First Sunday of Lent

Where is My Desert?

This week’s gospel narrates Jesus’ time in the desert and the temptations he endures. Where is my desert? What do I learn about myself in that desert? These are questions that heighten our awareness of what really matters in our lives as we begin our Lenten journey. Pope Francis shares this reflection with us:

Let us imagine that we are in a desert. The first feeling would be that of being enveloped by a great silence: no sound besides the wind and our own breathing. The desert is a place of detachment from the din that surrounds us. It is the absence of words to make room for another Word, the Word of God, that caresses our hearts like a light breeze (cf. 1 Kings 19:12). …

By calling us to the desert, Jesus invites us to listen to what matters, to what is important, to the essential. … We need to pray. Because only before God do the inclinations of the heart come to light and the duplicity of the spirit cease. The desert is a place of life not of death because speaking to the Lord in silence, gives us life again. …

The desert is the place of the essential. Let us look at our lives: how many useless things surround us! We chase after thousands of things that seem necessary and that in reality are not. How good it would be for us to free ourselves from many superfluous realities, to rediscover what matters. …

Audience Pope Francis, Feb. 26, 2020
Beginning of Lenten Journey