1st Sunday of Lent – Cycle B – February 21, 2021 Following Christ: To be found and to find hope in the deserts of our lives Genesis 9: 8-15 / Psalm 25 / 1 Peter 3: 18-22 / Mark 1: 12-15
If someone asks you to define heroism, how would you respond? What are some examples of heroic actions and behavior? Who are the heroes of our time? An obvious response might be a first responder and lifeguard. They go into dangerous and potentially deadly situations to rescue persons who are in grave danger.
The setting can be life threatening to the person in need and of great risk to the responder. Still, the one who goes to the rescue seems to be safe from the danger or has the strength and knowledge to overcome it. A force greater than fear and self-interest is needed in order to overcome serious risks and save another person.
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear of Jesus not only going into the desert but being driven by the Holy Spirit to go there. Still, Jesus enters the desert fully aware of the surroundings and risks and does so without hesitation. He is like the responder intentionally entering a risky and dangerous setting. He has a purpose in doing so. For Jesus, the desert experience is a time of preparation for his earthly mission, almost like a way of purification. In addition, it is a time and place of solitude to provide an undistracted setting for communion with his Heavenly Father.
For most of us, however, the desert would be a place of disorientation, harshness and possible danger. It is an environment that calls for special preparation and physical resilience prior to venturing forth or it is a place to be avoided for its inhospitable nature. On the metaphorical level, the desert can also signify a place where one wanders in spiritual and emotional lostness. It could be a context of sinful behavior or a setting marked by suffering. This might be the sort of desert we are more likely to end up in.
Perhaps we feel right now that we are in a spiritual or moral desert. In our lostness through the “deserts” of life – the many temptations, doubts and struggles with our weaknesses – we can be like the person wandering lost or in danger of death who needs to be rescued. However, if you end up in a desert but without wanting to be there, will you be prepared and safe? Who and what will come to your rescue? Or do you think you can make it to safety on your own?
Even though Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and the duration of his public ministry was 3 years, his mission of redemption is constant and eternal. Through his incarnation, Christ Jesus entered into the desert of sinful humanity and suffering. In his humanity, being true man, he knows we can be seriously lost in these sorts of deserts because he has been there and he knows the terrain.
In his divinity, being true God, he is able to go to our rescue without any regard for the danger. Not only is Christ safe from all the risks as our responder, but he is also the only true and lasting safety we can rely on.
I’m convinced that Christ beckons us into the spiritual deserts of life. Sometimes, he calls us into the desert of a broken humanity. That sort of desert is likely on this very campus and in the life of another student you come to know. The Lord Jesus might call upon us to be like a first responder or lifeguard to go to the aid of someone who is lost or hurting.
Even so, we need to be prepared. You and I will not be of much use to others if we ourselves are not seeking the strength God provides us through prayer and the sacraments, especially Eucharist and Reconciliation. The Lord Jesus also invites and the reality of our own brokenness, our own personal spiritual and moral deserts. The good news is that Christ not only will go into the desert to our rescue, but he is also already there to save us by his mercy.
We, too, need healing and to be found. We would benefit from solitude and quiet prayer to better listen to and perceive the stirrings of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the people and world around us. This sort of desert might be a challenging and uncomfortable environment, but I think we know it could do us well. There might be attitudes, thoughts, words and acts that we need to let go of and commend to the purifying love of Christ. that which separates us from God and keeps us from truly loving others, we will experience new life.
May the time of Lent be for us a holy desert, to prepare ourselves for our Easter return to the Lord by shedding all that encumbers our loving him fully and our neighbor sincerely, knowing that he is with us through it all.