First Sunday of Lent (February 26^th 2012)   

Mark 1:12-15

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Questions raised by this passage from the Gospel

1 Why did Jesus have to spend forty days in the desert? What value does a desert experience have for confronting the evil or unresolved issues in our lives?

2. In what way can self-denial help us to confront the demons within us?

3. Who or what are the angels that surround me on a daily basis, ready and waiting to assist me in the process of transformation that is symbolised by the desert?

4. Is it possible for a person to love or serve others if he has not gone through the desert experience of removing the obstacles to love that litter our souls?

5. Once Jesus passes through the desert, he proclaims that the Kingdom of God is here. Can an experience in the desert assist me in making the Good News the focal point of my existence?

Jesus' time in the desert recalls Israel's forty years in the wilderness

The Gospel of Mark is probably the oldest of the Gospels. In this passage, Mark gives a description in stark simple terms of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. This account is elaborated by Matthew and Luke into the story of the three temptations of Christ. According to Mark, the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. It is the Spirit that is responsible for the fact that Jesus undertook this venture. Just before this passage, we had learnt of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. In this way, John had fulfilled his own mission and baptized Jesus, and now the public mission of Jesus was beginning. In order to begin that mission, Jesus had to pass through the desert. The importance of the image of the desert in the Old Testament is one that cannot be underestimated. It refers to the liberation of the people of Israel and their forty years in the desert after emerging from the waters of the Red Sea. Jesus, in fact, would spend forty days in the desert. In the case of Israel, it was the Lord who led the people to the desert. The question that presents itself is why did they have to spend these forty years in the wilderness? It is possible to walk from Egypt to the Holy land in a relatively short time. What sort of poor navigation system did the Israelites have that it took them so long to get to the Promised Land?

           

The desert is a symbol of a period of transformation that is essential for redemption

The path undertaken by the Israelites to the Promised Land was a journey of transformation, and not just the business of getting from A to B. They simply were not ready for the Promised Land. The Hebrew rabbis used to say that it took one night to liberate Israel from Egypt, but it took forty years to liberate Egypt from the hearts of the Israelites. Often it is easier to free a person from a grave situation than it is to teach them to walk in the way of the truth.

            Jesus went into the desert because the redemption of humanity requires this stage of transformation. Between evil and good - between non-salvation and salvation - there is a process of radical change. The desert in the Old Testament is really a code word for change, or rite of passage. It is not a location where one might live. It is a place that must to be passed through to get somewhere else.

Sometimes it is better to avoid evil, but at other times we must confront it head on

Jesus passed forty days in the desert being tempted by Satan. This is a surprising revelation. Why did Jesus have to be tempted by the devil? Wouldn't it have been better if he had avoided going into the desert to be subjected to temptation of this sort? It is true that it is usually a good idea to avoid situations where we are presented with opportunities for evil, but it is also true that some things need to be confronted head on. We need to be able to handle temptation. Being able to avoid situations of temptation is fine, but we cannot go through life like fugitives, running from certain situations, with evil like a predator just one step behind us. Jesus wished to be able to give a definitive response to temptation, to the daily reality of being subjected to deception and delusion.

In the desert our demons come to the fore, but so do the angels that are waiting to help us

The Gospel tells us that Jesus was with the wild animals in the desert, while the angels served him. Sooner or later we will all be led by the Spirit to enter the desert and confront our demons. The Lord Jesus has gone before us and shown us the way. Once we are in the desert, we will find that it is a far from empty place. The wild animals - the demons that plague us - will soon appear and make their presence felt. To enter the desert is to enter the fray and confront those things within us that are unresolved. And, by the same token, when we enter the desert it is essential that we be attentive and discover the angels that are waiting to serve us. We have a multitude of such angels around us, things that support us and can become reference points for our existence - people and things whose job it is to help us choose the path of life and overcome our demons.

The Kingdom is entered after passing through the desert. We learn to love after we have confronted the obstacles to love inside us

Our existence is not as dull as might sometimes appear. The Lord has not given us life so that we might accomplish little or nothing. Life, instead, is a great challenge! This short passage from the Gospel comes to a climax with the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. We have been given life so that we might enter the Kingdom of God. Before entering the Kingdom there is a battle that must be fought and a desert that must be passed through. Woe betide those who raise their children without preparing them for the difficulties of life! Woe betide those who think life is all about physical wellbeing and being in a state of material happiness! This is an all too-prevalent fallacy. People will only learn how to love when they learn how to overcome the obstacles to love in their hearts. In order to be able to serve others, we must battle the demons inside us that stop us from serving others. We must learn to be in the desert, to deny ourselves, to be the leaders of our own existence rather than just followers. We must not underestimate the importance of this stage of passing through the desert before arriving at the Kingdom of God.

The door of the Kingdom is on the other side of the desert

Jesus announces that "the time has come". This indicates that a time of fullness is here, an era that is filled with grace. This time of fullness appears once we have passed through the time of emptiness in the desert. Once we have gone through that wilderness, confronted the demons and learned how to discern the angels that truly help us, the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven comes into sight. In other words, the desert teaches us that there is one thing only that must be clung to, and that is the Good News of the Gospel, which is the love of God for us. We must cling to this one thing in order to be converted and transformed. Removed from the chaos of our existence, the desert teaches us where the true light is. No matter how we may have been tempted or tried, the one thing that we need to do is believe in the Good News. We have all received the Good News in one way or another, and we are still receiving it. We must be converted, rid ourselves of the negative thoughts that come from the evil one, and believe in that point of reference, that sure light, the Good News that gives meaning to our entire existence.