The Gospel for this weekend (Matt 4:1-11) invites us to reflect on Jesus’ forty-day experience in the wilderness. Jesus is “filled with the Holy Spirit” and, like so many others before and since, is “led by the Spirit” into the wilderness of life to be “tested” there.
This is also a time to enter into the “wilderness” of our own lives and deeper into the mysteries of life in Christ.
This weekend presents us with “a challenge to take stock of our lives, to see more clearly what is in our hearts and to discover what might be calling us out of our comfort zones”.
What is your experience of “the wilderness” this Lent? How are you being tested and led by the Spirit through this experience?
The following words by Veronica Lawson RSM will surely enrich our prayer, reflection and action in the coming week:
https://www.mercyworld.org/f/45074/x/42cb0c13f3/reflection-on-the-gospel-lent-1a-vl-010320.pdf
Let us pray:
God of Life, you are with us always, even in our “wilderness experiences”. During these weeks, give us courage to draw close to you and wisdom to choose how we ought to live and the kind of people we want to be. Through our prayer and almsgiving this Lent may we find healing from any self-centredness and greater freedom. Amen