Lent

Before Lent began, the Eagle Eye Institute was given a silent retreat. For those who have never experienced or maybe even heard of silent retreats, it is in fact like it sounds. We live our days in silence, passing notes only when necessary and then once or twice a day we gather for a Spiritual Conference. This silent retreat’s conferences were led by Br. Gabriel Maria.

In beginning the conferences, Br. Gabriel Maria wasn’t shy about telling us that maybe part of Lent is for us to set our obligations and fail. The point of Lent is Jesus, who, even though he knows how weak we are, also knows how strong we can be in him. He encouraged us not to go into Lent looking for a result, but to look at our life in Christ. Something I see as a fitting reminder as the end of Lent draws near.

Br. Gabriel Maria also led us through the Scripture and the different ways the Desert is portrayed in the Word of God. I found it particularly insightful. Since the Word of God is a living word, I know that it will hit you differently than it hit me, so I’ll simply share the verses we talked about and not my own reflections. It’s good to re-read now that Lent is almost done to rediscover our fervor to meet Christ within our sacrifices and allow him to carry us through the final days into Holy Week.

Exodus 5:1-3—The Desert, a place of adoration of God

After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast to me in the desert.” Pharaoh answered, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed his plea to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord; even if I did, I would not let Israel go.” They replied, “The God of the Hebrews has sent us word. Let us go a thre days’ journey in the desert, that we may offer sacrifice to the Lord, our God, otherwise he will punish us with pestilence or the sword.”

Hosea 2:16-17—The Desert, a place of rebirth

So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. From there I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.

Luke 4:1-13—The Desert, a place of spiritual battle and victory

Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to hem “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’’ Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord, your God and him alone shall you serve.’” Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and: ‘With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Side note from Luke: “When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed...” this is said because the three temptations represent the three roots for sin as exemplified in: 1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world of the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.

Revelation 12:13-14—The Desert, a place of escape from the dragon

When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where, far from the serpent, she was taken care of for a year, two years and a half-year.