The Paschal Mystery reminds us that God heals, He loves and He forgives. Yet he is often difficult to see. He never answers us in terms that we would like and never presents himself in the concrete ways that we could take as "visible signs." Still, the mystery of God overpowers sin and death. It replaces the ugliness of suffering and pain with the joy of hope and replaces hatred and violence with the promise of peace. The Cross of Christ reminds us that God's arms are opened wide in a loving embrace, that he has smashed the rock of the Tomb and that he has given us a new life in Himself.
We all know the story of Jesus' temptations in the desert. All three of the Synoptic Gospels place this episode immediately following Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan. Prior to this, John the Baptist was the dominant figure of the story. His preaching began with "Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand." His was a call to repentance - a warning - a call to change one's ways because something big and wonderful was soon coming.
The Temptation Story now switches the focus to Jesus and His message: "Rejoice! The Kingdom of God is already here!" This was a call to experience the presence of the Father in every moment, in every breath, in every encounter. It was an invitation to enter into the Paschal Mystery of suffering, death and resurrection as deeply and as completely as he was about to.
However, Jesus didn't just "venture out" into the desert/wilderness. It was the Spirit who led Him there. And it is this same Spirit who continues to lead Him, every time He "goes apart" to pray.
He will remember the desert stones as He watches His disciples bicker, and trip themselves up vying for "top honors" in the New Kingdom. He would see the broken promises of earthly kingdoms in the eyes and hearts of almost everyone around Him, including a chosen disciple turned betrayer. And He would think of how easy it would be to throw himself down and just give up when it seemed that no one understood what He was trying to say.
But when Jesus returns from the desert, he immerses himself totally into the humanity around Him. He chooses simple men and women to be His spokespersons. Among them are fishermen, a tax collector, sinners, prostitutes, a persecutor and a traitor. All of them are perfectly frail in their humanity and weak in their commitment. Over time he watches them come together, grow together, laugh and cry with one another, argue and dissent with one another, and learn to love one another. They become the nucleus of his ministry. And in their weaknesses and failures, he gave them strength, nourishment and victory.
Let this Lent become for us a spirit-led experience. Take the chance, venture out into the darkness. Take some time to pray, to "reach out in the darkness, " to reflect. Let the Father speak. (That means we have to listen!)
Let this season become the point which will lift us up when times seem at their lowest, when we feel our loneliest and when we recognize our weaknesses most acutely.
Let us all learn to pray, reflect, prepare for the Easter victory, and return from our personal desert experience ready - perhaps just a little better - to face the daily reality of our lives.
Let the Spirit of God lead us to experience the fragrance of our God in our lives, to feel it all over our skin and in our hearts and our souls.
And let it lead us to spread that fragrance among each other.
