The desert journey

On the first Sunday of Lent, we always begin our preparation for Easter with Jesus in the desert.  This is quite apt, as the forty days of Lent are patterned on Jesus’ forty days in the desert preparing for his public ministry.

In turn, Jesus’ forty days parallels the forty years that the Hebrew people spend wandering the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land.  But the comparison and contrast goes much deeper than just time and place, and it gives us great insight into our own desert journey.

Moses tells the people, “Remember how for forty years now the Lord, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments.” (Dt 8:2).  Just so, the Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the desert that he might understand and follow what His Father’s will is for him.

The people were sorely tested with hunger, as was Jesus.  They failed the test, complaining bitterly that Moses had led them to the desert to die.  They wanted to return to Egypt, where, even if slaves, they would always have food to eat.  Jesus refuses to use his power merely to satisfy his own physical wants.

The people were tempted to worship false gods, as was Jesus.  They built the golden calf.  Jesus rejected the devil’s bribe.

Despite their miraculous release from slavery, escape from the Pharaoh’s chariots, being fed with manna and quails, and receiving of God’s law at Mt. Sinai, the people continued to test God, never thinking they had enough, never secure in God’s intentions towards them.  Jesus refused to test God’s love, absolutely secure in His Father’s abiding love and kindness for him.

To drive these comparisons home, all three Scripture verses that Jesus uses to rebut the devil come from Moses’ admonishments to the people during their desert journey.

But, as with all of Scripture, this is not just a tale of the past, but a tale which lives for us today.  In a way, our entire life here on earth is a desert journey.  Compared to the comforts and bliss of heaven – the oneness with God that He desires for each of us – this earthly life, despite its fleeting moments of pleasure and satisfaction, can be as dry and desolate as the desert.

Yet, how often do I work to secure more of earth’s pleasures, more of earth’s satisfactions, more of earth’s happiness, despite their fleeting nature?  Ironically, this evanescence merely heightens the intensity of my desire for material possessions and physical pleasure.  I become jealous of what I already have, greedy to acquire more, and envious of the happiness of others.

How often am I faced with evil and respond with anger, vengeance, and violence?  In doing so, I reject the God of infinite mercy, the God of unconditional love, the God of all life.  I take up the devil’s offer of earthly power, a power which inevitably leads to death, destruction, and damnation.

 

How often have I bargained with God, promising my fidelity if only he would grant this one more thing?  I become forgetful at best, ungrateful and disparaging at worst, of all that God has already given me.  I become bitter, angry and self-loathing.  At that point, I cannot love others, for I cannot even love myself.

In all of these cases, I have wandered into a particularly barren part of the desert, a true valley of shadow and death.

But all is not lost.  We are only at the beginning of Lent.  In fasting, I become more aware of how my physical wants are so much greater than my physical needs.  What I give up turns out to be mere trifle; the important things remain.

In almsgiving, I am reminded of the unconditional love that God has for me, the infinite grace with which he has blessed me, and the great mercy he has shown for me.

In prayer, I am centered on the one who gives true power – the power to love, to power to forgive, the power to live.

By Easter, we may still be in the desert, but we have the courage and will to reject the devil’s path that we may follow the way of Jesus.  We do not fear, but rejoice in faith, hope and love – for our help is in the name of the Lord, who gives us life and love; our salvation is through His suffering and death on the cross; and our destiny is to be with Him in His resurrection.

It is a journey through the desert, but it ends in Paradise.