40 Days in the Desert
(Deut.26:4-10; Rom.10:8-13; Lk.4:1-13)
Once again, we’ve arrived at another season of Lent. Someone asked me recently why this season lasts for 40 days.
Well, the number 40 is mentioned over 150 times in the Bible, so one would think it must be significant. Some say that 40 is Biblical code for ‘a very long time,’ but if you look carefully, you’ll see that it’s often connected with an experience of hardship or trial and preparing for something new.
Certainly, Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert for 40 days and nights before starting his public ministry (Mt.4:2). And he ascended to heaven 40 days after his resurrection (Acts 1:3).
But going further back into history, Noah’s flood lasted for 40 days (Gen.7:17), the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years (Dt.8:2-5), and Moses waited for 40 days and nights on Mt Sinai for the Ten Commandments (Ex.34:28).
Each time, this waiting always preceded a new beginning of some kind. After Noah’s flood, a new civilisation began. After crossing the desert, the Israelites started a new life in the Promised Land. Moses’ Ten Commandments marked God’s new Covenant with all mankind. Jesus’ public ministry marked the beginning of a new way of life for everyone. And his Ascension opened the way for the Holy Spirit to descend on his disciples (Jn.16:7).
Just as we spent 40 weeks in our mother’s womb before being born, so we can see that Lent is a special invitation to us to spend some time preparing for something very new.
Deep down, we all yearn for a life that’s rich in meaning, purpose and love. And most of us recognise the need to rise above the selfishness, greed and unhealthy behaviours of our world. But our secular society doesn’t encourage this. It would rather we were distracted and entertained than face our real selves.
So, we tend to put off dealing with the mess of our private lives.
Here, Lent is something very special. It’s an invitation for us to look honestly at ourselves, to work through our weaknesses and to open ourselves up to the freshness of Jesus Christ.
But before we can be filled with God’s blessings, we must first be emptied, and that’s what the desert does for us. In the desert there’s silence, peace and few distractions, and in the sharp sunlight it’s easy to see things clearly.
In the early Church, many religious men and women literally went into a desert for a while. Today, however, the desert is more of a mystical place deep in our hearts which we can access anywhere. But we still need to take time out to prepare ourselves for a new way of living.
To some people the desert seems a threatening place, but if you have the courage to stay there, good things will happen to you. Slowly and silently, and with God’s grace, you’ll be transformed.
Pope Francis once described Lent as the season of penance, but it’s not a time of sadness or mourning. Rather, it’s a time of joy and returning to grace.
‘In our life,’ he said, ‘We’re always in need of conversion… In fact, we’re never sufficiently oriented to God and we must constantly direct our mind and heart to him. To do this, it’s necessary to have the courage to reject all that leads us outside the way, the false values that deceive us, attracting our egoism in a sly way.’
Instead, he said, we must trust the Lord, his goodness and his plan of love for each of us.
‘Lent is a time of penance, yes, but it’s not a sad time…’ he said. ‘It’s a joyful and serious commitment to strip ourselves of our egoism… and of renewing ourselves according to the grace of our Baptism.’
‘God alone can give us true happiness,’ he added. ‘It’s useless for us to waste time seeking it elsewhere, in riches, in pleasures, in power, in a career… The Kingdom of God is the realisation of all our aspirations because it is, at the same time, the salvation of man and the glory of God.’ [i]
Lent, then, is a precious gift to each of us. It’s a personal invitation to spend some time in the mystical desert, preparing ourselves for a new life after the joy of Easter.
It’s 40 days set aside for prayerful reflection, fasting, almsgiving. And asking God to help us start afresh.
[i] https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-the-need-for-conversion/