First Sunday of Lent

Lent is here! The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent tells of Jesus going into the desert for 40 days to fast and pray, and we too are called to follow him there. Maybe you’ve already given thought to what you’re giving up or doing this Lent (we are a few days in already after all), but it’s definitely not too late to come up with a plan either. And either way, maybe you can incorporate this idea into your Lenten practices – get out of your comfort zone; trade the dessert for the desert.

We like our creature comforts, and we often reach for those things more than we probably should. Is it bad to have a cookie or two? No. Does it demonstrate much self-control though to eat a whole row of Oreos from the family size package? Probably not. Is it bad to watch an episode of a show to relax after a long day? No. Is it necessary though to watch a whole season over the course of a weekend? Perhaps not. If we always let ourselves have or do whatever we want and walk around seemingly content and satisfied all the time, we don’t give ourselves a chance to grow in virtue and self-control, or to realize our need for God.

Maybe this year for Lent instead of thinking of yourself as a delicate flowering plant that needs a lot of care and the perfect amount of sunlight, water, attention, even music to grow well, think of yourself more like a cactus. I’m not an expert on cacti so this is mostly based on a cartoon version of a cactus I have in my head, but I know they don’t need much. If some water happens to come along then great, and they store it when it does. These are tough, resilient plants. They don’t have the luxury of “comforts.”

But why would we want to be a prickly cactus? Well in this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is tempted in the desert by Satan, but he of course resists. For us though, the more we are like the delicate plant that likes its fuzzy slippers and gourmet ice cream, we’ll be quicker to give in to different temptations in our lives because we’re used to getting exactly what we want all the time. If we practice that self-denial, however, and grow in self-control, then when we’re in times of temptation, along with prayer and God’s grace of course, we can stand firm and not give in to sin. After all, disciple if the root word of discipline. So, if we want to live out our faith in a meaningful way as disciples, we have to train. That’s why we have Lent – it’s long enough where just like a fitness program or an athlete’s training regimen, we can see some real results by the end.

If you cut down on your binge-watching of shows during Lent, you might find by Easter even once you’re able to watch again, that you don’t reach for the remote as often. If you cut out desserts or snacks, you might find that you’re less likely to eat certain snacks in the kitchen just because they’re there, and only reach for them when you’re hungry.  And spiritually you’ll probably find you’re less likely to give in to some of those temptations to sin in your life. And we’re not trying to grow in discipline just for its own sake, we’re trying to train as disciples of Jesus and grow in our relationships with him. We can also develop new habits of prayer and giving to the poor, and those take discipline too. Let the desert of Lent purify and strengthen you this year. Become that resilient cactus that doesn’t need much besides the light of Christ.