The Desert Experience of Lent

The Desert Experience of Lent

Remaining dependent on your parents into your 30’s sounds like you stalled in maturing as a person. Sooner or later in young adulthood the human maturity process demands that we break dependence on our parents and launch into adulthood. Life usually has ways of pushing us forward into the next stage of life.

So too in the Christian life do we have to move forward. We move from being nominal Christians toward being disciples. We move from being disciples toward being missionaries. We go from showing up – to stepping up – to stepping out. As Christians the fulfillment of our baptism demands we mature. Why are so many Catholics getting “stalled” in the early development phase of the faith life and not moving along toward living as Christians in a more radical way?

Do most Christians really develop in sanctity? What’s the hold-up?

Perhaps we don’t do enough self-reflection.  A “desert” type of experience would help.

In order to examine if we are launching into an adult faith life or stalled in an immature one, we need to stop our activism and the madness of running around. We need to look at ourselves this Lent. Let’s go where Jesus went – to the desert! The desert is the image scripture presented to us this past Sunday. It is an important means or moment for us to reflect on the ways we are stalling/halting our growth in holiness and how we can get moving forward toward heaven – toward sanctity.

The Desert is a time and a place for mortification and detachment.

If we are willing to go there, we are accepting that it’s okay to be uncomfortable. That, by detaching myself from comforts, I’m able to toughen myself for love and sacrifice in this world. We are so used to our comforts – soft beds, fluffy pillows, TVs with a multi-choice of channels, snacks and refreshments available most of the time. We hardly ever have to do without our creature comforts. This Lent could we select one of our ‘comforts’ and tell ourselves - “I will purposely do without it to strengthen my love for Jesus and grow in a sacrificial heart.”  

The Desert is a place and a time where trials are to be expected.

Are we willing to accept the trials and challenges that God puts before us?

Actual deserts have scorpions, water scarcity, great distances to travel in the blazing sun, the risk of getting lost, no electricity points to recharge our cell phones, etc.

Our ‘desert’ experiences include: misunderstandings, financial problems, dealings with difficult people, fighting off the urge to quit and give up, or the temptation feel sorry for ourselves and bitter about things. If we go into the ‘desert’, it means that we are okay with trials and challenges. We won’t avoid them; we are willing to face them head on.

But why would we embrace trials? They are a pain in the neck! We have to be aware that these crosses are God’s way of purifying us. He is actually giving us an opportunity to become a saint.

The ‘Desert’ is a time of fighting off the temptations of the devil.

In the desert the devil will be working extra hard to “sell us a false happiness”. The evil one preys on us when we are vulnerable – hungry, angry, frustrated or lonely. The devil’s favourite temptations are the three he tried to tempt Jesus with: POWER, PLEASURE, POSSESSIONS. Like Jesus we will need to fight off the devil and tell him to stay away from us.

The Desert is a time and a place for prayer. It’s a time for connecting with God.

We all need this season of working harder to be in contact with God. We ignore our prayer life too often and it’s harmful to every aspect of our life. Listening to God might mean we should stop talking and be quiet. After all, God gave us two ears and one mouth – so we need to listen twice as much as we speak.

This Lent, let’s experience the Desert. We have some good tools to help us fight the temptations, to help us get through the desert, to help us move forward and grow. 

Here they are: Confession, Spiritual Direction, The Eucharist, our Blessed Mother!