Taking a Risk for Jesus this Lent

Pastor’s Column

1st Sunday of Lent

February 21, 2021

The season of Lent, a journey of forty days, is an echo of life itself. Jesus, in today's gospel, is driven out into the desert to be tempted by Satan. It is for Our Lord a time of testing and being subject to temptations. In Lent, we too may be tempted to go back on what we and the Lord may have decided we are going to do in these forty days; and if we do fail, to give up rather than to try again.

Jesus is driven out into the desert. What is life if not a desert? At some times of our lives we can insulate ourselves from this process, shield ourselves from the cross, find an oasis in the desert, build ourselves a dwelling there and pretend that it will never end; but the cross will find us all the same, rich or poor. In fact, it is not a blessing to be shielded from the crosses we receive in life, as our sufferings and temptations make us who we are.

So Jesus invites us out into the desert with him. This invitation of Lent is, of course, completely voluntary. Lent is a time of limited duration, as is life. Lent is what you make of it, as is life. Lent is a time of opportunity, as is life. Lent may determine your whole future by what you can begin in these days. Yet other times of sacrifice will come unwanted, unexpected and we will not be invited to choose, and we’ve had so many of these in the last 12 months already! In such times as these, the cross will then be demanded. Yet by voluntarily joining Christ in the desert NOW, we can be ready for the INVOLUNTARY deserts that will inevitably come in life.

If I cannot always choose my crosses, I can choose the attitude by which I accept them; and God will bless this and cause me to grow spiritually at these moments far out of proportion to the sacrifice that I have made.

How? By accepting the crosses and blessings we discover in the present moment. Playing it safe is not the way to grow, to win in the spiritual life. Where is God asking me, inviting me, challenging me to take a risk for him, or another risk for him? Lent is a risk. Going into the desert is a risk. Doing nothing is also a risk, in fact, the greatest risk of all.

Father Gary