First Sunday of Lent

In today's Liturgy, we hear once more the Account of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness (or desert for that matter) as narrated to us Luke. The desert seems to be a place of "dissonance" of sorts. On the one hand, it is traditionally regarded as the place where one encounters God (being a place of silence and solitude), but on the other hand, as presented to us by the Gospel, a place of temptation, a place of barrenness. I would like to reflect that it is in this light that the Church would want to remind us about this holy season of Lent.

Lent is a time of going back to God, going back to the Source. We are being invited and drawn by this holy season to once again experience God in the silence of our hearts. To reminisce our personal "God experiences" in the solitude of our being. To once again be connected, and to appreciate that great gift of connection to the Divine, The Supreme Being.

Secondly, as our attention is centered on God, the Ever Greater One, we are challenged by Lent to renounce our very selves -- the hedonistic and self-seeking aspects of our selves. That as we search for God, we are likewise invited to turn away from our selves and from our sins so that God can find an acceptable and pleasing dwelling place in our hearts. Let us beg then for these graces.