Lent – A Journey Through The Wilderness

Today we celebrate the First Sunday of Lent and I use the word celebrate because Mass [Eucharist] is always thanksgiving and celebration.  Lent is a time of introspection and penance but every Sunday when we come to Mass, we celebrate the little victories that we have won during the week and we thank God for the graces which made these little victories possible.

The Sunday Gospels give us a topic for reflection during the week and a programme of action, and so we have to ask ourselves what is the topic this week.

The Gospel passage that we have comes just after the baptism of Jesus which is understood as the moment that Jesus took onto himself the mission given by the Father. He is immediately led by the Spirit into the desert, understood as a place of danger, uncertainty, loneliness etc. In the desert he has to face all the things which try to turn him away from the mission. He is not alone however, he is accompanied by God’s Spirit

From deep within himself, in that place where God dwells, Jesus finds the strength to be faithful to the mission given him by God. Aided by the Spirit who accompanies him, Jesus rejects the temptations, always finding an answer to the temptations in the Word of God. Even though he was victorious this time, he is warned not to be complacent. He would be tempted again. “The devil left him to return at the appointed time.”

That story is our own story.

All of us make decisions in life, to be faithful to the ideal we set for ourselves, to be honest in our dealings, to work for some social good etc., to work at our marriage etc. We all know the decisions we made in idealistic moments under the inspiration of the Spirit who accompanies us. But there are always things which try to turn us away from the ideal. There is always the temptation to compromise, to make deals etc.

But the lives of the saints show us that it is possible not to compromise, not to give in to fear. Remember Martin Luther King: He was warned that he would be killed, but he remained faithful to his dream. That is the story of the martyrs, Fidelity to the dream. We need God’s help for that, and so we must turn to the Lord in prayer, just as Jesus did, putting our entire trust in the Father, under the inspiration of the Spirit who accompanies us in the difficult moments.

What then is the topic of reflection for this week?

1. What is the life project that I have made? That for which I will live my life and give it up if needs be

2. What are the temptations which try to divert me from being faithful?

3. How am I dealing with these temptations?

4. What must I do to defeat the temptations? Martin L King fell on his knees and prayed.

5. What do I do?

Prayer

All powerful and ever-loving God, like your Son Jesus we too are led into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. Help us to remember that you never abandon us, that your Spirit accompanies us. Help us to find answers to the temptations which afflict us in your word. We thank you for your Word, may your Word affect and direct our lives always. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our Mother and Jesus your Son who also suffered temptations but who conquered them. Amen

Gospel reading:  Luke 4:1-13 

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness,  being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf. But Jesus replied, “Scripture says, ‘Man does not live on bread alone.'” Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, “I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.” But Jesus answered him, “Scripture says, ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.  Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said to him “throw yourself down from here, for scripture says, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you to guard you,’ and again: ‘they will hold you up on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.'” But Jesus answered him, “It has been said, ‘You must not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.