Time to Return to the Desert

I read a line from Benedict XVI that stays with me.  It is this: "The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast."  

Lent begins this Wednesday with its being Ash Wednesday.  Another Pope, our present one, has appealed to all people to make this day a special Day of Fasting for Peace.  This is his heartfelt response to the situation in Ukraine as it falls into open conflict.  Francis is clear that we all stand before God, "who is the God of peace and not of war; who is Father of all, not just of some; who wants us to be brothers and not enemies".  So he asks us to dedicate ourselves "intensely to prayer and fasting (asking the Queen of Peace to) preserve the world from the madness of war". 

To finish the trifecta, John Paul II shared that "war is always a defeat for humanity".  

What a powerful introduction to Lent 2022.  This is a time to return to the desert which, metaphorically, is part of who we are.    

The desert is dry and may look to have no life but that is the mirage, for the desert is full of life and is life giving, with its silence, wonder and beauty.  It is a place that inspires us with awe and puts us in touch with the deeper realities of life.  It is where we can come in touch with a spirituality that equips us for life.  Our desert is not a faraway place.  Rather it is very near.  It is where our life is dry and in need of nourishment.  There, in our vulnerability, we can find new life, reclaim vigor and purpose, and become stronger in faith. 

In confidence, let us go to the desert.