When I think of a desert, I think of a barren place full of sand with extremely hot temperatures. It’s a dry place that is almost humanely inhabitable because of the lack of basic necessities like water and food. I think of hunger and thirst, and I see dry bones of animal carcasses. How fitting is it that Jesus and many other missionaries had to experience 40 days in a desert before commencing with their ministry. Dying in the desert is necessary so that we can quite profoundly and literally die to ourselves so that we can truly focus on the Lord and others. This is what ministry is about.
However, Jesus was perfect so He had no imperfections to die to. Just like Baptism, He had to do it for the sake of our sanctification. Now we can rest assured that when we go through our desert, it has been sanctified by Christ and there is redeeming value in it for us. Because of Jesus, the suffering we experience in the desert is now redemptive.
The beauty of lent that we just experienced was truly in our prayer, fasting, and alms-giving because each required us to sacrifice something in our lives. Prayer is a sacrifice of time, fasting, a sacrifice of carnal pleasure, and alms-giving, a sacrifice of our treasure. We truly experienced a desert during lent because we were called to sacrifice everything and be left in a barren place lacking many things we thought we needed. Praise God for this because it led us to realize that God is all we need, that He is the only one that can quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger.
Easter is experiencing resurrection with Jesus after dying. Have you ever been so famished and then finally ate or drank? When it comes to Easter, we are not happy because we no longer have to sacrifice like we did during lent, but because we now appreciate our relationship with God more, having died to ourselves in one way or another. We now appreciate even more how the Lord gives us food to eat and water to drink. We are able to see with more clarity, the lush oasis of God’s love in our lives. The Lord used the sacrifices of lent as an opportunity to mold our hearts from stone to flesh. A heart of flesh is a living heart, one that is truly alive and life-giving, like a fountain of water springing forth from dry lands. Dying to ourselves has increased our capacity to love and has helped us to be more sensitive to the everlasting life of Jesus within us.
Now that Lent is over and as we enter Eastertide, let not our prayers, fasting, and alms-giving stop because the Lord is not done with us yet. He continues to mold us to be more like Him but we must allow Him. We allow Him by continually giving ourselves to Him in the morning and the night, in the garden and in the desert. Let us continue on this journey together, denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him every day. As we journey, we can rest assured that He is with us.
After resurrecting and when Jesus first appeared to the apostles He said to them “peace be with you.” Amen and amen, Peace is with us when Jesus is with us. The apostles lived with this faith, knowing that Jesus was always with them in their ministry. They lived this faith even unto death, knowing that death would only bring them closer to Him. We may not be called to physically die for our faith, but we are called to die to ourselves. Let’s not be afraid to do this because even in the face of death, Jesus is with us and that’s where we can find rest in the peace that only He can give.
Christ has resurrected and promised that He’ll always be with us.
So peace be with you! Even in the desert, peace be with you.