Fr. Bob White - The Desert
This week we are looking at Mark’s account of Jesus in the desert. It’s very brief. It just says that the “Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. He remained there forty days tempted by Satan.” In Mathew and Luke, we have a more detailed about those temptations. “Jesus, turn these stones into bread.” And “throw yourself down from this parapet “and that will wow the people. But in Mark all we know is that Jesus was tempted.
And so are we. We’re tempted. And of all the ways Satan can tempt us if he hooks us, invariably he does it by appealing to our e go. And so it was for Jesus in the desert. Satan appeals to his ego. Jesus of Nazareth, make this kingdom you have come to establish be all about you and your earthly success and you can have all the glory you want for yourself.
We know the story goes. Jesus doesn’t bite on Satan’s offer. Jesus makes it clear. As we hear throughout the Gospel, he came not to do his will but the will of the one who sent him. As his disciples would soon learn this kingdom Jesus came to establish on earth is not about his earthly glory.
That was Jesus in the desert. But what about us? It seems that as we go about our lives whether we know it or not there’s a basic choice that can set the direction for our lives. Am I going to be an island unto myself having to account for no one but myself? Or am I going to be connected to something bigger than myself without which I will never discover who I am?”
Yet as we go about our day-to-day lives typically the ultimate questions aren’t what’s on our mind. It’s the more immediate questions that get our attention. Questions like, “How can I get the career I want? How will it move me up the latter of success? How will it position me for more security, financially and otherwise?” These are all legitimate questions and there’s nothing wrong with them.
But if I settle for stopping there as if I alone am the center of my universe there’s a price to pay. When all my efforts are directed at establishing my place in the world and nothing else, my life has a way of turning in on itself. This “playing it safe” leaves me bored with life and disappointed in myself. It’s because I thought doing it on my own would bring more satisfaction to my life than it really did.
But there is good news. There’s another way to live. We can go to our deeper “center”. It’s there that we find meaning and purpose for our lives. But how do we get there? Coming out of the desert Jesus’ tells us, “Repent and believe in the Good News”.
“Repent” here does not mean “Shame on you for acting badly”. Rather, “Repent” means turn around and see how good life can be when you give your life to something bigger than just yourself. It’s what Jesus is talking about when he says, “Whoever tries to gain his life will lose it. But whoever is willing to lose his life for the sake of the Gospel will find it.”
Perhaps that is the ultimate leap of faith, to trust that the life Jesus offers is better than anything we could find on our own. That is the promise that the journey of faith invites us to stake our lives on.
