First Sunday of Lent-C
Regardless of the year, the Gospels on the first Sunday of Lent lead us into the desert with Jesus. The focus, of course, is to reinforce the principle of self-sacrifice as a spiritual tool to strengthen our relationship with God. The desert and self-sacrifice are not comfortable places. There is a sense of lifelessness and deathly stillness that humans do everything to avoid.
That’s the point. During Lent, we are asked to willingly give up the things that help us cope or bring pleasure to fully understand God’s plan of salvation. The Lenten discipline is absurd for those seeking fulfillment outside a relationship with God. However, the message of salvation is self-sacrifice, and the epitome is Christ crucified. St. Paul famously teaches, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”
The Father’s plan for his Son is the prototype for every Christian. We are told that the Holy Spirit moved Jesus to the desert after John baptized him in the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit descended upon him there, and a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased.”
In the desert, in the face of temptation, Jesus reasserts the Father’s plan to save his people. By denying himself food, he shows that temporal desires are only a part of the human experience. “One does not live on bread alone.” When offered power and glory, Jesus responds that union with the Father is paramount, “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.”
At first blush, we may think entering the desert means emptiness and pain. Jesus shows us that it can be a place to see things as they are. We learn that the place of emptiness is a reckoning that the entirety of our life rests upon God’s presence. The earthly bread is just that—earthly. The allure of power and glory is just an allure.
The forgetfulness of what happened at the Jordan and what happened to us at our baptism is at the heart of our longing for earthly wants and prestige. Our amnesia as sons and daughters of God sends us in directions away from him. That is why we take stock during Lent and forgo what has pleased us, hoping to regain our memory. The source of our true pleasure forever is union with God and nothing else.
Our self-denial during Lent is corrective, allowing us to remember again that the source of our life is God and him alone. By setting aside all that usually takes up our time, we realize how far we have strayed and how much we need reconciliation. Only then can we begin to live the life we are supposed to live as sons and daughters of God, the most prominent title we will ever receive, given to us at baptism.
The Lenten desert is not a place we stay forever. We annually retreat there to learn or relearn what is essential to our Christian life. It may take one visit to the desert, or it may take eighty. Regardless of how long it takes, spending time in the desert is the key.
There is scarcely a better profession of faith than renouncing what gives us contentment instead of surrendering those things to become closer to the Divine. Alone in our desert with God can this be proclaimed.
Some may already be there, but it’s time to do so if you haven’t yet journeyed to your desert.