“The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.” (Mk 1,12) Our Lenten journey begins in the desert where the Spirit leads us to purify our hearts, to unmask the deceptions and temptations of Satan and to reaffirm and strengthen our relationship with God, the Father. We are led by the Spirit of God out into the desert for forty days during Lent to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of baptism in our lives. We don’t need to pack up our things and head out to the Mojave or the Anza-Borrego desert, our desert wilderness is the world. The world is a wilderness of experiences that test and try our understanding of our relationship with God, the Father, and our mission to be witnesses and disciples of the New Covenant of life that we enter into with God through our baptism into Christ. The wilderness of the world can be a frightening place full of challenges and confusing messages. Often our lives are in peril – our eternal lives. By the grace of God, we don’t need to go out into that wilderness alone, for the Spirit of God is with us always to be our Advocate, assuring us of the Father’s love and enlightening us in the Truth. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, Abba, “Father!” (Rom 8,14f) In the wilderness of the world we need to remember and reaffirm that we are children of God and not children of the world.

“He was among wild beasts…” (Mk 1,13) We live among wild beasts. This is an apt description of those who live a life of sin, who are led by their disordered desires and who have lost their original dignity as persons created in the image and likeness of God. Sin deforms the human person and turns them into wild beasts. “For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their god is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.” (Phil 3,18f) Often we can get used to “going with the flow” and doing the things that others are doing around us. We listen to the cynics, the skeptics and the doubters. We have not resisted the way of the world but allowed ourselves to be caught up in its flowing tides and to be swept along in the current of worldly thoughts and allurements. We have gone along with the way of the world so that we could get along with others. We listen to that voice that seduces us and promises us an easy and pleasurable way of life. Before we know it we have lost our freedom and we have succumbed to the pitfalls and traps of temptation set by Satan.

St. Paul challenges us in Romans, “Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Rom 12,2) Discipleship requires that we conform ourselves to Christ and not to the world. It requires that we seek God’s will in all things and not our own selfish pleasures. Conversion means that we must begin to live another way, a way that the world will resist. We cannot just “go along to get along”, now we must begin to discern what is the will of God. “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5,1) We are fighting for our freedom in the desert. Freedom requires that we make a responsible decision. To freely say “yes” to God, we must have the courage and discipline to say “no” to temptation and to worldly and carnal allurements. In the desert, we begin to learn a new way of life, a way that leads us to discipleship in Christ. The desert teaches us about discipline and the freedom to say “no” to the world and its enticements.

“And the angels ministered to him.” (Mk 1,13) There are not only wild beasts in the world, but there are also a multitude of angels. Jesus was not alone in the desert, he had angels who were in his corner and who ministered to him. We need to find our angels in the desert also. The angels are helpers in difficult times who encourage us. Angels carry little water bottles of God’s grace, without which we would be defeated. We find our angels most often through prayer. Sometimes they are found through acts of charity and hospitality. Angels are the friends who offer us encouragement and help us to make good choices that help us to be better persons. Angels direct us to the virtues and remind us that we are the children of God, worthy of God’s love. May we be driven this Lent to live in the full freedom of the children of God and to rediscover the meaning of our baptism in Christ!