This First Sunday of Lent we hear in the gospel of Luke that Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.”  This begins a period of purification and preparation in Jesus’ life as he readies himself to begin his mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  This holy time of prayer and fasting was to last forty days during which he would be tempted and tested by the devil.  This is a good place for us to begin our Lenten journey also.  Our Lenten disciplines test our fidelity to God and our trust in his goodness and wisdom.

     We see that it is the Spirit that leads Jesus into the desert.  We can be assured that the Spirit did not abandon him there in the desert but would remain with him to be a source of comfort and strength.  While the devil is the accuser and hater, the Spirit is the advocate and the personal manifestation of the love of the Father for his Son Jesus.  Throughout his time of trial and temptation the Father’s love would accompany him and whisper words of love to him through the Spirit.  In the silence of the desert Jesus could listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit of the Father’s love that was always with him, speaking to him of the love and favor that God the Father had for him.  In his time of prayer Jesus would be nourished on the Word of God that would reveal to him his mission, his identity and the source of his strength.  During our journey of Lent the Spirit also accompanies us and speaks God’s words to us from within.  Lent is a time of fasting and simplification of our lives, a time of greater focus, so that we can hear the voice of God speaking to us deep within us in our times of prayer. 

     As we see at the time of the Pentecost, the Spirit of God is like a “tongue of fire” that descends upon us and purifies us in love.  The fire of God’s love can be felt during the time of Lent.  It is there to purify our desires and direct them to their true ends, a deeper communion with God through a union of our will with His.  This roots us in obedience to the Word of God.  Lent is a time that is given to us to purify our desires and create a little fire within our hearts so that we will truly desire the things of God’s Kingdom.  We turn our desires away from the enticements of the things of the world and material goods and we seek more fervently the things of heaven and the greater spiritual gifts that come from the Father.  The journey of Lent teaches us that our true and deepest need is for God and that we will not be satisfied with anything less. 

    We see at the beginning of our gospel reading that Jesus will be tempted during his forty days.  It is not the Spirit that tempts him but rather it is the devil.  James tells us in his letter to the Church, “No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.” (James 1,13f)  During our journey of Lent we are tempted by our desires and so we take upon ourselves various disciplines and sacrifices so that through fasting and abstinence we may turn our desires away from selfish, worldly desire and reorient them to a greater desire for a share in the divine life through holiness.  Jesus experiences our interior struggles with sin and evil and he hears that interior voice that always seeks to deceive us.  He responds to this testing by standing fast on the Word of God and the Truth that is whispered to him by the Spirit.  Jesus defeats sin and the devil’s temptations by his profound experience of communion with the Father in the love of the Spirit.  We must also find our strength and our confidence in the communion we share with the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.  Throughout our pilgrimage in the desert of this world, the Lord is always with us and will never allow us to be tested beyond our human limits.  In the desert of this life there are many hidden sources of grace and the assurance of Jesus that we can always find rest in him.  May God bless us all in our journey through Lent and may we all persevere in our time of testing.