Jesus was in a similar environment that we might a
politically correct or socially genteel, but he realised that it was unreal, it
was not answering his calling, his vocation, so “Jesus left the Jordan and was
led by the Spirit through the wilderness.”
Now the adventure begins. For Jesus it was in the desert,
and for us Lent is our desert.
Deserts are place where we can confront ourselves. These
seemingly wild places can be dangerous places where we have to confront our
inner demons and fears. We rarely emerge from a desert experience the same
person. In the desert, unless our sight
becomes clearer, focus is sharpened, and our spiritual angle is increased, we
perish.
The forty days that Jesus spent in the desert was iconic, and
recalled the forty years the Israelites spent in the desert. The scripture
scholar Michael Fallon tells us: “”Forty” is symbolic of a generation, a
lifetime. Jesus was tested, as we all are, right through to his death. He was
never free of the struggle that is the lot of every human being”[i]
Lent is our desert time, our chance to walk out of the
air-conditioning and confront our reality. The temptations themselves are
iconic, and represent our constant struggle against all that would hold us back
from being whole people.
Our temptations are like those of Jesus. In one sense know
that God is with us, protecting and guiding us, but often we can’t see it,
especially in the evils that we see around us, sometimes even within our
families and church. The Israelites doubted whether God would sustain them in
the Desert.[ii]
The devil claimed the same to Jesus, who in the midst of his hunger and
suffering, affirmed his trust that God would provide for all his needs by living
‘every word that comes from the mouth of God’. Our desert time can help us to
see God’s grace working in and around us. Against the cult of self-sufficiency
and the sin of pride, it can strengthen our trust.
Our society is
ambivalent about greed. It is held to be OK as long as it does not get out of
hand, yet greed is contagious and addictive. Jesus rejected it out of hand when
he was taken to the parapet of the temple. The greed for power and goods is
destructive and evil and is the cause of much of the suffering of our world
today. The war against greed starts with me and you.
Finally, Jesus is tempted to call in the favour, to test
God. We are often tested the same way, by questioning the existence or love of
God because of things that occur to us and those we love. Albert Facey, author
of ‘A Fortunate Life’, deduced that due to silence in the face of evil, God did
not exist. He overlooked the strength that he had been able to develop in the
face of huge challenges, strength that enabled him to call his life
‘fortunate’. Jesus leads by placing all
his trust in God. and not forcing God to conform to our demands. Jesus calls us to live our lives faithfully
and simply, without presumption.
We are called to choose life in all its fullness, to visit
the desert, confront our temptations. Blessed John Paul encouraged us: ”let us undertake the penitential Lenten
journey with greater determination, to be ready to defeat the seductions of
Satan and arrive at Easter in joy of spirit.” [iii]
Homily, 16th February 2013, Vigil of the First Sunday of Lent Year C, OLQP
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