Into the Desert We Go

Today begins our journey with Jesus and one another into the desert. We go into the desert which is often times barren, hot, and even a cold place so that we learn not to rely on ourselves, but on God. Every time we feel a hunger pang from fasting and abstaining it is a reminder that we do not live on bread alone, but on God. The desert experience is an inward spiritual journey we take to allow God to enter into our very core and that He reveal Himself to us in the most profound ways. However, for that to happen we must strip away all the barriers that prevent that, namely sin, but also all the walls we put up, all the noise that keeps God out, and all the things of this world that we have given too much importance to, sometimes making these things like little gods, it must all go away - and it cannot unless we leave it behind and enter the desert.

We begin to die to self and begin to live for Christ and others in the desert. Once God becomes my all then I begin to rise, to be resurrected into new life. The goal of Lent is for that to happen, that we die to self on this 40 day journey so that at the Easter Vigil we will rise with Jesus when the stone rolls back.

My brothers and sisters, let us go now into to desert, it will be barren, hot, dark, and cold, but we will not be alone, our Lord is there waiting, we also have each other, let us go now, don't look back.