denial, can help to highlight just how dependent we are on such comforts and how much they have taken the place of God in our lives.
Once we are aware, we can choose to make changes. But we should always seek change by asking for God's grace to help us change. We should never try to progress spiritually on our own. We should invite Christ into our hearts and ask him to work through us, to transform us from within.
In the Gospels, we see that Christ is tempted by Satan in the desert. We too can expect the attacks of the enemy as we journey through Lent. Whenever we draw closer to God's grace, especially occasions of the profound outpouring of God's love, such as the Holy Week liturgies, we can expect to experience spiritual warfare.
As with seeking positive transformation, the key to resisting spiritual warfare is not to do it on our own, but to ask the help of Christ. Left to our own human strength, we are powerless to withstand the enemy. But the light of Christ dispels the dark. As we feel the attacks against us, we should invite Christ into our hearts all the more and ask him to let his light shine out through us.
As we see in the Gospels, sometimes evil has the appearance of winning, but if we hold fast to Christ, we will share in his glorious victory. In today's Gospel passage, as Christ begins his public ministry, Mark remarks almost in passing that John has been arrested. We know where his arrest will lead. We know that he will be executed for the proclamation of the faith.
His arrest casts a shadow over the ministry of Jesus. The proclamation of the Gospel will lead to his arrest too and to his death upon the cross. Satan wants us to think that that is the end of the story. Defeat. Failure. Death.
But we know that the story continues beyond the cross and the grave. The narrative moves to the victory of Easter and from there to the glory of Christ's eternal reign. That is our narrative too. We are called to share in Christ's resurrection and glorious reign. Being in the desert brings into focus our true goal, what is ultimately important in life. This Lent let us focus on the true treasure that awaits us: eternal life with Christ.
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The readings for the First Suday of Lent, Cycle B, are:
Gn 9:8-15
Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
1 Pt 3:18-22
Mk 1:12-15
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: Desert in the Holy Land By Zoltan Abraham (c) 2014.