The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
For Lent, try the desert
The Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent always gives the desert story of Jesus preparing for His Public Ministry. This was a great time of prayer and sacrifice for Jesus as He gave Himself over to the Father and the Spirit following His Baptism by John.
It was also the time of His temptation by the devil. Lent is given to us each year to focus on living our baptism and confronting our own sinfulness. Baptism is a gift given to us to follow the example of Jesus and to know we will face dangers but we can always count on Him.
As we were signed and sealed by ashes on Wednesday to begin our Lenten journey, this Sunday we are called to reflect on the words of the Responsorial Psalm, “Your ways, Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.”
We all suffer from temptations and this is the time to stop and sacrifice, pray, break away from selfish habits and focus on the re-words: repent, remember, restart, reset, renew and restore — our relationship with God.
Going apart into the desert is to give us the opportunity to pray, fast and give alms to recommit to living our faith and receive from the Lord rather than tell the Lord what to do. The pull of temptation is to control and the challenge of the desert is to let Go and Let God.
Our second reading from a Letter of Peter states that Christ voluntary embraced His suffering and death to clear the way for us to attain eternal life with God. Lent is to help us stop and Let God and Faith be the focus of our daily life for 40 days.
As Americans we like to be in control. A few years ago a researcher asked 100 Americans and 100 Japanese to write down decisions they would like to make for themselves on one side of a piece of paper and on the other side the decisions they would like others to make.
The Americans filled up the side for their decisions and left the back almost blank. The common decision left for others was, “When I die?”
The Japanese were just the opposite and left the front nearly blank and said they would prefer if others made most decisions and then they would be free to think, do or act on important matters.
Lent is our call to look at the re-words above and give over some independence and control. Go into the desert of your own heart and ponder your progress in living out Gospel Values. The desert experience was one that the Old Testament Prophets, Jesus and most saints made good use of. It was for them and can be for us a conversion from selfishness to a generous response to living God’s love in word and deed.
To repent, remember and to restart are not easy but that is why we are here to get the Bread of Life at Mass and the strength to go out and act on it this first week of Lent in the desert. This is not the time to compete and compare with others but to do your best for the Lord.
Think about the two men hiking in the woods. They come upon a huge black bear running toward them. One yells out: “What are we going to do?” The other man says: “Run for it.” The first yells out: “We can’t outrun a bear.” The second says: “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you!”