Fr Robert Hendrickson
Dear Friends in Christ,
Lent’s 40 days are meant to mirror Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness. They are meant to be a time of fasting and resisting temptations. Whatever sacrifices we make for Lent are a way of recalibrating our desires. In one of the stories we hear in this time, the Devil takes Jesus to a high place and offers him dominion over all he can see.
What the Devil seems to have forgotten is that he is already Lord of all that is — seen and unseen. He wears a simple cloak as a royal robe. He carries a staff as a King’s scepter. He will wear the crown soon enough and thereby show his victory over anything the Devil can offer.
What the Devil offers is that we become master over nothing but instead capitulate to our passions. He offers slavery to our desires. Lent is about remembering that we are not captives to any earthly desire but are to long for things heavenly.
It is easy, in a fast food, have it your way, everything on demand world to think that our immediate impulses deserve immediate gratification. What separates us from beasts is that those desires might be tamed. They might be channeled and directed toward something deeper and more lasting — toward something eternal.
None of us is master over themselves. We all let something claim and thus shape us. Lent is about choosing what we will let take our heart, mind, and soul. Will we let the, be wasted only on the pleasures of the moment? Will we let them be taken, molded, and blessed for some holier purpose? Lent gives us a chance to decide, amidst all the world’s temptations, that our unruly wills may yet be focused on the source of all joy.
In that choosing we may find ourselves chosen. We may find ourselves chosen to be a people whose active choice to resist temptation prepares us for the work of eternity. In wandering in the wilderness we may discover the royal road, the King’s highway, the way of life. We may find ourselves walking it with Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Robert