In today’s Gospel we hear the very
short story of Jesus being led into the desert by the Spirit where He remained
for 40 days. This is (quite obviously) where the Church rooted the tradition of
preparing for Holy Week for 40 days to imitate the life of Jesus in the desert.
Lent is a moment for retreat. We are
people who are in desperate need of retreat. We are congenially overcharged,
over-busy, and overstressed with all of the good ‘doings’ that make up our
life. Lent is an opportunity, even a requirement, to slow down and to open
oneself up to God and others through prayer,
fasting, and abstinence (from meat on Fridays) to focus on our ‘being’. It
is a time for us to return to the Lord and to spiritually re-align ourselves
(like a spiritual chiropractor) to who God made us to be: His beloved Sons and
Daughters, members of God’s covenant family.
As we are opened to God and re-align
ourselves with Him we are also reconnected to our human family here on earth. Love of God and love of neighbor form one
single commandment (Pope Benedict XVI). We pray for those in need. We fast
to meet in solidarity the millions of people who even in 2012 still go hungry
and die of hunger each day. We abstain
from meat on Fridays (AND fancy meals in general…this is not a Papal invitation
to have Dungenous Crab!) to take the money that we would have spent on meat
(which traditionally was a luxury not a staple of a person’s diet) and donate
it to those in need.
Questions
for reflection and discussion
-What would be some of the
challenges/negatives Jesus faced living in the desert?
-What is valuable about Jesus going
out into the desert?
-Are you going to give something up
this Lent? Why do we do this? What will you give up?
-Are you going to do extra service or
spend extra time in prayer this Lent? What will you do and when (be concrete!)?
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