Homily: Friday - 3rd Week of Lent 2017 - The Lenten Desert

The Christian Philosopher Svoren Kierkegaard said if he were a doctor he would prescribe as a remedy for all the world’s disorders, “silence”.

Our culture abhors silence; it is addicted to stimulation.  It has to have the television or internet going all the time; one of the spiritual dangers of having cell phones that can access the internet anywhere, anytime, is that one never learns how to sit in silence.

Last night at Confirmation, the bishop challenged our 8th graders, to consider a Lenten fast of only using their cell phones for emergencies only on 2 or 3 days a week. His suggestion was met with laughter, as if he were joking…he was not.

Noise, distraction, stimulation are great obstacles to knowing ourselves and listening to God. The constant stimulation and busyness bring not cheerfulness, but exhaustion and emptiness.

Through his prophet Hosea, God says, “I will lead Israel into the desert, and speak to her heart.”  It is in the silence where God wishes to refresh us, renew us, deepen our love for Him.

The desert is a place of divine encounter and spiritual battle. At the beginning of Lent we read about Jesus going out into the desert; in fact, the Scripture says he was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert.

We have many accounts of early Christians going off to live in the desert.  The first Christian monks were those who went into the desert like our Lord for a life of solitude and prayer.

The desert is a place of testing; we are likely to encounter our inner demons there.  It is also a place of purification; where we strip ourselves from what is unnecessary, particularly for our spiritual lives.  Yet, the desert is also a place of profound encounter with God.

In Hosea, what does God promise to those who follow his lead into the desert? “I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD.”  Espousal, can there be anything more profound?

To be faithful to the Lord’s command to love the Lord with our whole minds, strength, and heart, we at times need to allow the Spirit to lead us into the desert, to teach our hearts how to love again, to reignite hearts grown cold through attachment to worldly passions, to unclog our hearts..

May the Lenten desert help us to be stripped away of everything harmful to our minds and souls, that we may experience the intimate union God desires for us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For greater devotion in our Lenten prayer, greater self-restraint in our Lenten fasting, and greater selflessness in our Lenten almsgiving.

That civil leaders will use their authority to protect the dignity of human life and the well-being of the poor, especially the unborn.  We pray to the Lord.

For young people, that they may be kept safe from the evil distractions of the world, and be brought up in faith-filled homes, that they may believe in the importance of loving and serving the Lord with their whole hearts.

For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter, that these weeks of Lent may bring them purification and enlightenment in the ways of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness: that the tenderness of the Father’s love will comfort them.  We pray to the Lord.