1st
Sunday of Lent
Cycle A
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville
4pm
Saint Matthew Parish,
Baltimore 11am
March 5, 2017
Jesus
in the Desert
“Jesus was led by
the Spirit into the desert.”
They are the opening words of today’s gospel passage. Ten years ago, an American author named Alan
Simek wrote about his experience in the deserts of our American Southwest.
I want to quote just a few sentences from his
writing. Alan Simek says: “The desert is a vast and lonely landscape.
“Even the best
prepared may meet the unexpected, the freak storm, the slip or fall off a
trail, the sudden strike of the rattlesnake.
Only the fool thinks he can rely on his own strength and skill.
“In short, the
desert escapes my control. For this reason,
my mind is drawn quietly, naturally toward someone outside myself on whom I can
lean.
“In the desert I
think not so much of causes as of The Cause.
The experience of the desert is … about recognizing God’s glory.
“And like Jesus, we
may meet and be tempted by the enemy in the desert. One thing is certain: If we come to the
desert, we will change.”
We
Need the Desert
I believe that each of us needs the experience of the
desert.
I am not suggesting that we have to travel to Arizona or
the Mohave Desert. But I am saying that
we need desert experiences, desert moments, and the Season of Lent reminds us
of this.
Our
Deserts
We find our desert or desert moments usually in silence.
It may be when we driving to work alone with no news on or
music playing. It may be sitting in a
chair looking at a candle or gazing outside at a tree.
It may be walking and taking in the cold or warmth, the
cloudiness or sunshine of the day. It
may be sitting here in church, maybe with our eyes closed.
All of these situations can be our desert
experiences. And to have these
experiences, three things are necessary.
First, we need to make time for them. We need more than a passing or accidental
moment.
I recommend, especially during Lent, that we plan on five
minutes a day. And, make it a set time
each day, in the morning or whenever it is that works for you.
The second thing needed for a desert experience is a place
where you will have the opportunity for this.
I have already mentioned a few possibilities, and you can probably think
of others in your own life situation.
And the third thing we need in a desert experience is
silence. The idea is just to be alone
and alone with God.
Try to tune into yourself and into God. God will be with you in the silence and may
well speak from your inner depths or soul.
“Temptations”
in Our Deserts
So, in these desert experiences we almost naturally become
aware of God.
And then, we also become aware of ourselves. The gospel says that Jesus is tempted in the
desert.
We may not be tempted, but what I think will happen for us
is that we will become aware of anything unresolved in our lives. Anything not attended to, any area where we
are not at peace – this will come up.
It could be allowing ourselves and our family to be so
busy that we are not really there for one another. Or, on the level of our society, it could be
our attitude or mindset toward religious or nationality or ethnic or racial
groups that are different from us.
I believe that the Spirit drives all of us into the desert
and we all feel the need for this. And
yet, at the same time, we resist it because we instinctively know that the
desert will move us to address parts of ourselves that we may not want to face.
Go to
the Desert
I want to conclude with the author, Alan Simek whom I
quoted at the beginning.
He writes this one sentence, as a result of his desert
experience. “Reflection is the kind of
inaction that alone makes action meaningful and focused on what is good.”
Let me repeat that and let’s just try to take it in. “Reflection
is the kind of inaction that alone makes action meaningful and focused on what
is good.”
That, my friends, is what the desert will do for us. So, go into the desert for five minutes each
day this Lent, be with God and with yourself in silence, and your life will be
changed.
