The Cycle of the Desert Journey
(02-21-2010)
Our Gospel from Luke reflects something we take for granted or maybe we fail to believe:
Jesus was tempted, really tempted. And the temptation takes place with a statement from Satan about Jesus’ identity as “Son of God”. We know from the Annunciation, that Mary was told her son would be called, “Son of the Most High”; and the voice at his Baptism addresses him as, “My beloved Son”. Now, at this first lesson for Lent, two of the temptations begin in exactly those terms, “If you are the Son of God...”
The temptations are real and test Jesus in his identity and expectations as the “Son of God”. Because of Jesus ignoring the temptations, and enduring all that he did to give witness and hope to those who suffer, we receive the grace from his selfless act and are reconciled with God.
And aren’t there times in our lives when we find ourselves in the desert with all the temptations to turn back or turn away, or to take the easier path, or perhaps even have moments of despair and great doubt? The Lord’s temptations tell us that we are not alone or lost in that place of challenge but being held by Jesus, embraced by his own experience in the desert.
We also learn through the gift of Jesus, that we too are the beloved children in whom God is well pleased. We all need to be reminded that we are such children and that our lives are sacred and that we are pleasing to God. How many people believe that? After all, isn’t that one of the main lessons of Lent—Jesus came for us—suffers for us—dies for us—because God found us worthy of sending Jesus.
During Lent, we are reminded that our lives, our actions preach the gospel more than any words we offer, and that a seemingly small thing we do is filled with an abundance of grace that God will magnify beyond our ability to comprehend at the time. Overcoming temptations to sin, temptations to harshly judge, overcome speaking words of hatred, overcome promotion of racism, all those many things we do, are open resistance to Satan. Such resistance is also how we offer hope to others by the way we try to live out a life in Jesus Christ; We practice-we live- what we preach.
There is a ripple of God’s grace that takes place through our living Christ. And we are surrounded by all the lives we have touched and helped by our witness, perhaps even people we may have forgotten, but who carry us in prayer. And we are surrounded by loved ones, who have gone before us, and who had their desert experiences here on earth. And they are with us like angels, shoring us up, holding us near, and praying for us in the company of Jesus Christ and the Saints of heaven.
Lent is a season of remembering our connectedness to the Lord by relearning just who He is, what He has done for us, and hopefully the incredible impact He has made on our lives so that we continue to make a difference in the world--individually and collectively.
Lent is a season of thanksgiving for who Jesus is and our wanting to follow him on his right path. Like the journey of the wandering Aramean in Deuteronomy, this First Sunday of Lent, who eventually found the right path, whose offspring we hear offering thanksgiving: “So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you O Lord, have given me.”
Lent is a season whereby we are given another chance to offer ourselves (the first fruits of love) to the service and ministry of others, taking the gifts we’ve been given by the Lord and offering them back for the good of others.
As St. Paul tells us in his Letter to the Romans:“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart—that is the word of faith we preach” and we do so with our lives, our love, and our witness.
Live the Season, Fr. Gordon
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