The Desert

We attended the Mass at our local Campus Religious Center this evening. The presiding priest has been in our area for about a year. He had a long and varied career before his arrival here. Tonight's homily was about Jesus' time in the desert. He spoke about his own time in the desert in Israel, back when he as in college.

The desert is full of arduous terrain and wild animals, capable of killing and eating a person without hesitation. It has abrasive sands and scorching heat, even in the spring. The desert is silent. It is a place where you are alone with yourself. Going there is an opportunity to get to know yourself better, more intimately.

While the desert is hot and sandy in actuality, many of us have our own deserts which are not so literal. They are desolate regions within ourselves. They are dry and barren with random oasis of faith and connection to those around us. The silence in our deserts can be overwhelming. The opportunity to communicate with God is available to us while we are in our desserts, but sometimes the sheer act of survival is too much for us to handle without imposing the additional burden of examining ourselves and why we are in our desert.

The desert is different for everyone. This season of Lent gives each of us the opportunity to walk in our own desert with our Lord. It is a 40 day journey of temptations, greater communications, closer self-examination and hope for the future.

Lord, I ask to feel your presence through these 40 days. Help me to see you in the silence of my prayers. Let me feel your guindance in my daily activities. Lead me in ways that will draw me closer to you while accomplishing what you have laid out before me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!