Every Lent starts with the story of Jesus tempted in the desert by the devil. Saint Mark’s version is very short; in contrast to St Matthew and St Luke, he doesn’t present many details about the temptations or methods of the devil. Although Jesus spent more than a month in the desert, St Mark’s gospel barely mentions it. For him, much important news is that Jesus preached the gospel. Does it mean that Jesus’ Lent made a little sense in St Mark’s eyes?
I’d like to recall that part of St Matthew’s gospel that we read on Ash Wednesday; generally speaking it was about doing good deeds without publicity, without looking for people’s applause. Jesus repeated a similar mantra: ‘your almsgiving must be secret; your prayer must be done in secret; your fast must be secret – and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you’. Those acts of mercy are apparently directed inwardly, although their results can and should affect people around as a by-product of self-discipline.
Many of you might have problem with praying, fasting or giving money away in secret because of the rest of the family asking too many questions and demanding explanations. Not many of us can afford to go to a desert to spend Lent there – it’s too far, too expensive and too dangerous. Fortunately the biblical meaning of the desert is not associated with a particular place on earth, but with a particular state of mind and soul. We don’t need to go anywhere to experience the desert.
When I was a teenager I was listening to music at every opportunity; music was around me almost all the time; it was a nuisance that at that time music players weren’t portable at all – it was quite an effort. I was immersed in music. It’s not much different nowadays, is it? Like most teenagers I had no clue about God, despite regularly attending Masses with my mum. At one point I started attending prayer meetings for only one, completely inappropriate reason: I was jealous about my girlfriend. Of course I wouldn’t admit that – I was clever (in my mind). In moments of silence during those meetings I started recognizing God as a person. Eventually I’ve ended up as priest – poor soul my girlfriend…
Sometimes people tell me their prayers seem to be unanswered; they can’t hear God. Sometimes people complain they are deserted by God. But very often it turns out those people didn’t give God a chance! They are immersed in noise, pretty often overactive, doing too many totally unnecessary things. Much of my day I spend in silence, I work in silence; I turn on the telly or the radio for particular programmes, but they are not on all day long. I think that modern people are afraid of silence, of being alone, of being inactive. When a moment of silence, loneliness or inactivity happens we feel uneasy, uncomfortable. We try to fill that emptiness with anything. And this is a missed opportunity to meet our own self and to meet God speaking gently. We labour under such an illusion for years, sometimes for the whole of life.
In Lent Jesus invites each one of us into the desert; he encourages each one of us to desert some elements of our everyday lives. I’m absolutely sure it’s worth a try to reduce the amount of noise around us; to cut down or to cut off some activities; to stop for a while and to look around. It can turn out that God speaks to you; and always has. But now you can hear him.