Alliance for Catholic Education
First Week of Lent - Sunday, February, 22nd
“At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert….” This is hardly the first time a Bible story will begin in the desert. The central narratives in both the Old and New Testaments begin in the desert. The liberation of Israel from Egypt begins with their wandering forty years in the desert, while the call of Jesus’ first disciples to “come and see” unfolds while they are listening to John the Baptist in the desert. So, Jesus’ flight to the desert to begin his ministry is hardly unique. Have you ever wondered… why do our ancestors in the faith so frequently begin their life’s journey in the desert?
Whenever we begin something – and we are beginning a Lenten journey in these days – we are taking a step into the unknown. And while beginnings are often filled with newness… for precisely this same reason, beginnings are also filled with uncertainty, displacement, even some fear or anxiety. As we discern the ways God asks us to convert parts of our lives this Lent, perhaps some of these feelings lurk in our hearts’ depths.
In the desert, life hangs by a thread. Jesus is led there for similar reasons we are led, by the Spirit, to give up certain well-worn habits for Lent – to let go of certain comforts and distractions, in order to encounter something eternally fresh and new – the presence of God that lies beyond all life’s pleasures and pains.
Jesus’ first disciples make a similar Lenten beginning. These disciples were dissatisfied with some aspects of their daily lives – personal, social, political, religious. So, they wander into the desert, let go of their daily, insulating routines, to encounter something new.
Identifying why, deep down, we have chosen to give up what we have chosen to give up this Lent – our own version of why Jesus first journeyed out into the desert – can be a great spiritual exercise to begin this season. How have we insulated ourselves from issues that are asking for our attention? Our motivations to make these forty days a desert of sorts turn out to be invitations from Jesus to... “come and see"... and to begin anew.