In the forty days of Lent, we enter into the desert, with its penances and sacrifices, and not idly. We let God recreate us; we allow that ongoing conversion that allows us to live more fully our lives that God is calling us to live. We overcome our sins and shortcomings. We are formed, as the holy people were in the desert; we are not the same people, individually and as a Church, that we were at the beginning. We are renewed in our commission to live that faith on Easter Sunday; after forty days, we celebrate new members of our Church and we ourselves renew our baptismal promises, which were confirmed at our Confirmation. And we confront temptation head on in this season of Lent. We give things up in order to invite temptation, to invite the test not to take them up again. It's not just a period of deprivation and self-punishment; we are remembering God forming his people and we ask him, throughout these forty days especially, to form us, continually, into the people collectively and as the individuals he has created in his image and likeness, and we pray for grace and for the success of our time in the desert during these forty days of Lent.
February 25, 2023
Image source: https://www.backroads.com/trips/WPJI/californias-palm-springs-joshua-tree-walking-hiking-tour-4-day-getaway
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