As our Lenten journey begins, we find ourselves faced with the desert, the darkness, and the challenge of temptation. In this weekend’s reading from Saint Luke’s gospel, we find Jesus renewed, reinvigorated and “filled with the Holy Spirit” after his baptism (Luke 4:1). But soon after, that same Spirit leads Jesus into the desert for forty days of temptation, trial, and tribulation at the hands of the devil. During his time in the desert, Jesus is tempted three times by this devil, who offers him food, power and glory, and an opportunity to test God’s love for him. Each time, Jesus declines the devil’s advances and turns faithfully back to God. If only we had such faith and trust!

In this classic gospel reading, Jesus is tested in a struggle between good and evil. But because God is with Jesus and because Jesus trusts in God’s goodness, Jesus chooses God over the tricks and temptations of the darkness. Each year, the Church begins the Holy Season of Lent with an account of Christ’s temptation in the desert. By doing so, the Church offers us an opportunity to confront head-on the enduring challenge of our faith journey: to love and serve God with all our heart, soul, and strength in the face of ongoing temptations from our troubled world. This gospel reading also reminds us that each one of us is called into the desert; called to the test; called to choose good over evil; and called to choose divine light over sinful darkness. It isn’t easy. It isn’t easy to resist temptation. It isn’t easy to resist that chocolate dessert even after we decide to fast during Lent. It isn’t easy to decline the upper hand over a colleague, friend, or loved one. It isn’t easy to trust in God when it seems so much easier to trust the convenient ways of the world.

In his book, “Transfiguration: A Meditation on Transforming Ourselves and Our World”, Father John Dear writes: “All we have to do is make our lives fit into the story of Jesus. We have to get our lives to make sense in light of the Gospel.” But that takes courage, dedication, perseverance, prayer, and trust. And all too often, most of us are too busy, too frazzled, and too stressed out to resist temptation, let alone walk willingly into the desert! Most of us count ourselves lucky just to make it to Mass on Sunday, let alone do battle with the devil. And most of us are frightened of the kind of trial that Jesus experiences in the desert. Indeed, each and every year (including this year), I resolve to fast from sweets during Lent, to pray better and pray more, and to reach out to someone in need. But each and every year, I flail, fail, and stumble my way through Lent. I arrive at the Good Friday service feeling embarrassed by my own selfishness and my own weakness. I arrive at the Easter Vigil thanking God that Lent is over. Each and every year during Lent, I just can’t seem to make my life fit into the story of Jesus. I feel like a failure. And I know that I’m not alone.

As I entered into the desert of Lent this year, however, the Lord presented me with a small but powerful gift of grace. While skimming Father Dear’s book, which I had nearly cast aside because it was not quite what I had expected as a meditation on the Transfiguration of Jesus, I was shocked into attention by this passage: “The commandment ‘Do not be afraid’ appears exactly 365 times in the Bible, more than any other commandment of God. Likewise, the one message that Jesus says to his terrified disciples over and over again, more than any other saying in all four Gospels, is ‘Do not be afraid.’ Jesus knows how terrified we are, and he has compassion on us. That is why he touches us. He is gentle and kind. He gives us the best wisdom he had: ‘Rise and do not be afraid.’ With his touch, his word, his example, and his love, he gives us the faith and the strength to stand and live.”

Do not be afraid! I remained stunned by the awesome simplicity of this commandment and its relevance for all of us as we begin our Lenten disciplines. Despite all of my prayer and reading and study over the years, I had somehow forgotten that Jesus understands my embarrassment, my lack of discipline, and my weakness. He knows and understands my fear of failing during Lent. He knows and understands my anxiety about entering into the upcoming Triduum knowing that He suffered for me but I might be too cowardly to suffer with him through my meager Lenten resolutions. He knows and understands that while my intentions are good, they count for nothing if I do not turn to Him in faith, hope, and love when the darkness lurks in the shadows of my life. And Jesus know all of these things about you, too. He knows these things about each and every one of us. He calls us to rise and to be unfraid as we follow him into the desert during the next six weeks.

This Lent, let us resolve to pray for each other, for our pastor and pastoral team, and for all who live, work, and worship in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport. Let us resolve to enter the desert of Lent without fear, confident that Jesus enters with us, that he offers his hand to us, that he will lead us through the darkness of temptation into the light of God’s love and mercy. And let us remember that when we stumble and fall, Jesus is there. He reaches out to us and says: “Rise and do not be afraid!”

May the Lord give you peace during Lent and always!
Cliff

Cliff Garvey
Associate Minister
Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
Contact: cgarvey@ccgronline.com

CCGR Weekly Newsletter (2-14-16)
Bringing Home the Word (2-14-16)

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