Please read the passage before you read the homily.
My sisters and brothers,
The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. He was among wild beasts and angels ministered to him. Jesus ws faithful in his desert.
Forty days in thew desert: The Israelites were forty years in the desert in the time of Moses. They were tempted by the devil, and were among wild beasts, and angels ministered to them. The Israelites, however, were not faithful to God.
Moses, Elijah, and many of the prophets lived in deserts. They encountered God and welcomed God’s messages in those deserts. For the faithful Israelites, the desert was a place blessed by God. The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert.
Lent is for us a desert in which God will reveal God’s will and God’s glory. God’s Spirit leads us and drives us into this Lent. God drives us here, not to torture us but to show us God’s love.
The desert is not for us a place or time of punishment, but it is full of graces that God gives us generously. It is a time and a place to meet God, to welcome angel ministering to us.
For those not baptized, Lent is a time to prepare to receive the sacraments of initiation, baptism, confirmation, and communion. For us who are baptized, Lent is a time to renew our communion with God through our participation in the liturgies of Lent and of the Paschal Triduum.
The Spirit has driven us into this desert just as the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. May the angels minister to you.