HOMILY for March 5, 2017: 1st Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

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1^st Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

St Mary Parish

Laurinburg, NC

March 5, 2017

Flowering in the Desert

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

Jesus in the Desert

“Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert.”

They are the opening words of today’s Gospel passage.  Ten years ago, an American author named Alan Simek wrote about his experience in the deserts of our American Southwest. 

He says: “The desert is a vast and lonely landscape.  Even the best prepared may meet the unexpected, the freak storm, the slip or fall off a trail, the sudden strike of the rattlesnake. 

“Only the fool thinks he can rely on his own strength and skill. In short, the desert escapes my control. 

“For this reason my mind is drawn quietly, naturally toward someone outside myself on whom I can lean.  In the desert I think not so much of causes as of The Cause.  The experience of the desert is … about recognizing God’s glory. 

“And like Jesus, we may meet and be tempted by the enemy in the desert.  One thing is certain: If we come to the desert, we will change.”   

We Need the Desert

I believe that each of us needs the experience of the desert.

I am not suggesting that we have to travel to Arizona or the Mohave Desert.  But I am saying that we need desert experiences, desert moments, and we need these regularly.

These are crucial and the Season of Lent reminds us of this. 

Our Deserts

We find our desert or desert moments usually in silence.

It may be when we are lying in bed before getting up in the morning or driving to work alone with no news on or music playing.  It may be sitting in a chair looking at a candle or gazing outside at a tree.

It may be walking and taking in the breeze or warmth, the cloudiness or sunshine of the day.  It may be sitting here in church, in silence, maybe with our eyes closed.

All of these situations can be our desert experiences.  And to have these experiences, three things are necessary.

First, we need to make time for them.  We need more than a passing or accidental moment.

I recommend, especially during Lent, that we plan on five minutes a day.  And, make it a set time each day, in the morning or whenever it is that works for you.

The second thing needed for a desert experience is a place where you will have the opportunity for this.  I have already mentioned a few possibilities, and you can probably think of others in your own life situation.

And the third thing we need in a desert experience is silence.  The idea is just to be alone and alone with God.

Try to tune into yourself and into God.  God will be with you in the silence and may well speak from your inner depths or soul.

Temptations in Our Deserts

So, in these desert experiences we almost naturally become aware of God. And then, we also become aware of ourselves. 

The gospel says that Jesus is tempted in the desert.

We may not be tempted, but very possibly we will become aware of anything unresolved in our lives.  Anything not attended to, any area where we are not at peace – this will come up.

It could be allowing ourselves and our family to be so busy that we are not really attending one another as persons.  Or it could be our attitude toward religious or nationality or ethnic or racial groups that are different from us.

I believe that the Spirit drives all of us into the desert and we all feel the need for this.  And yet, at the same time, we resist it because we instinctively know that the desert will move us to address parts of ourselves that we may not want to face.

Go to the Desert

I want to conclude with the words of author, Alan Semik that I quoted at the beginning. 

He writes this one sentence, as a result of his desert experience. “Reflection is the kind of inaction that alone makes action meaningful and focused on what is good.”

Let me repeat that and let’s just try to take it in.  “Reflection is the kind of inaction that alone makes action meaningful and focused on what is good.”

That, my friends, is what the desert will do for us.  So, go into the desert for five minutes each day this Lent, be with God and with yourself in silence, and your life will be changed.